Pattaya Mail — Sports

Volvo Women's Open returns

The Volvo Women’s Open, Thailand’s largest women’s tennis tournament, returns to the courts of the Dusit Resort Pattaya this week, beginning on Saturday, November 15 and running through to the finals on Sunday, November 23.

Photo: Indonesia's Yayuk Bazuki will enter this year's Volvo Women's Open Tennis Championship at the Dusit Resort Pattaya as the top seed.

At stake this year will be the highest purse ever for the Open, a total of US$ 107,500, with the winner taking home $17,700.

Last year, Ruxandra Dragomir from Romania defeated Thai hopeful Tamarine Tanasugarn with a powerful straight sets victory in the singles finals. Ruxandra has gone on to make her mark on the international women’s tennis scene and will not return this year.

Yayuk Bazuki from Indonesia, ranked 20th in the world and former two time Volvo Women’s Open Thailand champion (1991 and 1993) will enter the tournament as the top seed. Belgian Dominique Van Roost, ranked 28th in the world, will enter as the number two seed.

Thailand’s own Tamarine Tanasugarn, after a year that saw her gain valuable experience at Wimbledon and other top tournaments, will try to better her second place finish in the 1996 Volvo Open. Tamarine enters this year’s tournament ranked 39th in the world and will be seeded third.

Tournament sponsor Swedish Motors PCL (the sole distributor of Volvo automobiles in Thailand) has been associated with tennis in Thailand since 1989. Volvo’s objective is to offer Thai players the chance to be a part of one of the world’s greatest events, which significantly helps them improve their skills, performance and ability. This event will also help to promote Pattaya as one of the most famous tourist resorts in the region.

Other major sponsors include Tero Traffic Corner Co., Ltd., Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand under His Majesty’s Patronage, Shell, Wilson, Singha, Tourism Authority of Thailand, Dusit Resort Pattaya, Pepsi and Thai Airways.

During the event, Volvo has also arranged other support activities such as the "Volvo Mini-motorshow" at Central/Big C and Dusit Resort Pattaya from November 15-23; the "Volvo Family Rally Bangkok-Pattaya" on the 22nd; and on the 23rd a "Family Day" for Volvo customers and families.

PSC Softball

Runs, hits and errors galore

The weekly Pattaya Sports Club softball game on Sunday, November 3rd had it all, beginning with Alan’s Cowboys and Jerry’s Rangers setting a record for most runs scored in a single game.

In that record setting first game, the Rangers’ Nick (the Stick) Siemens and Jerry (Hi-test) Cal-Tex each had three homers to lead their team to a twenty two to fourteen drubbing of the Cowboys.

The Cowboys’ rather lethargic defense did nothing to help their cause but the entire Ranger team hit the ball hard and made clutch plays in the field to ensure their victory.

The second game of the day saw the Cowboys get it together and out last the Rangers six to four.

Alan (Y. B.) Baa and M. J. (Alphabet) Jim had homers for the Cowboys while John (The Baptist) Bechtel had his weekly blast for the Rangers.

Defensive accolades to Kiwi (Pudding) Rick in left for the Rangers, and Mike (Mr. Ice) Berg of the Cowboys helped keep the game close and exciting until the end.

El Nino on the Diamond

With all the concern over changing weather patterns, the weekly Pattaya Sports Club softball game on Sunday, November 9, saw Jerry’s Heat and Alan’s Breeze create a storm of excitement as hits hailed and homers reigned on the plain.

The first game was a see-saw battle with five lead changes. The Heat jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on hard hitting by Jerry (Hi-test) Cal Tex, Mike (Son of Stick) Ladin, and Kiwi (Pudding) Rick.

The Breeze quickly tied the core on hits by Jimmy (The Key) Lockhead, Montreal (Uppa U.S.) Robert, and Lucky Pierre.

In the fourth with the score tied at 7, M.J. (Coffee) Jim smacked a three run homer that put the Breeze up for good. M.J. added a triple and a single and finished with six R.B.I. as the Heat smoldered 14-10.

The second game saw the Heat ignite and score six runs in the last inning to pull out a 7-3 win. Good defense by Craig (Top Gun) Lewis and Mike (Mr. Ice) Berg of the Breeze kept the game close, but when Sterling (Silver) Bechtel homered and
Nick (The Stick) Siemens punched a two run double to right for the Heat, the Breeze was extinguished and the Heat earned a split on the day.

If you have the fire within or are just full of hot air, you’re welcome to join the fun. Games are every Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at Pattaya School No. 7 just past Greenway driving range and Cal Tex gas station on Sukhumvit Highway.

Chonburi Region Tennis Championships

Pattaya will host the 16th edition of the annual Chonburi Region Tennis Championships from November 29-30, 1997 at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort.

Around 200 players from Bangpakong, Bangsaen, Chachoengsao, Chonburi, Pattaya, Laem Chabang, Sattahip and Sri Racha will participate in the "fierce but friendly" team tournament, which will be staged at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort’s 6 court facility.

The tournament exclusively features doubles matches and is divided in age categories.

According to tournament director Khun Saichol Saejew, the Chonburi Region Tennis Championships is the largest tennis meet in East-Thailand and Pattaya’s Royal Cliff Beach Resort has, over the years, proven to be an excellent venue for this major sports gathering.

Siam Air Sports starts Thailand's first parachuting club

Siam Air Sports, Thailand’s first parachuting club, commences operations on Saturday, November 15th with water jumps into Jomtien, 20 meters off the beach near the Rover showroom corner.

These initial static line jumps are open to the public and will cost 5000 baht. This includes training on Friday, November 14th at their office in the Nova Lodge. Training starts on November 14th at 11:00 a.m. and will cover everything a novice requires to safely static line parachute into water.

Qualified free fall parachutists are invited to come and jump with Siam Air Sports if they have their certification documents.

This will be the start of regular Siam Air Sports activities and this initial jump day will be televised.

For further information, contact Siam Air Sports marketing director David Fishwick, tel: 361 536 or mobile phone 01 862 5772.

Sunday quiz all over the place

What is another name for the linden tree? Who was the German field marshal who surrendered at Stalingrad in 1943?

The new season of the Sunday boozers’’ league got off to jerky start on November 2 without any consensus about the difficulty of the questions. Cheers managed the top score of 86%, closely followed by Bob’s with 82%, but some bars had more difficulty with scores down to 58%. The question setters forgot that the Curtis Cup in tennis is now the Solheim Cup, but the marks were added at the appeal stage.

The bars this season are mostly the same, but Wild Chicken has dropped out to be replaced by Tippy’s on Soi Yodsak near the Beach Road. The actual sign above the door reads Tippy’s Pizza and the location is roomy and comfortable for weekly quizzes. Last season’s champions Rising Sun got off to a good start with 80%, but had a collapse on the movies and TV round which means they have some catching up to do next week.

Bangkok based question setter Roger Harris said there would be no changes to the Sunday quiz format in the new season and that he was aiming for an average score of around 70% across all the bars on a weekly basis. The main sources would continue to be general knowledge reference works, newspapers and the Internet. Quiz books tended to have high error rates and very quickly become out of date.

Answers to the questions above are lime tree and von Paulus. Can you make a musical word by using all the letters in "carthorse"? The answer is "orchestra". If you know that, why not join one of the teams who assemble just before
8.30 p.m. every Sunday evening?

After week one, the scores are:
Cheers 86
Bob’s 82
Rising Sun 80
Pleasure Dome 78
Londoner 72
Palmer’s 68
Mick’s 66
Poteen Still 66
Britannia 58
Tippy’s 58

Les Winch earns Player of the Month

Les Winch, behind his string of victories and aggregate 6 over par net through four tournaments, earned Pattaya Golf Society Player of the Month honours for the month of October.

After having never won a PGS golf tournament, Les put together three straight victories to end the month and solidify his position as best PGS player for October.

Roy Mitchell, meanwhile, carded 32 Stableford points to beat out a small field at Green Valley in PGS action on Tuesday, November 4th.

With Typhoon Linda having passed through the night before and still lingering in the early morning hours, many PGS golfers opted to sit out the tournament for the week. Those who decided to brave the conditions weren’t disappointed, and were treated to a dry course and a fine day for golf when the rains stopped halfway to Green Valley.

Peter Johannson narrowly missed tying for the title when he scored 31 points to finish in second place. Wilf Latham placed third with 28 points, followed by Tony Davies in fourth with 19. Stan Lamb rounded out the top five finishers with 18 Stableford points.

Tony Davies laid claim to the only nearest the pin prize of the week when he landed his tee shot closest on the par three no. 15.

The Pattaya Golf Society is gearing up for its Club Championships which will begin this week. The first day of play will be held on November 18th at Sriracha, with the second day on November 25th at Khao Kheow. The championships will finish with pairings on December 12th at Green Valley.

As always, the Pattaya Golf Society welcomes all golfers. Transportation leaves Big John’s Place on Soi Chaiyapoon (between Soi Buakao and Third Road) at 10:30 a.m. for an 11:30 a.m. tee off.

Record turnout for Bjarne's ‘Banana Scramble’

Monday 3 November, Bangpra (Stableford)

A large influx of visitors at the weekend produced a field of 57 players enjoying the welcome cool weather at beautiful Bangpra. The conditions, in spite of some light rain, produced good results in both flights.

Dave Meadows won the ‘A’ flight with 38 points. Ray Woodruffe was 2nd with 37 points and Ivan Heyes 3rd with 36 points. In 4th place was M. Calwell with 35 points beating John Ottaway and Jonas Bergstrom on count-back.

Scoring was noticeably higher in the ‘B’ flight, won by Ross Taylor with 43 points, followed by Alec ‘Eagle’ Chilcott in 2nd place with 40 points. Bill Scorvacco came 3rd with 37 points beating Gez Tracey, also with 37 points, on count-back.

Near-pin prizes were claimed by Matts Mueller, Nalinee Suriya, Anni Andersen and Paul Tomei.

Thursday 6 November Siam C.C.

Bjarne Nielsen’s annual Birthday ‘Banana’ (Texas) Scramble

This was a record turnout of 84 players enjoying the fine weather and a Siam Country Club course in excellent condition. Bjarne ‘Banana’ Nielsen, celebrating another 39th Birthday, was in good form himself, particularly at the Cafe Kronborg later when over 100 players and friends enjoyed the sumptuous buffet hosted by Bjarne. The presentation of prizes by Mike Franklin and Alec Chilcott was preceded by a gift of ‘Bubbly’ to Banana, together with the customary card signed by all and a rousing rendition of ‘Happy Birthday to You’.

The official prizes for the Tournament were generously supplemented by gifts from Bjarne, plus a further set of gifts for the lucky draw.

The Banana Scramble was won by the team of Jim Montgomery, Ray Matti, Jerry (Long Putts) Lien, and Dave Meadows, who also won the Men’s Long Drive on 18 with a truly awesome clout off the tee. The winning team scored a net 60.2.

In second place came the well-known Splinter quartet of Alan Laurie, Roger Smith, Neil Munro and Niall McCarty with a net 60.4.

In third place came David Jarvis, Niels Villadssen, Paul Kraft and Anders Karlson with a net 60.6.

Near Pin prizes went to Gez (5') Tracey, Niels Villadssen, Paul Kraft and Anders Karlson.

Nalinee Suriya won the Ladies Long Drive on the 7th.

Pattaya Mail Charity Cup

Pratheep Malhotra, Executive Editor of the Pattaya Mail, announced that the Pattaya Mail and the Pattaya Rarn Koo Restaurant are co-sponsoring a charity soccer tournament to provide help for needy students at the Pho Thong Temple school.

The tournament will be held from November 23 - December 13, 1997, at the Jom Tawan football field in Soi S.S. Villa.

The proceeds from the match will be donated to Pho Thong Temple to provide scholarships for needy students.

The tournament will consist of 16 teams. Each team will have the standard 18 members, with eleven on the field playing.

Applications are being taken between November 10 - 20, 1997, at the Pattaya Rarn Koo restaurant, Tel. 232-279, or the Jom Tawan Club from 5 - 6 p.m. Entry fee is 2,000 baht and a guarantee of another 2,000 baht is required.

Lots will be drawn to allot team placing and a meeting will be held on November 20th at 2:00 p.m. at the restaurant.

There will be 4 main prizes: A grand prize of 12,000 baht, a 1st prize of 8,000 baht, and a second prize of a trophy and 5,000 baht.

For details, please call Pattaya Rarn Koo, or the editorial department of the Pattaya Mail at 411-240 every day except Sunday.

Neil Hughes takes the monthly medal

Friday, 31st October, Green Valley

A strong field on Friday saw Neil Hughes brush aside all opposition at Green Valley to take the Splinter Monthly Medal and tankard. Playing off forward tees (ladies) he came in with a brilliant net 66. Neil, playing great golf off 22 handicap, had a gross 88. His nearest rival in "A Flight" was Brian Imrie with a net 70.

Copyright © 1997 Pattaya Mail Publishing Co.Ltd.
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Created by Andy Gombaez