The long-awaited day has arrived as Sirawit unlocks his first gold medal in his career after winning taekwondo at the 2025 SEA Games.
On 12 Dec 2025 GMT+7, the 33rd SEA Games 2025, hosted by Thailand, held its third day of gold medal contests with 58 golds at stake. A highlight was taekwondo sparring held at Island Hall in Fashion Island Shopping Center, featuring five weight categories with all Thai fighters competing.
After Kanjanalak Chuenchugklin won bronze in the women's under 73 kg and 'Guitar' Kamolchanok Siken, the 2023 world silver medalist, secured silver in the women's under 49 kg, the Thai taekwondo team began the day by clinching their first gold medal.
The first gold medal for Thai taekwondo at SEA Games 2025 came from 'Fais' Sirawit Mahahmad in the men's under 58 kg category, narrowly defeating Ding Kong Gwa from Vietnam in a thrilling 2-1 round victory.
In the first round, Sirawit led 16-4, but the Vietnamese fighter edged the second round 10-9. In the deciding round, Sirawit found his rhythm to win 22-12, securing the SEA Games 2025 gold medal.
This was a long-awaited day for 22-year-old Fais Sirawit Mahahmad, who finally unlocked his first major international gold medal after previously finishing as runner-up.
During his youth career, Sirawit Mahahmad amassed numerous medals as follows:
In 2017, gold at the 33rd National Youth Games and gold at the Thailand Youth Championships.
In 2018, bronze at the 34th National Youth Games and silver at the Thailand Youth Championships.
In 2019, bronze at the 35th National Youth Games and gold at the Thailand Youth Championships.
In 2019, gold at the China Open.
However, at major international events, Sirawit Mahahmad had yet to win gold. His two medals were bronze in the men's 54 kg category at the 2023 World University Games in Chengdu, China.
He then reached the final at the 2025 World University Games in Germany in the men's 58 kg category but lost to Maksym Manenkov of Ukraine, earning silver.
Most recently, at the 2025 Bangkok World Taekwondo Grand Prix Challenge hosted by Thailand at the Indoor Stadium Huamark, 'Fais' was stopped in the quarterfinals by two-time world champion Bae Junseol (2019, 2023), losing 0-2 rounds (0-12, 11-18), narrowly missing a medal.
Finally, Sirawit Mahahmad achieved his goal by winning gold at the 2025 SEA Games on home soil. He aims next to push his career further by qualifying to compete at the Olympic Games once in his life as a Thai national taekwondo athlete.