HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

North meets South in Chiang Mai Swim Meet

New bowling league coming soon

The ‘Stragglers’ struggled but won!

Chiang Mai Pool League

Chiang Mai HHH Corner - “On On!”

The Square Ring

North meets South in Chiang Mai Swim Meet

The annual North meets South Swim Meet took place last weekend and there were 8 schools competing against each other. They competed for the overall trophy, which for the 2nd year running went to ISB (International School Bangkok).

Waiting for the starting gun for the kayak race.

The kayak race was the most popular event of the day: 8 teams from the different schools raced against each other

James Vose from Grade 2 did a fantastic freestyle race.

After her nearly perfect jump into the pool, Stefanie Hannah finished 2nd in the race. It’s all about having fun!

A good race begins with a good dive!

2nd place went to Harrow International School (HIS), 3rd Prem International Chiang Mai, 4th Lanna International Chiang Mai, 5th CMIS (Chiang Mai International School), 6th GIS (Grace International School), 7th APIS (American Pacific International School), and 8th CDSC (Christian German School, Chiang Mai).

This is an annual event and is called the north/south swim meet. The North (all Chiang Mai points added together) competes against the South (all Bangkok points added together), which the South won for the 2nd year running.

In the N/S relay, the North came first - the relay team consists of the best 12 swimmers in Chiang Mai plus their coaches against the best in Bangkok plus their coaches.

It was a great weekend with some fine performances. There were bronze, silver and gold medals for all events and trophies for the best in each age group.

The events were: 50m backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 200m freestyle relays, 200m-medley relay, and 50m-kayak race.

Patrick from CMIS proved as always to be an unstoppable force and managed a clean sweep in the events he entered, taking home several gold medals for his outstanding performances.

Little 5-year-old Jasmin participates in the race. Just imagine where it will lead her in 10 years time!

Friendship, fun and sport - young and older children working and playing together. From left: Dan Nambin, Stephanie Hannah, Melanie Forbes-Harper.

Dan Nambin & Jaime Mackey from Prem School enjoying an afternoon at the pool.

The event was hosted by Prem with the help of the CMU PE students who spent long hours in the sun acting as timers and judges.

The North Relay team: (Students) Emily - Prem, Danny - Lanna, Marie - GIS, Natit - Lanna, Madeline - GIS, Narit - Lanna, Miriam - GIS, Pitch -CMIS, Sonya - Prem, Patrick - CMIS, Melanie - Prem, Pete - APIS, (Coaches) Janet - Prem, Miranda -Prem, Roong - CMIS, Gillian - Lanna, Sean - APIS.

Basically it was really good fun. The Bangkok schools love coming to Chiang Mai for the weekend and have already booked in for next years meet. A day well spent!

New bowling league coming soon

Charoen Viriyasena (wearing glasses), assistant managing director of Kad Suan Kaew Co, Ltd. plans to set up the Nakhon Ping Bowling Club there soon. Here he is seen cutting a ribbon to mark the opening ceremony of the Nakhon Ping Friendships League bowling competition held at Kad Suan Kaew Bowling on the 4th floor of the Kad Suan Kaew shopping complex.

The ‘Stragglers’ struggled but won!

Chiang Mai was once again the center point for another day of fine Cricket at the Gymkhana Club on Sunday, March 9.

Photograph of (most of) the teams who played in a cricket match at the Gymkhana Club on Sunday.

The game was a ‘friendly’ and the teams were called ‘Stragglers’ and ‘Out-backs’. They were made up of players drawn from Gymkhana Club members and their friends and members of Motorola and Orange companies, based in Chiang Mai and Bangkok.

The ‘Stragglers’ won. They scored 290 for 9 off 35 overs, (Steve Penney 54 n.o., Dean Henderson 46, Eric Little 44, David Hird 41 n.o.).

The ‘Out-backs’ scored 264 for 9 off 35 overs (Vincent 38 n.o., Andy 34, Eric Little 3 wickets for 36 runs).

Similar games are planned for the (hopefully) near future.

Chiang Mai Pool League

Chiang Mai HHH Corner - “On On!”

CH3, the oldest hash club (males) in Chiang Mai is picked up from the “ONON” pub (Moon Mueng Soi 1) at 16.00 once every 2 weeks. Pick up can be arranged from Fish and Chips shop as well.

CSH3 is a mixed Saturday hash which is picked up from the H3 Pub on Moon Mueng Road every Saturday at 15.30. Pick up can be arranged from Fish and Chips shop as well.

CUMH3 is a male hash which runs from the “ONON” Pub every consecutive (from CH3) Tuesday. Pick up is at 16.00.

BH3 is a female hash (Harriettes) that runs once a month on the last Sunday of the month.

All information either from Fish and Chips, H3 or “ONON” Pub. Or look at the websites at: http://www.thai-american.com/hhh/

It’s great fun and you surely get value for your money plus you get to meet all the long-time expats here!

The Square Ring

by Howie Reed

Corrie Sanders was anything but a tomato can or a warm up for W. Klitschko as he awaited L. Lewis. With about 30 seconds in the first round Klitschko hit the deck, got up and was deposited again. The second time he was cut over his right eye. In the second he made two more trips to “kiss canvas” until the referee stopped the fight at 33 seconds of the second stanza. The left-handed Sanders did all the damage with his left that Klitschko either didn’t see coming or couldn’t stop.

Who is Corrie Sanders? He’s a South African who’s fought three rounds in three years. He’s a one handicapper at his local golf course where he just won the club championship. He took this fight mostly because no one else wanted any part of Klitschko. In preparation for the fight Sanders hired Ross Purity (who was the only person to beat Klitschko) as a sparing partner, shaved off his mustache and visited a sports psychologist for confidence. Before the fight Sanders got a phone call from Lennox Lewis. “If you put pressure on Klitschko you can beat him. He’s afraid.” Give Sanders the WBO heavyweight title and an assist to Lennox Lewis.

As any old geezer will tell you, at the drop of a question, there are few things that truly surprise them. Being an old geezer I fall into that category. I’m not only surprised but shocked to the core of my being that such a “BFD” is being made about Roy Jones beating John Ruiz for a heavyweight title that doesn’t amount to much. The title, WBA, has been pretty useless since Ruiz somehow beat Evandler Holyfield with the help of a local judge who not only missed a real fight but probably misplaced his white cane as well.

The facts of the Jones-Ruiz fight are simple. Roy Jones at 199 totally dominated John Ruiz at 236 to win the title. The betting had Jones a 2-1 favorite until just before the opening bell. It was no surprise. Ruiz was and is a one dimensional fighter who’s only claim to fame is faking low blows while getting every break in the world from a “fellow” Puerto Rican who just happens to be a referee. His skills are minimal.

The press, boxing and otherwise, is now going bananas over Jones. He’s being treated as royalty, the next coming, the Messiah. It just ain’t so. Yes it was an interesting fight but not nearly the instant classic that some believe. The fight drew about 15,000 fans to a facility that seats 18,500 for boxing. That crowd included about 2,000 tickets given out a the local Air Force Base. The PPV was 520,000 which yielded about 26 million USD. That pails in comparison to Lewis-Tyson of last summer with 1.9 million buys and a gross of 119 Million USD. Jones, always in love with himself, is saying, “If you want me to fight Tyson it’s going to cost you 50 million.” Yea right!

Former WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (40-2, 37 KOs) expected Corrie Sanders (39-2, 29 KOs) to be very aggressive on Saturday in their heavyweight clash in Hanover, Germany. Boy was he ever. “Sanders has 18 first-round knockouts so I look for him to come out very strong and try to win by early knockout. But I will be ready for anything he has to offer and, of course, am confident I will win.” Well for the ex champ one out of two isn’t good enough.

Klitschko also had some comments on new WBA heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jr. He praised Jones as a “very good entertainer and show businessman,” however, he added, “Against the real heavyweight guys like [Lennox] Lewis or Michael Grant or with me, he has no chance.” Guess being in Germany where there seems to be something in the air Wladimir hasn’t been notified that Michael Grant like himself can be knocked out by a strong wind.

OK POM’s your guy gets another chance. Olympic Champion Audley Harrison (9-0) next gets Ratko Draskovic (27-3-2) in the Wembley Conference Centre on March 29th. As honesty is good for the soul I admit that the only thing I know about Draskovic is that he didn’t star in a Rocky film. Oh yes, he’s 37 years old and holds the Balkan heavyweight championship.

The locals were engaged in a little box fighting since last we met. In Nakornsawan WBA #7 Prawet Victorygym (17-2-1, 10KOs) easily stopped PABA #10 Dedy Suwandana, retaining his PABA lightweight title. The visitor from Indonesia got in the deep water via the right hook route and was KO’d at 1:31 of the second stanza. Prawet retained his PABA title for the eighth time.

Thai superfeather champ Muangfahlek Kiatwichean (9-1, 6KOs) KO’d Paya-insee Sithkriengkrai in 2 while former Muay Thai 122-lb champ Saenghiran Lookbanyai (1-0) looked impressive in winning a 6 round UD over Boy Guevarra.

In a Lawrence Welk Match (“a one ana two”) Thai feather champ Saengsi Por Chaiwat out pointed Thai #1 superfeather Vichit Chuwatana. True fact.

Referees are always right. Frequent Thialand visitor and the best referee in Asia Bruce McAlaster took me to task in a very pleasant way via e-mail last week. This response was dictated by my story on Bob Fitzsimmons, the first fighter to win the heavyweight title while holding the middleweight title. I wrote, “His first 40 fights were in and about Sydney Australia.” The Referee wrote, “His first 26 fights were in and around Sydney.” Hummmmmmmm, thought I. I went to Boxrec.com and counted up his first 40 fights. All in and around Sydney. “Got him” cheered I. Finally right. As they say in the NFL, “Upon further review, I find we were both right.” How can that be? Ruby Bob’s first 40 fights were in Aussie BUT 14 of them were probably exhibitions as the results were reported “D PTS O” Decision, points, NO ROUNDS. How about them apples?

Chiangmai Mail Publishing Co. Ltd.
209/5 Moo 6, T.Faham,
A.Muang, Chiang Mai 50000
Tel. 053 852 557, 081-302 0126 Fax. 053 260 738
e-mail: cnxmail@chiangmai-mail.com
www.chiangmai-mail.com
Administration: md@chiangmai-mail.com
Advertising: advertising@chiangmai-mail.com
sales@chiangmai-mail.com
Subscription: subscription@chiangmai-mail.com

Copyright © 2004 Chiangmai Mail. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.