The Coco Club near Pattaya hosted 20 teams from Malaysia, England, Scotland and Thailand for a two-day international competition which took place on the 7th and 8th of December.
The Malaysian teams included two young ladies aged 11 and 13 years of age and a skipper of 17 years. The new mat, which was only laid 3 days before the tournament, meant it was a ‘level’ playing field for all the teams and the 60 players gave it their best.
The winners pose with their trophies during the presentation.
The first day’s games included some real upsets with some of the fancied Thai teams – who included the top 10 men and top 10 ladies in Thailand – being pushed all the way. However it was a young team from Malaysia, with skipper Syahmi at only 25 years old who had driven up from Langkawi overnight, who were causing all the stir.
The Thai teams included the new players of transplantees who have only been playing for 6 months and they had their moments with Team Somchai enjoying a 9-8 win over Team Bus, one of the top three teams in Thailand.
Coco’s Team Bank was on a roll, winning 6-5 in two games and making it to the semi finals. Meanwhile team Thai Ing was quietly winning all their matches in group 4, including a clash win over Team Alex from Scotland.
The major match and turning point of the whole weekend was of the two unbeaten teams in group 2 where Team Vinai edged the team of Lek, Sue and Thanom – the top 3 ladies in Thailand for 2013 – by a score of 11-10.
In the semi finals of the trophy Team Vinai secured a 12-2 result over Team Bank while Team Syahmi beat Team Ing 7-5 in a close affair.
The Plate semi-finals saw Team Lek up against English Team John and beating them 20-2, while Team Alex overcame Team Tan 10-9 in a tight match.
All matches were tight but the results reflected the crucial earlier match, with Team Vinai winning the Trophy and Team Lek winning The Plate. The presentation was made by General Eagpro, the Secretary of the Lawn Bowls Association of Thailand. Congratulations to all!
