Chiang Mai win first match of the season

FC: Chiang Mai FC win their first game of the season over Sukhothai FC. (Photo courtesy of Chiang Mai Football Club).

Nopniwat Krailerg
The first match of AIS League Division 2, Northern Zone saw the Chiang Mai FC Lanna Tigers visit Sukhothai FC at the Boonsom Martin Stadium in Sukhothai.
Sukothai started the game with the ball but the Tigers quickly took control and in the 13th minute, Anggello Machuca took the first attempt at the goal but missed. A free kick by Pichet Howkongkeaw also missed the goal but Arnon Nutpha hit the ball with a header to give Chiang Ma FC the first goal.
The second half saw neither side with an advantage and the Tigers ended the game with a 1-0 win; their first victory of the season.

Busy days for Lamphun junior cricket

Lamphun cricketers show off their new jerseys.

By Chris Dodd
Lamphun junior cricketers enjoyed two consecutive days of Sawasdee cricket competitions with a total of just over 100 children playing during the two days. Sponsorship for the two tournaments was yet again provided by Alex Schaap from Driessen-Zodiac Aerospace in Lamphun. Besides the sponsored winning trophies, there are 30 children in Lamphun who are now proud owners of Lamphun cricket T-shirts and another 20 more wearing Lamphun crickets’ distinguishable Red cap. Our appreciation and thanks go to our sponsors for funding these two fantastic events.
The first competition was held at Rimping School on Friday 15th February and included teams from 4 Lamphun schools, the hosts Rimping, Sibonyeun Wangthong, Wat Kheelek and Anubanmuanglamphun School who provided two teams to participate in the tournament. In this very competitive mini tournament there were no easy games to be had as the schools found out, the experienced team from Sibonyeun looked the likely winners as they were first up against the hosts Rimping and just managed to pip them by 4 runs in a close entertaining game.
Anubanmuanglamphun school didn’t play consistently well with either team but have some really good promising players. Wat Kheelek School got better as the tournament went on but didn’t have enough runs in their winning margins to get into the final after their win against Sibonyeun. So again it was a repeat of the first game, Rimping v Sibonyeun to fight it out for the winner’s trophy, this time Rimping made sure with a convincing win by 33 runs. Congratulations to Rimping School.
The second tournament on Saturday 16th February was played at Pathan School in Banthi, Lamphun. This should have been a 6 team tournament but unfortunately previous winners of many recent tournaments and favourites Wat Muangkwak didn’t turn up? The five remaining School teams were, the hosts Wat Pathan, Wat Ban Jam, Wat Kheelek, Pathan Pittaya and the newest School in Lamphun to play cricket, Sanpahein School.
The disappointment of Muangkwak not competing was soon forgotten as every team went about the job of winning their games, right from the start Wat Ban Jam stamped their authority by thrashing Wat Kheelek by 47 runs and continued unbeaten through to the final, finally thrashing Sanpahein in a totally one sided game by 138 runs! Wat Pathan never played consistently enough to compete but managed to chalk up a win against newcomers Sanpahein by 68 runs. Pathan Pittaya played well at times and just did enough to earn a place in the final against Ban Jam but Wat Ban Jam were imperious all day and disposed of their opponents with a comfortable 35 run win. Congratulations to Wat Ban Jam for a convincing victory. Thanks again to sponsors, Driessen- Zodiac Aerospace in Lamphun for two great days of Sawasdee Junior Cricket. www.juniorcricketthailand.com.

Argentinian wins Muay Thai match

Alan Scheinson (Argentina) from the Chay Yai Muay Thai Boxing Camp won five straight bouts during playoffs in Thailand. In this, his last fight, he won by a knock out with a kick to the neck of “Chok Mongkol” in the first round at the Tha Pae Boxing Stadium. (Photo by Chay Yai Muay Thai Boxing Camp)

Chiang Mai Senior League goes to the wire

By Richard Lockwood
The Chiang Mai Senior League was established this season with two senior men’s teams and two teams packed with promising Thai youngsters playing against each other with the prime aim of giving the juniors plenty of experience playing against senior teams.
With just two matches left the boys from CPP are still in contention to win the league title along with Chiang Mai Lanna and Floggers & Robbers, while the fourth team Gymkhana Juniors finished their campaign with a fine batting performance that included the first century partnership seen in the league between Anim and Choo.
The last three matches played at Gymkhana Club have seen the three leading teams all show their credentials as potential league champions. First Chiang Mai Lanna convincingly defeated Floggers and Robbers by seven wickets after dismissing them for 167 thanks to Tom Salusbury’s remarkable figures of 4 for 3 and Lanna’s impressive top four batsmen all made runs to extend their lead at the top of the table with four wins in five matches.
All was not lost for Floggers & Robbers who returned to Gymkhana with a much stronger team to face Gymkhana Juniors. The young Gymkhana side gave a very composed performance with the bat, as Anim reached his fifty in 60 balls and Choo made an unbeaten 40 in a total of 171 for 5. But the Floggers powerful hitting was too much for the Juniors as they raced to victory on 173 for 7 with more than 10 overs to spare as the ball disappeared to all parts of the Gymkhana Club ground.
Floggers now looked the most destructive batting side in the competition but all was to change once more as they came across an inspired CPP team. The side which arrived at Gymkhana had just represented Chiang Mai Province in the Cricket Association of Thailand’s National Youth Championships and had won the tournament, so full of confidence the youngsters gave their best league performance of the season.
CPP were put in to bat and were reduced to 13 for 3 but John and Nikom played well in the face of some testing bowling and then Frame hit a rapid unbeaten fifty when the lesser bowlers were introduced. Tail-enders Night and Song also hit out lustily to take CPP to 232 for 6 in 30 overs, the highest total made in the league so far.
Floggers have a reputation for fast scoring but even they couldn’t chase down this stiff target, although Chris Coombes took his tally of runs to 158 in four matches and Ant Jackson reached fifty in only 27 balls. Eddy finished the innings off quickly with figures of 5 for 15, as he became the first bowler to take five wickets in a match in the league. Floggers were bowled out for 150 as CPP gained victory by 82 runs to keep their league hopes alive.
The two sides meet again at Gymkhana Club on Sunday 3rd March for a winner-takes-all contest with the league title very much at stake. Spectators are guaranteed an exciting afternoon of cricket.