This year's King's Cup was held on June 26-29, 2003 with the complete details on this link.
The Final was contested by Pakorn Nemitrmansuk of Thailand and Ganesh Asirvatham of Malaysia. Featured in this blog was the story of Ganesh in the Preliminary Rounds consisting of 27 games on his way to the Final, then emerged as a Runner-up to Pakorn in their Best-of-Three.
Here’s
his story:
“The first day I won four out of six games, losing to Jocelyn Lor
and Jakkrit Klaphajone. I had an interesting first game against a 17-year-old
Thai student (in uniform!) by the name of Nawapadol Sayavase. I scored first
but after a few high-scoring moves by him, my huge lead was whittled down to 20
points. WAVEY for 54 sealed the game for me. I won 439-411, but what a close
shave!"
“The
next day I had an unforgettable encounter with Gerry Carter in game 7. He had a
great start with high-scoring turns like LIZARD for 36 and MOJO for 50. After
three moves he was a century ahead. I pulled the blank and with the other tiles
on my rack (AEGNOR) I played VENOGRAM off a hanging V for 77. A few moves later
I put down UNREINS and managed to pull the second blank to edge Carter 446-321."
“I
had two horrible games against Taewan Sutthasin and lost by big margins, no
thanks for venturing into nonce-words. I also had a repeat match against
Jakkrit and this time my plays of SAGGARD for 72 and a last bingo NAEVOID (78)
helped me beat him 406-367. I ended day two at 4-2."
“The
third day was exhausting. We had to play eight games and I knew that my opponents
could only get tougher. My first opponent was Andrew Fisher, Australia’s
top-rated player who had migrated from Britain. He started with RETRAIN but I
replied with DOOLIES for 73 and PROTIUM for 83. My third bingo was SHEITANS for
68 followed by ARETTING for 77 to wrap up the game."
“My
next opponent was Waiyapot Suthawassuntorn, another Thai schoolboy. We both
started slowly but he made a mistake by playing VINI*, which I challenged
out."
“Very
soon I found myself on table three, which meant I was in the top 12. My next
opponent was Odette Rio from the Philippines. I was fortunate enough to score
with TOUZE for 75 after she had played ANTIMERE on the triple line for 68.
Finally, I played RECEIVER to take an unassailable lead."
“Game
16 was my most memorable. I had a huge win against fellow Malaysian Cheah Siu
Hean."
“Four
more games to go for the day and suddenly I was on table one! My opponent now
was Panupol Sajayakorn, another immensely talented Thai youngster. I played
three bonus words RATTLINE, LINGUINE, ARAISED and scored big with HOAX to win
414-335. Now I was in the lead and I knew that I would have to keep on winning
to qualify for the final. I had to play Nigel again. I started with OVATION for
78; he put down STRAUCHT. Two moves on I played ISSUABLE for 80 and he answered
with NOTHING for 79."
“At
this point we were fairly even. I was lucky to pull two S letters which created
DESCANTS for 63 to take the lead. The end game was very tense and I was stuck
with the Q, an awful letter at this point! Nigel miscalculated and didn’t think
he could win. He should have taken his time to score but played out in two
moves and lost instead."
“I
lost my last game to Trevor Halsall from Australia and ended day three 7-1,
with a one game lead over Halsall in the standings."
“On
day four I had to win at least five games to guarantee my entry into the final.
I played Halsall again and won convincingly 478-344. I played three bonuses:
WANTONED, REACTIVE, and RONTGEN. I next played Pakorn, Thailand’s number one.
RESOWING, OILSTONE and TOWAGES brought me a 477-331 victory. My next opponent
was Halsall, again. This time I made no mistake and won big time with a score
of 595-266, thanks to LUXATES, EVIDENCE, LUNATIC, and RELENTED, ZIGAN and
QUIPO."
“My
next challenger was Pakorn again and he won 500-448. We had three bingos each:
BROWNIES, ODONATES, and TIERCEL by me and MELANITE, EIGHTIES and PROFANES from
him."
“Three
games left and I had to win at least two out of three rounds to confirm my
appearance in the final. Matched against Pakorn for the third time, I played
LIONETS, CHIRLED, TOWNIER and BROCADE and went out 527-449."
“My
entry into the final was more or less confirmed. I was paired against Panupol.
He had a good start and was well in the lead until I played SITUATE for 73,
CINCH for 57, and CHURLISH for 89 to put the game beyond his reach."
“I
was already confirmed for the final. My last game against Pakorn would decide
the other finalist. It turned out that Pakorn would play against me in the final
after he beat me 467-462 with words like CARIERES, ENTAYLED, OVERHEAT and
GRADINE (against my GUNWALES and TORNADOS)."
“The
final was a lackluster affair on my part. Owing to a sudden case of nerves I
screwed up the first game too badly to have a chance of winning the King’s Cup.
Pakorn had the better of me 2-1 and he deserved to be champion!”
-Ganesh
Results after 27 Rounds Preliminary:
1 Ganesh A (Malaysia) 20-7
2 Pakorn N (Thailand) 18.5-8.5
3 Panupol S (Thai) 18-9
4 Trevor Halsall (Aus) 17.5-9.5
5 Nawapadol (Thai) aka "New Kid on the Block" 17-10
6 Odette Rio (Phil) 16.5-10.5
7 Andrew Fisher (Aus) 16.5-10.5
8 Cheah Siu Hean (Singapore) 16-11
9 Mark Nyman (Eng) 16-11
10 Paul Allan (Eng) 16-11
11 Charnwit S (Thai) 16-11
12 Jakkrit K (Thai) 16-11
13 Amnuay P (Thai) 16-11
14 Carmel Dodd (Aus) 16-11
15 Antonio Malonzo (Phil) 15-12
16 Tony Sim (Sing) 15-12
17 Esther Perrins (Aus) 15-12
18 Nigel Richards (NZ) 15-12
19 Taewan S (Thai) 15-12
20 Goh Jian Pern (Sing) 15-12
21 Joanne Craig (Aus) 15-12
22 Michael Tang (Sing) 15-12
Final:
Game 1 - Pakorn won by +277
Game 2 - Ganesh won
Game 3 - Pakorn won
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