On a lighter note !Thailand take snooker tournament title

[dr dave soul monsta]

DUBAI — Thailand defeated Malaysia to win the S.S. Kataria Memorial International Snooker Tournament.

Malaysia started off well with all players winning their opening frames against Thailand. Atthasit Mahitthi leveled his match with Moh Keen Hoo and then rattled off the next three with breaks of 70, 60 and 44 to put his team one game ahead.

Thailand’s Issara Kachaiwong hit a 76 break to edge 2-1 in front of Lai Chee Wei.

Malaysian Thor Chuan Leong, playing against sweet cueist Passakorn Suwannawat, refused to accept defeat, though. He forged 3-1 ahead and made breaks of 70 and 63 in the process, to go one frame away from victory in his game. The solid temperament of Suwannawat helped him take the next two to level the game, and all attention then went to Kachaiwong’s game.

The Thai did not let up his ferocious attacking style, and at 3-1 with one red left on the table, launched the cue ball the length of the table at a long red. It went into the heart of the pocket with a crisp snap. With perfect position on the black and a healthy lead, Malaysia’s Lai Chee Wei had no choice but to offer his hand in concession and congratulate the Thailand player on his great win.

Suwannawat then put a closing stamp on proceedings, converting his decider into a 4-3 win to complete the neat 3-0 victory over their geographical neighbours.

India then faced a dramatic conclusion to their quest for the bronze medal in their match against the UAE ‘A’ team. UAE’s Eissa Sayyid had started off well against Sarang Shroff, his 4-2 win putting UAE one game ahead in the race to two. India’s Manan Chandra leveled the contest, as he scored a 4-2 victory over top UAE cueist Mohammed Shehab.

The final medal position was then down to the final frame challenge between Mohammed Joker and Rafat Habib. With all the balls migrating to the cushions very early in the game, it seemed certain the game would become scrappy and be decided with the last few balls remaining. So it was, and with both players missing their way to the end of the frame, it was Habib who went 29 ahead with 25 on the table. Three shots later, though, and Joker had extracted two sets of penalty points to put him in a position where he could win. He never got the opening he needed in the end, and Rafat eventually played a superb long green and sent the white of three cushions for an unmissable position on the match ball brown. India took $1,000 for third place.

The prize giving ceremony was attended by Raghuvinder Kataria, Deep Malik of Airtel, Meena Chainani of Givenchy, Major General Nasser Abdul Razaq, vice-chairman of UAE Billiards and Snooker Association; Khalid Nasser Lootah, treasurer, UBSA; Sultan Joker, general-secretary, UBSA; Mustafa Shehab, Ali Asghar Valika, president, Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association, and other officials and dignitaries.

Sultan Joker said: “The tournament has been an outstanding success in terms of playing standard, experience gained, and professional conduct of everybody involved. We all would like to extend thanks to Raghuvinder Kataria and family, whose huge commitment of time and resources has made this event such a resounding success. The sponsors Airtel and their ‘Express Yourself’ campaign, Dubai Snooker Club, Givenchy and Lamcy Plaza have all made an invaluable contribution.

Partner sponsor of the event Tournament was Givenchy. Meena Chainani of Givenchy made special awards to the 18 referees involved in the event, as well as presenting gifts of appreciation to all seven members of the board of the UAE Billiards and Snooker Association.

Results: Thailand 3 Malaysia 0, India 2 UAE’A’ 1
Gold medal, $3,000: Thailand, silver medal, $2,000: Malaysia, bronze medal, $1,000: India, highest break, $500: Mohammed Shehab (UAE ‘A’), Thor Chuan Leong (Malaysia).



[khaleejtimes 9 April 2006]

---------------------------------------------

Thailand enter World Group play-offs
Sonchat, Sanchai put up a good fight as Thailand take an unassailable 3-0 lead over Japan with doubles win

Twin brothers Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana yesterday led Thailand to the Davis Cup World Group play-offs after winning the doubles match of an Asia-Oceania Group I second-round match against Japan at the Rama Gardens Hotel in Bangkok yesterday. The Thai twin brothers, playing Davis Cup doubles together for sixth time, outplayed visiting Japanese Satoshi Iwabuchi and Toshihide Matsui in four sets, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6 and 6-2 in two hours and 20 minutes.

Thailand took two points from the first two singles on the first day.

Countries that Thailand may face in the World Group play-off will be Austria, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania and Slovak Republic.

Sanchai and Sonchat Ratiwatana got off to a good start when they broke the Japanese double team of Satoshi Iwabuchi and Toshihide Matsui in the seventh game of the opening set with a 4-3 lead. The Thai pair then took the first set 6-4.

In the second, they kept on showing a good form. The Thai pair against got the crucial break in the seventh game and went on to clinch the second set 6-3 and led by two sets.

The third set saw both teams performed so well at the beginning of play and they were tied at 2-2. The Japanese the stepped up a level and broke the Thai twins in the next game for a 3-2 lead. The Japanese closed the set at 6-4 and cut the lead to two sets to one.

The momentum swang the Thai way again in the fourth set as Sonchat and Sanchai broke the Japanese in the sixth game to take a 4-2 lead. They never looked back and won the next two games to wrap the set at 6-2 and the match.

Thailand's Davis Cup team have now secured their place in the the World Group play-off for the fourth time. They qualified to play against the Great Britain in 2002, Czech Republic in 2003 and Russia in 2004. But they had never won the World Group play-off.

''It is a dream that we were promoted into the World Group play-off. We have a good team and every player in the squad is looking forward to playing in the World Group.'' said Thailand captain, Thanakorn Srichaphan.

''I am very satisfied with the potential of our players. Today they played very well although we lost the third set to the Japanese duo but they kept up their good form consistently.

''For tomorrow's singles, we will let the twin brothers, Sonchat and Sanchai play in the reverse singles matches because we wanted them to gain more experience in the singles event as well.'' said Thanakorn.

Sonchat said after helping the Thai Davis Cup team qualified into the World Group play-off: ''After we led 2-0 on the first day, we are playing in a different situation. It could be a different atmosphere had we been two points down.''

''We are playing today with full confidence that we can win the match.''

Japanese captain, Eiji Takeuchi said: ''Actually, Iwabuchi should have returned the serves much better and he should have scored more points from his return. On the other hand, the twin brothers today performed like winners. They produced only a few unforced errors and they put a lot of pressure on us. Thailand is a strong team.''

Today's schedule will be the reverse singles matches. The first match will start at 2pm.

RESULTS

Thailand 3, Japan 0

Doubles: Sonchat and Sanchai Ratiwatana (Thailand) beat Toshihide Matsui and Satoshi Iwabuchi (Japan) 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2

Friday: Paradorn Srichaphan (Thailand) beat Goichi Motomura (Japan) 6-4, 7-6 (4) 6-1. Danai Udomchoke (Thailand) beat Go Soeda (Japan) 7-5, 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3.

BKK Post