The trophy will be exhibited at Central World (Beacon Zone, first floor) from 3.30pm – 4.30pm as part of the promotional activities for the competition that features 10 Asean nations. Thai international players will be present at Sunday’s event..

The 2018 tournament features five-time champions Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Timor Leste in group A, with Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, Camdodia and Lao in Group B.

Each team will play two home and two away games in the group stage round-robin and the two two in each group will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be determined by home and away results. Timor Leste has opted to play all their games away from home.

Thailand will launch their title defence against Timor Leste at the Rajamangala National Stadium on November 9, then host Indonesia on November 17, visit the Philippines on November 21 and return to Bangkok to play Singapore on November 27.

Director and Executive Vice President of Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited, Dr. Thaweelap Rittapirom graciously presided over the opening ceremony, together with Chainarat Suchonvanit, Northern Region 1 Manager and management team to welcome over 80 guests at the event.

The one-day workshop, designed to introduce and reinforce the basics of how to safely and easily fit biking into your daily life and highlighted by topics particularly relevant to the local biking community, featured expertise from Coach JJ John Antony Bennett, a professional cycling coach from England who has advised everyone from novices to National Champions, Chinatip Boonchokhirunmeta, Chief Executive Officer of Nich Cycling, The High Performance Bicycle and  Mint-Wanicha Kanchanaapirak, Royal Cup champion of the International Angel Challenge 2018. These key speakers gave sage advice on the latest trends for bicycle accessories, maintenance tips to ensure your bike is in good working order, principles for safe riding on various terrain, cycling techniques based on sport science training principles, and goal-setting to improve your cycling.

In addition to learning about these useful topics in this workshop – and receiving an official CycleFest jersey, backpack and sport towel – participants hopped on bikes and took to trails of their choice of 10, 20, 30 or 40 kilometers. From the starting line at the Alpine Golf Resort Chiang Mai‎, riders biked past the Irrigation Canal on Rural Road 2047 before heading towards Ang Kep Nam Mae Tip. At that juncture, cyclists could either cruise directly to finish line.

“‘The Ultimate Experience in Chiang Mai’ workshop was a terrific opportunity allowing us to enhance close relationships with loyal customers and bring the good experience with professional cyclist to our customers who love cycling,” said Dr. Thaweelap Rittapirom, Director and Executive Vice President of Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited. “Apart from helping enhance the business and support service that we provide to our customers, the Bangkok Bank CycleFest 2018 events serves the welfare of communities, since bicycling is an ideal activity that helps us maintain good physical and mental health.”

This year Bangkok Bank is again the title sponsor of Bangkok Bank CycleFest 2018, a cycling and lifestyle event held under the concept ‘Ride for All’, added Dr. Thaweelap who personally extends his warm welcomes to cyclists of all abilities to register for the event and next month experience the fabulous thrill of competing on a quality closed circuit, with races ranging from individual timed rides, a challenging off road ride, a fun ride and team time trials.

Bangkok Bank CycleFest 2018 takes place November 24-25 at Siam Country Club, Pattaya. Racers on a break and non-riders alike can chill out at the Festival Village, playing games, shopping for bicycling accessories and dining.

With four events remaining in the 2018 season, Ko, a two-time LPGA Tour winner, leads the standings with 1,137 points, 383 points ahead of second-place Georgia Hall, and cannot be caught.

Meanwhile, wth three victories in 2018, Ariya Jutanugarn sits atop the Rolex Player of the Year race with 219 points. She leads second-place Sung Hyun Park by 83 points and is 109 points clear of Minjee Lee and Brooke Henderson, who are tied for third. Park, Lee and Henderson are the only players with a mathematical chance of catching Ariya. The Thai finished third and second in the last two events in South Korea and China in respective.

“I feel honored to clinch the Rookie of the Year award here on the LPGA Tour, which I wasn’t able to get on the KLPGA Tour,” said Ko, of Seoul, Republic of Korea. “I really enjoyed my first season on the LPGA and I am looking forward to having another energetic season next year.”

Ko, 23, captured her first LPGA Tour title at the 2017 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship as a non-member, a win that earned her LPGA Membership for the 2018 season. She then opened her LPGA career in style, winning February’s ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open and becoming the second player in LPGA history to win in her debut event, joining Beverly Hanson (1951 Eastern Open).

Ko has 11 top-10 finishes in 2018, with a tie for second at the HUGEL-JTBC LA Open and a tie for third at the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open joining her win in Australia. Ko also has 10 victories on the Korean LPGA Tour, where she played full-time through 2017.

With four events left in the season, Ko sits eighth on the LPGA Official Money List with $1,045,572 in season earnings. She leads the LPGA Tour in greens in regulation at 77.44% and is second in scoring average at 69.6. Should Ko lead the Tour in scoring average at the end of the season, she would join Nancy Lopez (1978) and In Gee Chun (2016) as the only rookies in LPGA history to also earn the Vare Trophy, which is given to the player with the season’s lowest scoring average.

Ko will receive the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year award at the 2018 Rolex LPGA Awards ceremony, to be held Thursday, Nov. 15, at Tiburon Golf Club during the week of the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship.

Since its inception in 1962, nine Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year winners have become members of the LPGA and World Golf Halls of Fame: Joanne Carner (1970), Amy Alcott (1975), Nancy Lopez (1978), Beth Daniel (1979), Patty Sheehan (1981), Juli Inkster (1984), Annika Sorenstam (1994), Karrie Webb (1996) and Se Ri Pak (1998). Ko is the 12th player from the Republic of Korea to capture the honor and the fourth consecutive, joining Sung Hyun Park (2017), In Gee Chun (2016) and Sei Young Kim (2015).

With three victories in 2018, Ariya Jutanugarn sits atop the Rolex Player of the Year race with 219 points. She leads second-place Sung Hyun Park by 83 points and is 109 points clear of Minjee Lee and Brooke Henderson, who are tied for third. Park, Lee and Henderson are the only players with a mathematical chance of catching Jutanugarn.

Arriving in style, the two riders headed in over Tanderrum Bridge on two Ducatis – ready to meet their match.

Heading out on court, after an initial Warm Up and some friendly words at the net it was down to business – with Miller and Dovi teaming up vs the pros. Unfair odds? Some would say, and despite a few choice shots that just about had Hewitt’s team outfoxed, the MotoGP™ riders found themselves broken – in a serve sense of course – and it was time to try and level the playing field a little.

Time out taken and ready to kick it up a gear, the gloves then came off for Dovizioso and Miller as Hewitt put them on. Donning one of Miller’s, the former Wimbledon and US Open champion now had to try it with a bit more of a handicap – but still, it was to no avail as the pros came out swinging once again. Next up? Even more of a challenge…

Although it was harder to hold the racket in the glove, it took another level up with the addition of Miller’s helmet. Pulling it on and getting used to the extra weight, Hewitt was then facing two different challenges as he tried to serve accurately looking through the visor – and stay nimble enough to return. The riders geared themselves up to give it their best shot and finally, finally managed to slice one past the pros.

So that’s it for Melbourne and now it’s time to head south through the state of Victoria as Phillip Island beckons for another spectacular battle. Thursday welcomes the riders to the pre-event Press Conference as well as a couple more Aussie-themed events before practice begins on Friday, and the lights go out for the race at 16:00 local time on Sunday (GMT+11).

Lleyton Hewitt: “It was exciting to have Andrea and Jack here at the home of the Australian Open and especially in the city of Melbourne. Victoria has so many fantastic sporting events throughout the year and this weekend these guys head out to Phillip Island. They weren’t bad at tennis! But they got better as they went on. Playing with the glove and helmet was a first! The hardest thing was the glove because it doesn’t bend a lot and it was hard to grip my racket, so it certainly gave the boys an advantage.”

Hewitt is also headed to the Island this weekend: “You hear Phillip Island is one of the best racetracks in the world so it’s great to be able to go and experience it, especially after meeting Jack. It’s important for the home nation to have someone they can barrack for, and I hope he has a fantastic week!”

Jack Miller: “It’s really nice, especially to come here and play – although I don’t know if you could call it playing, I think I was more watching Lleyton play! But it was incredible, it’s great to be back here in Australia, and I’m looking forward to another weekend in front of the home fans. I think we can do a really good job and hopefully improve on last time out. It’s a really cool pre-event! Lleyton is going to come down and watch the Grand Prix so I hope I can put on a show for him and the rest of the home fans.”

Andrea Dovizioso: “We were lucky, it’s nice to meet a champion. I love to speak to champions from different sports because I’m interested in understanding all the details. It’s a good event, we had a good match and we lost every time – or almost! And it was funny to see him playing with the helmet, that was strange! But it’s nice to have had this event in this nice city. We have two or three days after each weekend before the next one, I love Japan and I stayed there a day and then I flew to Melbourne. I love Australia and it’s nice to spend some time here before we go to Phillip Island tomorrow.”

And about that race weekend ahead? ‘DesmoDovi’ is eager to get going: “I’m happy to have this race now because it’ll be the perfect test to see where we are now. For sure we’ve improved since last year and we’re very interested to analyse it and understand it, to be ready for next year…”

Alvarez is an established name in the mixed martial arts space, and is just two years removed from being recognized as the lightweight champion of the world. But even at his peak, Alvarez decided to make a drastic change in his career by joining ONE Championship, the largest global sports media property in Asian history.

But Alvarez’ move to Asia begs the obvious question, why did he do it?

While the specific details and reasoning behind his move will most likely be kept under wraps, let’s take a look at a few reasons why Alvarez may have found value in choosing ONE Championship over all other players in the free agent market and why other stars could follow suit.

1) ONE Championship can afford him

In terms of athlete pay, you would think that Alvarez’ previous situation was paying top dollar. But that isn’t necessarily the case or we are greatly underestimating ONE Championship’s financial muscle.

ONE Championship boasts of the largest collection of martial arts world champions in the entire industry, with over 94 world champions in different martial arts disciplines. It is worth to take note that ONE Championship not only hosts bouts of the mixed martial arts variety, but also kickboxing, Muay Thai, submissions grappling, and others.

Established stars in these sports include guys like Giorgio Petrosyan, Yodsanklai Fairtex, and Nong-O Gaiyanghadao, among others — each commanding a premium for their performances. The fact that ONE Championship can afford so many world champions teases just how much financial strength the company really has.

“I believe the offer from ONE was too good to turn down,” Alvarez explained on a media conference call. “The UFC did their best considering what the average pay of an athlete is at the UFC, I believe the UFC did a great job. They did their best to keep me but they have a business model. They pay a certain amount for certain fighters for certain reasons so everybody is a different case. It is what it is, no harm, no foul but it’s a business first with these promotions.

“ONE looked out for me, looked out for my family, they understood my wants and my needs.”

Furthermore, its mixed martial arts stars include globally recognized talents and highly-paid athletes in Brazil’s Bibiano Fernandes, Singapore’s Angela Lee, and the Philippines’ Brandon Vera, as well as a few veterans such as Renzo and Ralph Gracie.

Sponsors and capital investors such as the highly-acclaimed Sequoia Capital have pumped dollars into ONE Championship, with the promotion recently announcing that it had raised a Series D round of funding to increase its total capital to in excess of $250 million.

So to say ONE Championship can afford Alvarez, or any other talent who seeks to join the Asia-based promotion, is a massive understatement. They most certainly can and will if the proverbial shoe fits.

2) Global exposure

To the Western world, ONE Championship is slowly creeping up in popularity but is still relatively unknown. But to the East, ONE Championship is a monster and the most prolific martial arts organization in Asia. This effectively creates a global duopoly in the martial arts industry with only two major players with valuation of at least $1 billion.

If you think Alvarez’ move to Asia means you’ll never see him again, think again. ONE Championship currently boasts broadcasting to 1.7 billion potential viewers in over 138 countries around the world through affiliate networks. In addition to this, the company also launched its ONE Super App earlier this year, a mobile app that lets you watch all of their live events for free.

Case in point ONE Championship’s latest offering, ONE: Kingdom of Heroes, which took place in Bangkok, Thailand a couple of weeks ago garnered an unprecedented 25 million viewers. This effectively shows just the kind of reach ONE Championship has currently, and is still growing.

In a recent interview with Forbes, Sityodtong also mentioned that a US TV deal is currently in the works and will bring ONE Championship to America.

“You will see a major U.S. TV deal coming before the end of the year,” Sityodtong told Forbes. “We’re in discussions with multiple U.S. broadcasters and we’re very close to signing with ONE.”

ONE Championship is clearly expanding at a rapid rate, one that doesn’t seem likely to be slowing down anytime soon.

3) The fastest rising sports media property in the world

ONE Championship’s growth can be charted and with the latest release of data gathered by Nielsen, Facebook and Twitter, fans have a better idea at where the company is headed.

With explosive growth in viewership and engagement metrics across both traditional and digital media, ONE Championship has become the fastest growing sports media property in the world.

According to the September 2018 results annualized by Nielsen, ONE Championship’s peak TV ratings share improved 58 times in 2018 as the Singapore-based organization had a busy 24-event calendar this year, holding cards in various iconic cities across Asia.

Furthermore, the promotion’s broadcast hours increased from a mere 12-18 hours in 2014 to 100-2800 hours in 2018. This is a tremendous jump, showcasing growth of over 233x the number compared to just four years ago.

If all this is just numbers for you, it just means that ONE Championship is making great use of the digital age to magnify growth in all sectors, with a keen focus on social media and OTT.

For Alvarez, joining ONE Championship is clearly an intelligent and wise decision, especially where reach is concerned.

4) A chance to prove himself among Asia’s best

Last but certainly not the least, the decision to join ONE Championship is a personal one for Alvarez.

“Without getting into further detail, we got offers from all around the world. We got offers from just about everyone you guys can think of and everyone expressed interest. I think the idea of ONE Championship was as far as organizations, ONE Championship was the only major organization that I haven’t held a world title in,” Alvarez said.

“I’ve won the Bellator title twice during my career, I’ve won the UFC title during my career and as far as I’m concerned ONE is the only major organization where I haven’t got to touch that world title belt.

“I think for myself, for my family, for my fans and everyone, this would mean I have a chance of making history, possibly history that could never be made again. It would take a fighter 20 years in the fight game to fight for these organizations and it’s almost like a lottery ticket to win one world title.

“But to be able to go to every major organization and fight their best guys in the world, fight the best guys in the organization, beat them one by one and win that world title means the world to me.”

ONE Championship employs a bevy of world-class talent, a lot of whom fans would do well to get to know. Stars such as Eduard Folayang of the Philippines, or Martin Nguyen of Australia would give Alvarez tough challenges and fans are already salivating at the matchup possibilities.

To be truly known and stamp his claim as “The Underground King”, Alvarez clearly stated that he had to win the ONE World Title. ONE is the only major mixed martial arts promotion in the world that Alvarez has yet to win a title in, and the 34-year-old has made it his mission to do so.

The world number five and three-time Olympic silver medallist also posted pictures on social media of himself and his wife smiling and holding their children to mark his 36th birthday on Sunday.

Lee returned to Malaysia on October 7 after treatment for early-stage nose cancer in Taiwan, but he has put public appearances on hold to focus on his recovery.

In comments published in the New Straits Times newspaper, Lee said that “my health is my main priority right now.

“The recovery process has been good so far but I still need rest. Once I am given the green light to make a comeback, I will.”

“I thank everyone who encouraged and stood by me in my most difficult time,” he added.

A return to the game would be a remarkable feat for Malaysia’s best known sports star, who has already had to fight his way back up the world rankings after being hit with a doping ban in 2015.

He tested positive for a forbidden anti-inflammatory drug at the 2014 world championships and many feared it would end his career.

The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) announced last month that Lee had been diagnosed with early-stage nose cancer.

BAM had said in July that Lee was suffering from a respiratory-related disorder and was pulling out of the World Championships and Asian Games.

He is a superstar in his homeland after his long run of success at badminton’s highest levels, despite his oft-lamented failure to win a world or Olympic title.

In an unpredictable encounter, the American overcame a second set stutter to dominate the decider and triumph 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in two hours and 25 minutes.

It was followed by another marathon match with number eight seed Kiki Bertens overcoming top-seed Angelique Kerber in a thrilling 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback victory.

The lower seeds have won all four matches to start the WTA Finals.

Before Monday, Osaka had won 14 of her previous 16 matches to be the in-form player coming into the season-finale.

But the third seed was wildly inconsistent in the Red Group opener with 46 unforced errors and was broken three times in a third set meltdown.

Stephens handled the warm conditions better to record an impressive victory.

“It’s really humid inside the stadium, so it plays a little bit different,” she told reporters.

“Obviously playing someone with a lot of confidence is always a tough task, but I think that I played well and I kept a good attitude.”

Osaka lamented her error-strewn performance.

“I think I made more unforced errors than her in the third set,” she said.

“I don’t really think you can do that against her, so definitely I think that’s what made the difference.”

It was a much-anticipated showdown between the past two US Open champions, who were making their WTA Finals debuts.

The game got off to a sluggish start with both players struggling to hold serve and few winners being struck before Stephens made her move, aggressively rattling Osaka with deep groundstrokes and pinpointing the lines.

A subdued Osaka could not unleash her powerful game and grew frustrated as Stephens drew first blood.

Osaka lifted her intensity in the second set and rediscovered the form that has propelled her to a career-high world ranking of four.

It was only the sixth time this year Osaka has played in a three-set match but the unforced errors returned in a one-sided final set.

Stephens won the pair’s only previous match two years ago in Acapulco.

– ‘Slow start’ –

In the later match, Bertens incredibly flipped the script after being a set and a break down. The Dutch player went for broke and ran the Wimbledon champion around the court to take control of the contest.

The third set started with six consecutive breaks before Bertens pulled away to cap off a memorable victory in just over two hours. Her aggressive approach saw her have a decisive 33-11 edge in winners.

“I had a slow start but I’m really happy to have turned this match,” she said after the match. “I had a chat with my coach (Raemon Sluiter) and we decided for me to go for my shots and play more aggressive.”

Kerber put the foot down early but rued missed opportunities in a topsy-turvy final set.

“I think that I dropped a little bit with my intensity,” she said. “In the third set I had so many chances and I couldn’t take it.”

Bertens qualified just days before the tournament after world number one Simona Halep pulled out due to injury, which bumped up Kerber to top billing.

The full-field tournament, with a prize purse of US$500,000, is the Asian Tour’s fourth stop in Thailand this year.

The Tour has seen many Thai golfers such as Panuphol Pittayarat and Jazz Janewattananond excelling in 2018. They will want to finish their year with a flourish on home soil.

With the season coming to an end, the Queen’s Cup hosted by Jaidee Foundation will also provide golfers with an opportunity to improve their rankings on the Asian Tour’s Habitat for Humanity Standings and secure their cards for the 2019 season.

Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee is one of the most decorated players on the Asian Tour. The establishment of his namesake foundation is one of the many ways he has given back to the game.

In particular, the Thongchai Jaidee Foundation tournament has been featured successfully on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) in the last three years. The tournament has helped paved the way for many aspiring golfers.

Thai legend Thongchai Jaidee, who leads the Asian Tour in all-time earnings, commented on his latest collaboration with the Asian Tour.

“It gives us great pleasure to announce that the Jaidee Foundation will be hosting the Queen’s Cup. It is a great honour to stage an event in the name of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit. The Jaidee Foundation has hosted the ADT for several years now and we felt the time was right to take the tournament to the next level. We hope this is a valuable addition to the schedule and provides an opportunity for the Thai players and all the other participants to fight their way to keeping their Asian Tour cards.”

Asian Tour Chief Operating Officer Cho Minn Thant hailed the addition of the Queen’s Cup hosted by Jaidee Foundation to the growing Tour 2018 schedule.

“We are thrilled to be back in Thailand for the Queen’s Cup hosted by Jaidee Foundation later this season. Thongchai has always given back to the game and we are very grateful that he has elevated his support this year through this US$500,000 tournament on the Asian Tour. It is amazing to see Thai golfers doing so well on all the Tours across the world. Events like this are tremendous in providing a pathway for our players to the world stage. ”

The morning kicks off with an exclusive message from Sitthichai “Killer Kid” Sitsongpeenong, the man of the hour himself. Fans can attend the event while tucking into a generous Clubhouse breakfast feast complemented with fun, games, and a lucky draw giveaway where everyone has a chance to win!

New York’s historic Hammerstein Ballroom will host GLORY 61 and the  GLORY 61 SuperFight Series. Thailand’s Sitthichai (121-30-5, 32 KO), current GLORY lightweight champion and one of the world’s top strikers, puts his title on the line during the GLORY 61 headline bout. He takes on the third-ranked Canadian challenger Josh Jauncey (29-8, 15 KO) in the main event featuring two of the world’s most dynamic fighters in a rematch over three years in the making.

The pair last met in the final round of a one-night lightweight contender tournament at GLORY 22 Lille in 2015. Jauncey entered that bout on a four-fight winning streak, while Sitthichai was making his GLORY debut. The future Thai lightweight champion earned a unanimous decision, halting the winning ways of the Canadian upstart.

The 26-year-old Sitthichai has recently gone on one of the most dominant runs in modern history since that first meeting. He defended his lightweight title five times while defeating the likes of Robin van Roosmalen, Marat Grigorian (three times), Davit Kiria (twice) and Dylan Salvador, while losing just once over 11 GLORY appearances,.

Live coverage can be viewed on TrueVisions Sport HD3 (668).

Suriya crossed the finish line in 3.28.13 hours to win the 140km race through spectacular scenery on the Andaman coast, from the Tsunami Memorial Park to Takua Pa district, in the Southeast Asia’s L’Etape debut.

In the women’s overall category, Petchapeirin timed 3:50.48. Each Thai racer will take part in L’Etape Tour de France next year – a chance to ride a stage with amateurs during the race – with round-trip-tickets, two nights’ accommodation and Bt200,000 prize money.

The men’s green jersey for King of the Sprints (300 metres) was won by Nattaphon Boonrod in 19.88 seconds, while Sinsupha Yibmuntasiri won the women’s competition in 27.917s.

The polka-dot King of the Mountain’s jersey (2.9km) was donned by Wanawat Klaitong for his time of 5.52min, with Sinsupha claiming the women’s jersey in 8.41. The race was attended by two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador of Spain and attracted over 1,500 competitors and more than 10,000 fans.