The three-time Asian Tour No. 1 and eight-time European Tour winner entered the last day outside the top-five which rewards players with full playing rights on the Champions and Thongchai, the first Thai player to play in the Presidents Cup in 2015,  made the biggest final-round jump as he improved from T11 overnight to second with a 16-under total. He carded five birdies and two eagles on the ninth and 17^th holes in his final 18 holes. He had carded earlier scores of 67, 71 and 68.

“Very excited. I worked well with my coach and caddie this week. The course is in great shape. When you have a good tee shot, you have a chance. Very proud with this 62 and I played well. Putted a lot better today. I attacked and targeted five or six under today as I was outside the top-five and managed to attack the par fives. Turned 50 this year and I’ll try to enjoy it although I’ll have to do things differently now. Finally I’ve got in and hopefully I’ll enjoy next year,” said Thongchai.

Shane Bertsch made a six-foot par putt on the 18th hole to complete a final-round 65 and pip Thongchai by one stroke with a 17-under total. Apart from Bertsch and Thongchai, the next three players on the leaderboard are Sweden’s Robert Karlsson, Robin Byrd and Australia’s Stephen Leaney.

Karlsson was the 54-hole leader and earned one of the five cards after a final-round 69 gave him a third-place finish at 14-under. An 11-time winner on the European Tour, Karlsson was selected by Padraig Harrington to be a vice captain at the 2020 Ryder Cup.

Thongchai, the leading career money earner on the Asian Tour, won First Stage in California by three shots with a four-day score of 13-under. He turned in rounds of 61-73-71-66, making eight birdies and an eagle to turn in the opening round 61. He has been a staple on the Asian Tour for a long time, collecting 13 wins, second most all-time behind countryman Thaworn Wiratchant. He also has eight career wins on the European Tour. The Thai legend turned 50 in November.

Despite some serious competition from Thailand’s former world Optimist champion and two-time Asian Games gold medalist Noppakao Poonpat, who was at the helm of the Thai-registered boat THA 72, Roberts and his crew finished the regatta in overall first place. THA 72 finished a close second with six second-place finishes from the eight races contested.

The Hong Kong-registered boat WindSikher of Sarab Singh and Nick Burns finished third overall, despite not starting in the final race, which was held in strong winds.

“Before the start of racing today the wind was at 24 knots and gusting up to 30 knots,” said race officer Simon James. “At the start of racing the wind was averaging 17 knots, then it went up to 22. The wind was all over the place. Safety is the most important thing and on Friday we cancelled some racing. But today the conditions were better and we were able to hold the races.”

Air Chief Marshal Chalit Pukbhasuk, a personal representative of His Majesty the King, presided over the Royal Awards Ceremony and presented the trophies to the winners on Saturday afternoon.

Russia’s Alexey Mashkin steered MegaZip to first place overall in the IRC 1 class after three wins from eight races. Hot on his heels were two Japanese skippers, with Kazuki Kihara on Char Chan in second place and Nanamori Yasuo on Emagine in third.

Proving that size doesn’t matter was Danish sailor Morten Jakobsen, who steered his small boat Over Here to victory in the IRC 2 class. Jakobsen was at the helm of the smallest boat in the class and won four of the eight races contested, just managing to get the better of two Chinese skippers.

Finishing second overall in the IRC 2 class was Shen Sheng on Bigboys Sailing Team, followed by Minzhi Feng on Highlead Encoragers.

Overall honours in the Premier class went to Hong Kong’s Geoff Hill on Antipodes, who won two of the seven races contested. Australian Peter Cremers finished a narrow second overall on Shahtoosh, just pipping Thailand’s Inthinai Yingsiri, who had to settle for third.

Australian Dan Fidock won six of the seven races to finish on top in the Multihull Racing class, with Dan Moore and Nigel Cross on Frankenstein in second place and Hong Kong’s Gaeten Verhegge skippering Team Red Blood into third.

The Firefly 850 Sports class, for mostly locally-built racing catamarans, saw Phuket-based sailor Hans Rahmann score four wins from eight races for a narrow overall victory on Voodoo, with Great Britain’s John Newnham a close second on Twin Sharks and fellow Brit Neil Ayre third on Mamba.

The International Dinghy Fleet races were held close to Kata Beach on Saturday in a bid to avoid the stronger winds further out to sea. The strong winds on Friday had caused some problems for the mostly young dinghy sailors, with the Royal Thai Navy’s inflatable boats as well as some of the boats from the main fleet coming to lend a hand and towing some dinghies to shore.

A total of 120 sailors contested six classes of dinghies during the regatta, encouraged by the organisers who are keen to promote the sport among the young generation.

“For 2019 and in past years, we have had a special focus on growing the dinghy components of our overall regatta, as we in the sailing community in Thailand can feel the positive effect this is having over the years as the sport of sailing continues to grow in popularity here,” said Kevin Whitcraft, President of the Organising Committee. “The International Dinghy fleet is a fast-growing racing programme designed to promote and encourage youth sailing in Thailand.”

In Saturday’s blustery conditions, experienced Thai sailor ML Weka Bhanubandh took the honours in the Optimist boys’ class after a near flawless series of races. Thorfun Boonak, another rising Thai star, won the Optimist girls’ class.

The Laser 4.7 class went to Paliga Poonpat, while the Laser Radial honors were taken by Suchakree Detthotsapol. Jarupong Meeusamsen won the Laser Standard class, while the 420 class was won by Thanawan Aiam-mi and Nattapon Yuang-ngam.

There has also been an ongoing Phuket Dinghy Series, which concluded on Saturday and that was won by Nammapat Pooltong.

The IOM class for one-metre radio-controlled boats, which made their debut at this year’s Phuket King’s Cup Regatta, was won by China’s Gong Qunxing.

The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta is organised by the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Organising Committee under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, in conjunction with the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the RTN 3 and Phuket province.

There were five days of racing for the keelboats and multihulls.For the International Dinghy Classes and IOMC, four consecutive days of racing were scheduled from Wednesday.

The 29-year-old from Nonthaburi, on loan from Muangthong United, scored the first goal for Yokohama before the home team accomplished their J-League trophy status with a 3-0 win. With 70 points, six ahead of second-placed Tokyo, Yokohama won the 2019 League title, their fourth time after 1995, 2003 and 2004.

The former Thailand’s skipper registered himself as the first Thai international to win a J-League, one of leading top flights in Asia. He has produced three goals for Marinos in the entire season.

“This success did not come easily,” said Theerathon. “It’s a team effort. So, I have to give credits to all team members,” added the first Asean player to win the league.

“I’m really honoured to achieve this. Thank you all my fans for support,” he said.

However, he is the second Thai to win a major league in Asia after Piyapong Pue-on, then representing Lucky-Goldstar, won K League (South Korea) in 1985.

Only five of the nine classes were able to do any racing. The winds gusted from 30 to 35 knots in the morning off the southern end of the resort island, before easing slightly to allow for one race to be held late in the afternoon.

“We had winds gusting from 30 to 35 knots during the morning. Safety is the number one issue, so we had to cancel some of the racing,” said Race Officer Simon James.

When racing did eventually start in the afternoon, defending champion Australian Ray Roberts on Team Hollywood had a narrow win for the overall lead in the top flight IRC Zero class. He edged out Thailand’s former world Optimist champion and two-time Asian Games gold medalist Noppakao Poonpaton, who was at the helm of the Thai-registered boat THA 72.

With one day of racing to go, little separates these two speedy 52-foot racing boats.

The Hong Kong-registered WindSikher of Nick Burns and Sarab Singh finished third overall.

Russia’s Alexey Mashkin extended his overall lead in the IRC 1 class with a second place on his boat MegaZip, followed by Japan’s Kazuki Kihara on Char Chan, which won Friday’s race. In third place overall was another Japanese skipper, Nanamori Yasuo, on Emagine.

The IRC 2 class overall leader was Neil Semple and Morten Jakobsen on Over Here, closely followed by China’s Shen Sheng on Bigboys Sailing Team. Minzhi Feng, another Chinese sailor, was third overall on Highlead Encoragers.

The overall lead in the Premier class was held by Peter Cremers from Australia on Shahtoosh. Fellow Aussie Geoff Hill was second overall on Antipodes, followed by Thailand’s Ithinai Yingsiri on Pine-Pacific.

Only two boats contested the Firefly 850 Racing class on Friday, the last of the classes racing, and despite a second-place finish, Great Britain’s John Newnham’s Twin Sharks still has a narrow overall lead. Hot on his heels is Hans Rahmann on Voodoo.

The strong winds also caused some problems for the International Dinghy Fleet sailing off Kata Beach, with the Royal Thai Navy’s inflatable boats as well as some of the boats from the main fleet coming to lend a hand and towing some dinghies to shore. However, in the afternoon the wind dropped and racing resumed.

At the end of a windy day, experienced sailor M.L. Weka Bhanubandh led the boys’ Optimist class, with Thorfun Boonak in front in the girls’ Optimists.

Thanawan Aiam-mi had the overall lead in the 420 class, Suchakree Detthotsapol extended his lead in the Laser R class and Jarupong Meeusamsen cemented his lead in the Laser Standard class. Paliga Poonpat also kept her lead in the Laser 4.7 class after some close racing in difficult conditions.

The testing conditions were also noted by the large contingent of Chinese media, most of whom were drenched as they made their way across the windy, choppy sea on small inflatable boats to the Royal Thai Navy battleship anchored offshore, which is the media center. Friday’s racing was sponsored by the Belt and Road Regatta, which will be held in Beihai, China, on December 13.

It will be the first regatta in China named after the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s global infrastructure project, aimed at enhancing friendship and communications between China and Southeast Asian countries via sailing.

In the IOM class for radio-controlled boats, Thailand’s Vanaran Yusananda shot to the overall lead after four races held off southern Phuket. Vanaran is one of 14 Thais testing his skills as a radio sailor and jumped from fourth place on Thursday to the lead on Friday.

Maintaining his second place on Friday was China’s Yan Jiangiun, who held the same position after Thursday’s races. Australian Tim Brown was also consistent and kept his third position on Friday. A total of 24 radio sailors are racing, the first time the class was included in the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta.

The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta is organised by the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Organizing Committee under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, in conjunction with the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the RTN 3 and the Province of Phuket.

There are five days of racing for the keelboats and multihulls, with a rest day on Thursday, December 5. For the International Dinghy Classes and IOM, four consecutive days of racing were scheduled from Wednesday (December 4) .

A total of 120 mostly young sailors contested five classes in the International Dinghy Fleet off Kata Beach in good winds and slightly choppy conditions.

Further south on Phuket, at the Laem Phanwa Phuket Port, a fleet of 24 one-metre long radio-controlled yachts also held a day’s racing, the first time these boats have been part of the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta.

Assistant Race Officer Captain Peera Sakultem of the Royal Thai Navy, who plays a leading role in organizing the dinghy fleet, said: “It was perfect today – there was good wind all day. The sailors were all happy because of the great conditions.”

Experienced Thai sailor ML Weka Bhanubandh maintained his lead in the Optimist Fleet with three wins from six races and looks hard to beat. His nearest challenger is Bunyamin Klongsamoot, followed by female sailor Thorfun Boonnak in third place.

In the 420 class, with two sailors per boat, Thanawan Aiam-mi and Nattapon Tuang-ngam maintained their lead with six wins from six races. They were followed by Panuwat Hankla and Thun Tunhund in second place, with Chanintron Paosen and Apichet Wisetporsri in third.

Another clear winner was Suchakree Detthotsapol, who has five wins from six races in the Laser R Class. He was followed by Chairat Dangdeemark and Kartoon Jundet.

In the Laser Standard class, the leader by a country mile was Jarupong Meeusamsen with victories in all six races. In second and third was Thanakan Korkerd and Prakasit Hogpradap, respectively.

The final class, for Laser 4.7s, saw female sailor Paliga Poonpat with good lead after three wins from six races. Intira Parnpiboon, another promising female sailor, was second overall after clocking up two wins from the six races held so far. Christopher Marsh had one win to be in third place.

In the south of Phuket on Thursday, the one-metre radio-controlled boats raced in the IOM class and Chinese skippers finished first and second, with an Australian in third place.

Gong Qunxing won five of the eight races contested to take the overall lead. He was followed by fellow Chinese competitor Yan Jiangium and Australian Tim Brown.

A total of 14 Thais are taking part in the IOM races and the best placed was Vanaran Yusananda, who came in fourth. This rapidly growing sport has joined the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta for the first time and is expected to become a fixture in the coming years.

The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta is organised by the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Organizing Committee under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, in conjunction with the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the RTN 3 and the Province of Phuket.

The 16th-time champions Thailand needed to beat Vietnam by two goals to book their berth into the semi-finals but the 2-2 result meant they finished third in the group behind the neighbouring country, the group winner, and Indonesia (second place) who both advanced to the next stage.

It was a heart-breaking finish for the Kingdom who blew away an early lead following two goals by Supachai Jaided and Suphanat Mueanta in the first 10 minutes.

It did not take much time for Vietnam, the region’s No 1 football nation, to strike back when Nguyen Tien Linh sent a header home in the 15th minute.

Vietnam finally found the equaliser with a penalty kick by Linh in the 69th minute. Thailand went on all-out attack, but Vietnam proved a hard nut to crack.

Not only have the men’s football team suffered a huge flop, Thailand have performed far from impressive in other disciplines in the 30th SEA Games with only 15 gold medals so far, far from the target of 120.

Steering the THA 72 in shifting winds and difficult conditions, Noppakao finished second in the first race and took the honours in the final race in the top flight IRC Zero class.

However, her efforts were not enough to take the overall lead in the class, which went to Australian veteran and defending champion Ray Roberts on Team Hollywood. Roberts’ boat also registered a first and second in today’s races to maintain his overall lead in the IRC Zero class.

“We had very good teamwork today,” Noppakao said after the end of the two races. “We also had a lot of fun. Hollywood is very good – they are very good competitors.”

Nick Burns and Sarab Singh are third overall on WindSikher, and with two more days of racing to go, the contest is wide open.

Russia’s Alexey Mashkin didn’t have a great day, but a third and second place finish in the two races contested were enough to keep him in the overall lead of the IRC 1 class on his boat MegaZip.

Hot on his heels in overall second place is Japan’s Nanamori Yasuo on Emagine, with countryman Kazuki Kihara on Char Chan a close third.

Chinese-skippered boats were first and third overall in the IRC 2 class, with Shen Sheng on Kata BigBoys Sailing Team stretching his lead with second and third place finishes. Steering one of the smallest boats in the class and separating the Chinese skippers was Morton Jacobsen on his agile little boat Over Here.

Bringing up third overall in the IRC 2 class was Minzhi Feng on Highland Encoragers, whose results are getting better by the day.

Two Hong Kong boats are leading the Premier class after five races, with Geoff Hill on Antipodes holding a narrow lead over Peter Cremers on Shahtoosh. Thailand’s Ithinai Yingsiri is in third place on Pine-Pacific.

In the Multihull Racing class, Australian Dan Fidock made it six wins from six races on his boat Fugazi to extend his overall lead over Germany’s Gaetan Verhegge on Team Red Blood and Great Britain’s Dan Moore on Frankenstein.

One of the highlights of the regatta is the International Dinghy Classes for young sailors and today a clinic was held as well as the first races. The special guest at the clinic was John Doerr, a member of the World Sailing International Jury, who kindly shared and updated the young dinghy sailors on the rules.

The aim of the clinic was to help youth sailors improve their skills and knowledge.

A total of 126 young sailors are racing in the International Dinghy Classes, which are being held off Kata Beach, with members of the Royal Thai Navy playing a key role.

In the first two races in the 420 class today, Thailand’s Thanawan Aiam-mi and Nattapon Yuang-Ngam scored two wins for the overall lead. In second place was Nattapong Yuang-Ngam and Chawaluk Thammawat, followed by Chanintron Paosen and Apichet Wisetporsri.

Winners of the other youth classes were Weka Bhanubandh in the Optimists, Suchakree Detthotsapol in the Laser Radial, Paliga Poonpat in the Laser 4.7 and Jarupong Meesusamsen in the Laser Standard class.

Today’s races and prize-giving event was sponsored by RMA Group and Ford. Tomorrow (Thursday) is a rest day at the Keelboats and Multihulls will start again on Friday and finish on Saturday.

The Phuket King’s Cup Regatta is organised by the Phuket King’s Cup Regatta Organizing Committee under the auspices of the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, in conjunction with the Yacht Racing Association of Thailand, the Royal Thai Navy and the Province of Phuket.

There are five days of racing for the keelboats and multihulls, with a reserve day on Thursday (December 5). For the International Dinghy Classes, four consecutive days of racing were scheduled from December 4-7 as well as IOMC.

The teenaged duo are amongst five Asian junior golfers, including India’s Kartik Sharma, Chinese Taipei’s Chuan Tai Lin and Korea’s Jang Hyun Lee, selected to compete in the two-day competition against the United States Team in what is the prelude to the Presidents Cup which takes place at the same iconic venue from December 9-15.

While Haotong Li, China’s No. 1, will feature in the showpiece event, all eyes will be on Jin and Xu, both 17, as they have been touted as rising stars in the game.

Jin, who hails from Beijing, was a finalist at the U.S. Junior Amateur this year and also finished third at the Junior PLAYERS Championship. He has verbally committed to Oklahoma State University, which alumni include PGA TOUR stars Rickie Fowler, Charles Howell III and Viktor Hovland.

“It’s definitely a great honour. It’s always been one of my goals to play in the Junior Presidents Cup and it’s great to have the opportunity to represent my home country and the International Team,” said Jin.

He comes from a family with some golf pedigree. His brother Cheng Jin was the winner of the 2015 Asia Pacific Amateur Championship, which earned him a start in the Masters Tournament in 2016, and also won on the PGA TOUR Series-China in 2014 as an amateur.

Jin is excited at the opportunity to play under the captaincy of Stuart Appleby of Australia, a nine-time PGA TOUR winner and five-time International Team member in the Presidents Cup. He is also keen to tackle the challenging Alister MacKenzie-designed Royal Melbourne masterpiece.

He He

“It’ll be an honour being part of Stuart’s team. I’m sure he’ll share his experiences with us and show what it’s like to play alternate shot and the strategies required for match play,” said Jin, who lists Tiger Woods as his role model. “My brother has been down there previously and says the golf course plays completely differently and I’m interested to see how it’ll work out.”

Ultimately, Jin hopes to find his way to the PGA TOUR. “The goal is to make the PGA TOUR and another goal is to play in the Masters, which will be awesome. My brother competed in the Masters after he won the Asia Pacific and I’ve set it as one of my goals to get there as well,” he said.

Xu, who has verbally committed to the University of San Diego, is equally excited at the opportunity to feature in the Junior Presidents Cup. “To represent the International Team is truly awesome. I’ve not been to Australia previously and I’m looking forward to the whole atmosphere and experiencing the culture,” said Xu.

“I would ask Stuart how to play well under pressure and how to manage it and turning that into something positive.”

Like Jin, Woods is also Xu’s idol. Woods, an 82-time PGA TOUR champion, will become only the second playing captain in the Presidents Cup when he leads the U.S. Team against an Ernie Els-led International Team next week. “He’s a legend, he’s just incredible,” said Xu. “He’s dominated for so many years and he’s my favourite player.”

He hopes to also feature on the PGA TOUR in a few years’ time. “I feel that if I keep grinding and work hard every day, I feel that it’s definitely possible. I feel you can’t force it and you just have to trust the process. It’ll eventually come,” said Xu, who hails from Guangzhou.

“I want to improve my overall health and fitness level. I didn’t work out previously and now I realise how important it is to get fitter and to be able to hit it far is very important. I’ve been working on my overall physical health and minding my nutrition as well.”

Dorna Sports is delighted to announce a new partnership with Hawkers that will see the Spanish eyewear company become the title sponsor of the European Talent Cup in the FIM CEV Repsol; one of the most important paths on the Road to MotoGP™. The Cup will therefore be called the Hawkers European Talent Cup.

This agreement is a key step forward for Hawkers Motorsports in their aim to promote and support young talent on the way to the top tiers of motorcycle racing. Three years ago, the brand launched the Hawkers Riders Academy, and that was followed by the Hawkers Riders Cup, a one-make competition aimed at giving youngsters their first taste of competition.

Becoming the title sponsor of the European Talent Cup is another important step towards achieving the dream of the World Championship – for both the riders in the Cup and Hawkers as a brand.

Ximena Guzman, Marketing Director at Hawkers, says: “Hawkers was born in MotoGP, therefore we have always been involved in motorcycle sport, especially in supporting the future of young riders. We are very proud to continue this work with Dorna as the title sponsor of the European Talent Cup, the ideal place to realise their dreams of reaching the MotoGP World Championship.”

Pau Serracanta, Managing Director at Dorna Sports, says: “We’re delighted to begin this relationship with a company such as Hawkers, who have always supported young riders and talents. This agreement to become the title sponsor of the European Talent Cup in the FIM CEV Repsol is more important backing for the those at the beginning of their professional careers, racing on the Road to MotoGP.”

The 2020 Hawkers European Talent Cup begins in Portimão, Portugal, in April.