Go to: Commentary Games Players tsh Reports Scoreboard Standings Photos Prizes

Back to 2014 King's Cup Live Coverage

2014 King's Cup Commentary: Round 1

[ ]

Go to: Before the Tournament, Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Round 28, Round 29, Final Round 1, Final Round 2.

Round 1 Auto-Commentary

Nigel Richards (NZL) takes the lead, 1-0 +311. Gerald Carter (Eng) is +206. Martin Teo (MYS) is +165. Sitthichoke Boonsiriphan (THA) is +163. Taewan Sutthasin (THA) is +156. Puttapong Moonsarn (THA) is +154. Thitipol Barameemuang (THA) is +153. Jakkrit Klaphajone (THA) is +142. Preedee Khongthanarat (THA) is +126. Ken Smith (USA) is +109.

High Win: Nigel Richards (NZL) 624-313 vs. Dorai Raja (SGP). Low Win: Charae Worapotpisut (THA) 388-284 vs. Marites Carreon (PHL). High Loss: Karen Richards (AUS) 430-444 vs. Charnwit Sukhumrattanaporn (THA). Low Loss: Thanatchaporn Thiankarojanakul (THA) 283-489 vs. Gerald Carter (Eng).

We began Round 1 by pairing the top quarter against the third quarter at random, then pairing players missing opponents with each other as appropriately as possible. We are still waiting for the six-player Zambian contingent to arrive, and several Thai players were unable to arrive in time for the rescheduled early start; a few showed up but did not know that they were supposed to sit and wait for their opponents, and ended up standing around and then submitting bye slips.

One of the standing Thai players was supposed to play late-arriving Panupol Sujjayakorn (THA); when they couldn't be located, Panupol was instructed to play Amnuay Ploysangngam (THA), and to be sure that they finished their game within 30 minutes. They did so precisely, ending in a 475-475 tie.

We broke after this round for opening ceremony rehearsal, followed by the opening ceremony itself. We were honoured by the presence of Her Royal Highness, Princess Soamsawali, who accepted gifts from the organizers, and bestowed awards on some of the key people involved in making this event happen. Each national team was presented to Her Royal Highness, in alphabetical order but ending with the Thais. We were entertained by a girls' choir, who in addition to singing beautifully, performed an accompanying dance number. The players then returned to their seats to play casual games while the royal tour continued with the observation of a demonstration on the giant robot board, between Gerald Carter (Eng) and Charnwit Sukhumrattanaporn (THA).