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Sitthi takes back the world crown
The role model of Thai
bodybuilding, Sitthi Charoenrith, was able to take back his world title
at the recently completed 1st World Men’s Bodybuilding Championships,
held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
 Thailand’s
Sitthi Charoenrith (center) is congratulated on stage after winning the
80 kg class at the 1st World Men’s Bodybuilding Championships in Dubai,
U.A.E. (Photo/TBBA)
During the competition, held from 3rd – 8th November, Thai bodybuilders
won 1 gold and 2 bronzes in total; the two bronze medallists being
Somkid Sumethovejjakul and Jerapan Pongkham in the 65kg and 60 kg
categories respectively.
Sitthi’s victory in the 80 kg bodybuilding category came after he was
able to beat his rival Moharram Panahi of Iran, the gold medalist in the
80 kg bodybuilding category in the 2009 Asian Championships held in
August this year.
Sitthi said that he had dreamt of this victory and had spent most of the
time training intensively and even thought at one point that he could
have a heart attack during the competition.
“I have been in a stressful situation for over 3 years as I wished to
reclaim my world champion’s title. I took the most serious training
ever. I cut the water for 3 days and took a long sauna to get all
remaining water out before competing on stage. I might get a heart
attack from these methods. However the result is worth it,” he said.
Thailand’s elite bodybuilders will now have a short break before
resuming their training programme in the new year. In 2010, Sitthi hopes
to gain further success at the 2nd Asian Beach Games organised from
December 8-16, 2010 in Muscat, Oman and the 2010 World Bodybuilding
Championships. He is, however, not sure how long he will be able to stay
at the top level.
“I’m getting older and I still have problem with backache. A heavy
training schedule is not good for me in the long-term period but I still
wish to compete in more bodybuilding or fitness champions for Thailand
before quitting for good. Then I will support newcomers as a coach,”
said the Thai star.
Sitthi, a native of Surin and known publicly as “Oh” for his nickname,
also dreams to make bodybuilding more popular in his motherland: “I plan
to set up a charity project to teach bodybuilding and fitness sport to
children in Surin province and also raise funds for needy children in my
hometown,” he said.”
Asian Under-19 cricket
tournament starts next week
Saudi Arabia (seen
here batting in green at the Prem Oval) were the
last winners of the Asian International Under-19
tournament held in January 2008 in Chiang Mai.
(Photo courtesy Asian Cricket Council)
From December 7 until the 18, the Asian
International Under-19 tournament will be held
at the Chiang Mai Gymkhana Club and the Prem
Oval, part of the Prem Tinsulanonda
International School. Eight countries will be
represented at the event, namely Kuwait,
Thailand, Maldives, China, Brunei, Bahrain,
Myanmar and Iran. Thailand have been placed in
Group B alongside Maldives, Bahrain and Iran.
Two matches will be played each day and everyone
is welcome to come along, support the players
and enjoy some top class cricket.
The group games will be played in the following
order: Dec. 9, Kuwait v Myanmar at Prem Oval,
Thailand v Iran at Gymkhana; Dec. 10, Brunei v
China at Prem Oval, Bahrain v Maldives at
Gymkhana; Dec. 11, Thailand v Bahrain at Prem
Oval, Brunei v Kuwait at Gymkhana; Dec. 12, Iran
v Maldives at Prem Oval, China v Myanmar at
Gymkhana; Dec. 13, Brunei v Myanmar at Prem
Oval, Bahrain v Iran at Gymkhana; Dec. 14,
Thailand v Maldives at Prem Oval, China v Kuwait
at Gymkhana.
The semi-finals, play-off matches and final will
be held over the period December 16-18.
FLCC out-foxed
by Prem Panthers
Paul Middleton
Last weekend marked the opening game of the Chiang Mai cricket
league, and an opportunity for the Prem Panthers to welcome the FLCC to the
Prem Oval based at the Prem Tinsulanonda International School campus. FLCC
won the toss and elected to field first, on a pitch that looked to be in
reasonable start of season condition after a long off-season period.
 Mukesh
Saraff was the star of the match with a 5-wicket haul.
The game started well for the visitors who took their first wicket early on,
taking Mukesh Saraff from the crease by LBW. Next into bat was Christopher
Dickerson, Prem school teacher and Panthers regular, who put in a fantastic
innings to steady the Prem ship. Christopher batted out the majority of
Prem’s innings while those around him continued to clock up the runs and
build a formidable score, having scored 38 himself. Of particular note are
the academy players Jigme Singye and Thinley Jamtsho who scored 93 and 56
respectively.
The Prem batting performance remained strong until a middle order collapse
resulting from a combination of aggressive bowling and poor batting slowed
the run rate down. Nevertheless, such was the quality of batting from the
top order batsmen, that Prem were able to conclude their innings with a
highly respectable 243 runs from their allotted 40 over period.
Lunchtime passed and the teams returned to the field of play for FLCC to
chase the 243 total that was required to win the game. Assisted by what was
a helpful bowler’s wicket, the first batsman fell early in the innings as
Thinley found the edge of the Foxy player’s bat which carried through to the
slips off the wicket keepers glove. This opened the floodgates as many more
wickets dropped in quick succession through the incredible bowling display
put on by both Thinley and fellow fast bowler, Anshu Tewari. The demolition
continued as Mukesh looked to leave his own mark on the game and this he did
in a spectacular fashion by taking five wickets at a cost of only 16 runs.
Eventually FLCC were bowled out for 59 after a seventeen over innings, which
was more indicative of the Prem bowling campaign than a negative reflection
of their opponent’s batting display. However, this is only the first game of
the new season and there is much more cricket to played yet. For a full list
of this seasons fixtures, please visit http://cricket.premcenter.org.
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