This month's sports news.

Premier League August Fixtures

Saturday 13 rd :

Everton v Manchester United

Aston Villa v Bolton Wanderers

Fulham v Birmingham City

Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion

Portsmouth v Tottenham Hotspur

Sunderland v Charlton Athletic

West Ham United v Blackburn Rovers

Middlesbrough v Liverpool

Sunday 14 th :

Arsenal v Newcastle United

Wigan Athletic v Chelsea

Saturday 20 th :

Manchester United v Aston Villa

Blackburn Rovers v Fulham

Charlton Athletic v Wigan Athletic

Liverpool v Sunderland

Newcastle United v West Ham United

Tottenham Hotspur v Middlesbrough

West Bromwich Albion v Portsmouth

Birmingham City v Manchester City

Sunday 21 st :

Bolton Wanderers v Everton

Chelsea v Arsenal

Tuesday 23 rd :

Arsenal v Fulham

Birmingham City v Middlesbrough

Bolton Wanderers v Newcastle United

Charlton Athletic v Liverpool

Portsmouth v Aston Villa

Sunderland v Manchester City

Wednesday 24 th :

Blackburn Rovers v Tottenham Hotspur

Chelsea v West Bromwich Albion

Saturday 27 th :

West Bromwich Albion v Birmingham City

Aston Villa v Blackburn Rovers

Fulham v Everton

Manchester City v Portsmouth

Tottenham Hotspur v Chelsea

West Ham United v Bolton Wanderers

Wigan Athletic v Sunderland

Sunday 28 th :

Middlesbrough v Charlton Athletic

Newcastle United v Manchester United

Season Preview

Yes folks, it's what you have been waiting for (well some of you anyway!) - the new English football season is going to kick off! Sunday August 7th sees the ‘official' start of the season with the Community Shield between Arsenal and Chelsea , but this is normally just like a training match before the proper start the following weekend.

So the big questions to be answered are, who is likely to be crowned Champions in May 2006, and who is likely to be running to their bank manager after they suffer relegation? The bookies seem fairly certain that Chelsea will retain the title, and with Arsenal selling one of their prize assets (Patrick Viera) it looks like their challenge will be weaker. However Chelsea have been having trouble getting players to sign for them, apparently because none of them fancy being splinter collectors, and the reason Scott Parker has left. Liverpool, fresh from their surprise Champions League win look a good outside bet but the really interesting one is Manchester United - how will they respond to not winning anything in the last two seasons, and how will the messy takeover affect them?

The newly promoted sides are always favourites for the drop, but at least one of them will survive, and at least one established Premier League team will lose their status - this writer's tip is that one of Charlton, Portsmouth or Blackburn will be in trouble this season, along with West Brom who only survived on the final day of last season. Wigan look the weakest of the promoted sides, while West Ham have made some good signings so far, whereas Sunderland have failed to. Bolton have done well in recent seasons, but the diet of European food may upset their stride, and they may struggle also. Fulham are also a team that need a good start, and without one could see the first managerial casualty of the season, although Graham Souness at Newcastle must also be feeling under pressure.

Some of the above will achieve boring, safe mid-table obscurity, and I expect them to be joined (yawn..) by Spurs, Birmingham , Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Everton (who surely can't repeat their over achievement of last season). So to stick my neck out I am going to make some predictions!

Champions: Liverpool

Runners up: Chelsea

Champions League qualifiers: Arsenal and Manchester United

UEFA Cup places: Middlesbrough , Spurs

FA Cup Winners: West Ham

League Cup Winners: Aston Villa

Relegated: Wigan, West Brom and Charlton.

JWS MOTORSPORT

May saw JWS Motorsport kart circuit entertaining a group of 60 guests from the UK . Since March, Joe and Wendy have been working closely with Destination Asia Bangkok to provide their clients with a day to remember. Konica Minolta headquarters are based in Milton Keynes, Joe and Wendy's old hometown, and they rewarded their top-selling dealers with an all expenses paid trip of a lifetime to Thailand . After experiencing the sights and sounds of restaurants and entertainment in Bangkok the group moved to the Dusit Resort and enjoy the delights of Hua Hin.

The guests competed in 90-minute endurance race with 9 teams. It was everybody's first experience of endurance racing and for some even karting, very quickly the team captains had calculated tactics and fuel stop strategies. The competition was very close until near the end when tactics gained advantage to the winning team. Whilst all attention was trackside the Sofitel catering staff was creating a beautiful buffet and the attention to detail was beyond expectation. At the end of the race the guests enjoyed their lunch before a champagne award ceremony for the top three teams. That evening was the peak of the trip with a formal gala dinner at their hotel.

The Managing Director of Destination Asia , Khun Addie, has since returned to the kart circuit to arrange a future event for guests from the UK in February next year and they will be staying at the Hyatt Regency, she commented that Hua Hin now has more to offer and is becoming a desirable venue for corporate trips.

Hua Hin Pool League

The new 8 - ball season started at the end of June with so far four weeks of league action, with the first round of the Toby Charnaud Memorial Cup about to take place as we went to press. League A has seen two teams start off impressively, winning all of their matches, namely London and Jungle Juice 2. League B is somewhat tighter with a plethora of drawn matches in the early weeks - Lewis's (formerly Club 99) are top but the other teams are bunched closely behind them.

It's early days for the top individuals but as you will see from the table there are already some strong contenders. However at this stage of the season there are a lot of players who are very close in terms of racks won and lost, so this will change dramatically over the next couple of months. If you are not yet part of one of the teams there is plenty of time to join one and get your name amongst the top players!

This season has seen a number of changes to the previous ones, most notably in the format and some of the game rules, but also in the running and organisation of the league. A new committee has been set up, and a sponsor in the shape of Halex Beer and Beverages is generously supporting the competitions. The committee comprises three people - Chris from Sugar Cane, Wij from London and Lek from Rose. Please contact them regarding any aspect of the league either at their respective bars or via email on huahinpoolleagues@hotmail.com. There is also a brand new website which is updated every week with all the results and tables, and also includes a list of the rules and fixtures - you can find it at www.huahinpool.multiservers.com

League B

Individual Standings:

DARTS NEWS

League Table After Week 11

Top 16 Players After Week 11

Hua Hin Hash House Harriers

Run number 47 on Saturday June 28 th saw in excess of 30 harriers of all ages and physical conditions tackle a course around the country park close to Springfield Village and Spa. Weather conditions were ideal for the runners, some of whom complained that the course was too short. Some of the slower harriers however complained of mosquito harassment, although no mosquito complained.

After a few cold beers at the end of the run all the gripes were forgotten and the usual post hash repast was taken at a local hostelry.

That run was followed by the run number 48, held on Saturday July 9 th attended by around 40 harriers including 4 members of the Jemsem family from Denmark , father, mother, daughter and son, on vacation in Hua Hin. The Jemsems enjoyed the hash so much that father Peter has vowed to start one in his home town in Denmark . ON ON Peter.

The run was hared (set) by founding member Tom Crowley (tender loving care), which proved to be much tougher than the last one, including many false trails, with the front runners coming home in just under 1 hour, followed some 30 minutes later by the back markers.

In the circle after the run, the grand master (GM) Slackbladder, calls the members of the hash to christen his wife with the appropriate hash name of Chatterbox, to which she had no answer for once. Two other hashers were christened Mother Hen and Candy Cane by the traditional beer shampoo method.

Included in this run was the issue of a batch of brand new tee shirts bearing the H2H3 logo designed by hasher Dragontail. They were made available free to all hashers completing five or more runs, more will be issued in future.

Such is the attraction of the hash, particularly amongst male members, that by popular request an inaugural “men only” hash has been scheduled for Monday the 18 th July commencing 7.00 pm. One can only suspect that the request is not only for the exercise but more as an excuse to get away from the missus/girlfriend for the evening and have a few bevies with the boys.

For information about the H2H3 call

Slackbladder 07 852 2565, Ballbanger 04 711 105, Doug 01-828 3074, or email part@hotmail.com, or donaltetley@yahoo.com.

THAILAND TO HOST 1ST INTERNATIONAL 80-80 RUGBY TOURNAMENT

Thailand has stolen the march on the rest of the world in trialling a new international competition in rugby. Called 80-80 rugby or welterweight rugby, it is full 15 a side contact rugby played under the existing International Rugby Board Laws of the Game for U19 rugby. The only difference is that it is weight grade and all players cannot weigh more than 85 kg. Thailand is hosting the world's first international tournament in the week of 6 - 14 August in Phuket.

August 21 st

Turkey , Istanbul

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