This month's sports news.

Premier League April Fixtures

Saturday, 01 April 2006

Birmingham v Chelsea , 18:45 ESPN

Arsenal v Aston Villa, 21:00

Bolton v Man Utd, 21:00 ESPN

Everton v Sunderland , 21:00

Fulham v Portsmouth , 21:00

Man City v Middlesbrough , 21:00

Newcastle v Tottenham, 21:00 STAR

West Brom v Liverpool , 23:15

Sunday, 02 April 2006

West Ham v Charlton, 22:00 ESPN

Tuesday, 04 April 2006

Blackburn v Wigan , 02:00 ESPN

Saturday, 08 April 2006

Tottenham v Man City , 18:45 ESPN

Charlton v Everton, 21:00

Middlesbrough v Newcastle , 21:00 ESPN

Portsmouth v Blackburn , 21:00 STAR

Sunderland v Fulham, 21:00

Wigan v Birmingham , 23:15 ESPN

Sunday, 09 April 2006

Aston Villa v West Brom , 18:00 STAR

Chelsea v West Ham, 18:00 ESPN

Liverpool v Bolton , 20:00 ESPN

Man Utd v Arsenal, 22:00 ESPN

Saturday, 15 April 2006

Man Utd v Sunderland , 01:45 ESPN

Bolton v Chelsea , 18:45 ESPN

Arsenal v West Brom , 21:00

Everton v Tottenham, 21:00

Fulham v Charlton, 21:00

Newcastle v Wigan , 21:00

Portsmouth v Middlesbrough , 21:00

West Ham v Man City , 21:00

Blackburn v Liverpool , 23:15 ESPN

Sunday, 16 April 2006

Aston Villa v Birmingham , 18:00 ESPN

Monday, 17 April 2006

Tottenham v Man Utd, 18:45 ESPN

Charlton v Portsmouth , 21:00

Chelsea v Everton, 21:00

Man City v Arsenal, 21:00

Middlesbrough v West Ham, 21:00

Sunderland v Newcastle , 21:00

Tuesday, 18 April 2006

West Brom v Bolton , 02:00 ESPN/STAR?

Wednesday, 19 April 2006

Wigan v Aston Villa, 01:45 ESPN/STAR?

Thursday, 20 April 2006

Birmingham v Blackburn , 01:45 ESPN/STAR?

Saturday, 22 April 2006

Arsenal v Tottenham, 21:00

Aston Villa v Man City , 21:00

Blackburn v Chelsea , 21:00

Bolton v Charlton, 21:00

Everton v Birmingham , 21:00

Fulham v Wigan , 21:00

Man Utd v Middlesbrough , 21:00

Newcastle v West Brom , 21:00

Portsmouth v Sunderland , 21:00

West Ham v Liverpool , 21:00

Saturday, 29 April 2006

Birmingham v Newcastle , 21:00

Charlton v Blackburn , 21:00

Chelsea v Man Utd, 21:00

Liverpool v Aston Villa, 21:00

Man City v Fulham, 21:00

Middlesbrough v Everton, 21:00

Sunderland v Arsenal, 21:00

Tottenham v Bolton , 21:00

West Brom v West Ham, 21:00

Wigan v Portsmouth , 21:00

All times, dates and TV coverage are correct at time of going to press, but are subject to alteration. Please note that the information for matches after 16 th April is highly likely to change.

Hua Hin Pool League

By the end of April the top two divisions will be all but decided, with only one league match remaining after that, while the Fun league will still have another 5 rounds of matches. Sugar Cane sit atop the PPC League with a handy 3 points gap over Lucky Shot – their match on 5 th April could be crucial. At the other end of the table it looks as though it is going to be a battle between U-Turn, Mondo and Octopussyto try and avoid relegation – U-Turn have a series of games against the top half teams, so look favourites for the drop, while the other relegation position could well be decided by the match between the other two, also on 5 th of this month.

The All In Hua Hin Championship is a lot tighter at the top and promotion could go to any of the current top 4; meanwhile the bottom 4 need to up a gear if they are to avoid relegation. The Hua Hin Kebabs Fun League is a lot harder to assess at this stage, but again the current top 4 seem to be favourites for promotion. Individual player tables will be printed next month, but if you are keen to find out how you or a favourite player is getting on, please contact one of the organisers, Chris at Sugar Cane, or for other information please visit the website at http://huahinpool.multiservers.com

Current League Tables as at 19/3/2006

Premier Property Center League

All In Hua Hin Championship

Hua Hin Kebabs Fun League

Shaded areas show promotion and relegation positions.

1 st round Halex Shield Trophy takes place on Monday 10 th April.

BG V JWR

Nervana V Road Hole

Billly's Babes V SSS

Octopussy or P & P V Dick's Office

HSC V Nervana

Rose B V PW London

JWB/U-Turn V JJ 2

Sabai V Billy's

Fixtures for April

Premier Property Center League

All In Hua Hin Championship

Hua Hin Kebabs Fun League

Key JJ 1 = Jungle Juice First Team Rose B = Rose Bar Second Team SSS = Shonas

JJ 2 Jungle Juice Second Team HSC = Halex SugarCane BG = Bamboo Grove

JWS MOTORSPORT

The first JWS Motorsport Individual Challenge is now complete. After some close racing Vaughan Pope (Von) became the first individual champion. It was no easy ride for him as Hua Hins young racer Steve Zwarts ran a close second with Tanatkit Buahorn (Hern) coming 3rd. Although the championship was over seven races only the six best results achieved by each individual counted towards the championship with the lowest race points dropped.

At the beginning of this championship the drivers raced for fun but very quickly became engrossed into competition racing. Whilst still fun, these guys raced like professional drivers with all the trials and tribulations associated with competition racing. The quality of driving throughout the championship was very good and all drivers improved their lap times during the season. Joseph Smith, Managing Director JWS Motorsport said “The drivers put on a great spectacle and raced like real professionals, it was great fun to watch” A second championship is planned during the rainy season so watch this space.

POINTS VON STEVE HERN BENNY JACK LARS JANOS

Final Points 580 550 515 480 370 345 310

Hua Hin Darts

The season had almost finished at time of going to press, but there were still a couple of outstanding matters, including the top individuals competition. Full details of this and the final league table will appear in next month's magazine.

Hua Hin Hash House Harriers

This hash was hared by Ballbanger and yours truly, 69 Forever. We recce'd a fine and difficult hash on the Thursday - quite a good part of which was overgrown and entangled jungle with no true path, and quite a bit of it we had to negotiate on hands and knees. Our plan was to return the next day with machetes at the ready to make the trail a little more passable, but the Friday suffered an unseasonable deluge and the route became impassable. We subsequently had to sort out a new route on the Saturday morning and the resulting hash was much easier and after the hash there were one or two complaints (notably from Onefer) that it had been far too easy. Yes, well, you can please some of the people all of the time and some people never. The hash started from a large car park in Cha-am between the Metjavalai and Long Beach Hotels and veered around the Harbour and back thru some surprisingly attractive and unspoiled land. We had a few visitors, Bob the Builder and the Diva Barbados, a charming lady who surprisingly came from the West Indies. Hollow Legs chose to walk as he claimed to be carrying an injury, but he arrived back at the Down Down at a surprising pace fearful maybe the beer would be gone. But no, there was the usual enthusiastic abuse by all and sundry, a lot of it directed at the hares as usual. After the down down we repaired to the Irish pub and enjoyed the variety of beers there because they held a bit of a beer festival between pubs in that area. A good time for all, I think. On On

The Hua Cha Hash Pedalers will trip off to Puk Tian Beach north of Cha Am in Mid April. Look for more on this in www.huahin-hash.com or call Ballbanger, AKA Don Tetley at 050887181. The Hash Pedalers is a bicycle 'Hash' still in the formative stage and encourages any/all biking enthusiasts to join us on a Trip....

Formula 1 Season 2006

With the new season now underway, here is the second and final part of our preview of the 2006 competition, showing the ciruits to be raced on in the latter part of the year, as well as a brief review of the races held so far.

The opening race of the new season, in Bahrain, saw Renault's Fernando Alonso start the defence of his world championship in style by fending off Michael Schumacher to win the Bahrain Grand Prix. Schumacher led from the start as Alonso rose from fourth on the grid to second, and the Renault closed on to the tail of the Ferrari after their first stops. Alonso took a narrow lead after a later final stop and held on to the end. McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen was third after starting from the back of the grid, ahead of Honda's Jenson Button.

Giancarlo Fisichella led from the front to earn his first Grand Prix win in a year, and his third career win, holding off team-mate Fernando Alonso's mid-race charge at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. Briton Jenson Button rarely threatened the Renaults but came home third for his first podium finish of the season, ahead of McLaren's Juan Pablo Montoya. Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher were fifth and sixth. Massa was very impressive in using a one-stop strategy to move up from 19th on the grid, and held off a charging Schumacher in the closing laps as his team-mate fought up from 14th on the grid.

From next month onwards we will be showing the driver's and constructor's championship tables.

Tracks:

RACE 10 (02 July 2006)

USA

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Track Lenght: 4.192 km

Laps: 73

Race Distance: 30.016 km

RACE 11 (16 July 2006)

FRANCE

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours

Track Lenght: 4.411 km

Laps: 70

Race Distance: 308.586 km

RACE 12 (30 July 2006)

GERMANY

Hockenheimring

Track Lenght: 4.474 km

Laps: 67

Race Distance: 306.458 km

RACE 13 (06 August 2006)

HUNGARY

Hungaroring

Track Lenght: 4.384 km

Laps: 70

Race Distance: 306.873 km

RACE 14 (27 August 2006)

TURKEY

Istanbul Otodrom

Track Lenght: 5.333 km

Laps: 58

Race Distance: 305.356 km

RACE 15 (10 September 2006)

ITALY Autodrome Nazionale di Monza

Track Lenght: 5.793 km

Laps: 53

Race Distance: 306.720 km

RACE 16 (17 September 2006)

BELGIUM

Spa-Francorchamps

Track Lenght: 6.973 km

Laps: 44

Race Distance: 306.812 km

RACE 17 (01 October 2006)

CHINA Shanghai International Circuit

Track Lenght: 5.451 km

Laps: 56

Race Distance: 305.256 km

RACE 18 (08 October 2006)

JAPAN Suzuka Circuit

Track Lenght: 5.807 km

Laps: 53

Race Distance: 307.573 km

RACE 19 (22 October 2006)

BRAZIL

Interlagos / Sao Paulo

Track Lenght: 4.309 km

Laps: 71

Race Distance: 305.909 km

Chess Nights

For all you lovers of bishops, pawns and knights, regular chess nights are being held at dick's office (see advert near the back of this issue) every monday from around 7pm. Other games can also be indulged in, such as backgammon or draughts but you will have to bring your own boards for that. A limited number of chess boards are available but feel free to bring your own as well. Contact Dick on 09-021-1057 or email huahindick@hotmail.com for more details. Dick's office is located in Soi Sarawat (Hotpot).

World Cup Qualifiers - Dark Horses

Holland (Group C)

Fixtures

Sun 11 June (14:00): Serbia & Montenegro v Holland (Leipzig)

Fri 16 June (17:00): Holland v Ivory Coast (Stuttgart)

Wed 21 June (15:00): Holland v Argentina (Frankfurt)

Manager/Coach: Marco van Basten succeeded Dick Advocaat in July 2004. It was something of a gamble given his lack of coaching experience but he has successfully assimilated several young players into the team.

Key Players: Captain Edwin Van der Sar took the armband off Edgar Davids. The midfielder is now back in favour after regaining form and fitness but Van der Sar will continue to lead the team, and deservedly so after many fine performances for club and country.

Ruud van Nistelrooy. The Dutch rely on the Manchester United striker for goals and will struggle if he is not on form.

Assessment: Probably the best team never to lift the World Cup. Two finals, semi-finals, quarterfinals but never the grand prize. It was a shock when they didn't qualify for the finals in 2002, caused mainly by poor team spirit and arguments amongst the players. It appears that this problem has now been turned around and the current squad have shown a great togetherness. They do lack experience though, and this may be what prevents them going any further than the quarterfinals.

Portugal (Group D)

Fixtures

Sun 11 June (20:00): Angola v Portugal (Cologne)

Sat 17 June (14:00): Portugal v Iran (Frankfurt)

Wed 21 June (20:00): Portugal v Mexico (Gelsenkirchen)

Manager/Coach: Charismatic Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari. Known as “Big Phil” and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Gene Hackman, Scolari guided Portugal to the final of Euro 2004 but has yet to win over the Portuguese public.

Key Players: Captain Luis Figo. Back from international retirement, the talismanic figure of Portuguese football was quickly given back the armband that he regarded as his own and he is now definite this will be his swansong.

Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo is the heir apparent to Figo. With his dazzling feet and blinding skills he has the ability to illuminate the finals.

During qualifying striker Pauleta ended the qualifying campaign with a brace that saw him overtake Eusebio's record of 41 goals for Portugal. He came top of the scoring charts in the European zone with 11.

Assessment: Qualified for the finals with extreme ease, seven points clear and undefeated, and have been rewarded with what looks on paper to be the easiest group. Their main weaknesses are that some players fail to perform at major tournaments, in particular Pauleta, and also there are major debates as to who is the first choice goalkeeper. They are solid in defence, exceptional in midfield and have plenty of options in attack. The remaining players from the ‘golden generation' of Portuguese football are determined to win a major trophy. They have a very good chance of reaching the quarterfinals, and if they get there who knows?

Mexico (Group D)

Fixtures

Sun 11 June (17:00): Mexico v Iran (Nuremberg)

Fri 16 June (20:00): Mexico v Angola (Hanover)

Wed 21 June (20:00): Portugal v Mexico (Gelsenkirchen)

Manager/Coach: Ricardo La Volpe took over in October 2003, and they have only lost twice since.

Key Players: Captain Rafael Marquez is the only player in the team who could argue to be genuine world-class. Marquez plays just in front of the back four for country and club, Barcelona, and helped the Catalans to a Spanish title in 2005.

All-action midfielder Jaime Lozano is more concerned with getting goals than stopping them and he struck 11 times during qualification.

If he is recalled to the squad for the finals, fiery striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco will give the Mexicans experience, unpredictability and a creative force they appear to be lacking.

Assessment: Mexico have reached the quarterfinal stage twice before in World Cups, albeit only when it was played there in 1970 and 1986. Qualification was a stroll in the weak Concacaf group, but traditionally South American sides don't do too well in tournaments away from their own continent. The goalkeeper Oswaldo Sanchez is in the form of his life and along with the solid defence and presence of Marquez, Mexico should be able to keep it tight at the back. However scoring against Dominica is slightly different to scoring against Argentina. Of the two who could hit the back of the net, Blanco is currently out of favour and Jared Borgetti is a bit-part player for Bolton these days. They have a good chance of reaching the second round but anything beyond that is unlikely.

Croatia (Group F)

Fixtures

Tue 13 June (20:00): Brazil v Croatia (Berlin)

Sun 18 June (17:00): Japan v Croatia (Nuremberg)

Thu 22 June (20:00): Croatia v Australia (Stuttgart)

Manager/Coach: Zlatko Kranjcar. Took over from Otto Baric after Croatia failed to qualify from their group at Euro 2004. Very popular figure in Croatia having made 556 league appearances for Dinamo Zagreb, scoring 98 goals.

Key Players: Captain Niko Kovac. Not a regular starter by any means but vastly experienced. His brother Robert, who plays for Juventus in Italy, is a very accomplished defender.

Dado Prso. The Glasgow Rangers striker has been the most consistent and influential Croatian forward over recent years and they will need him to hit form in Germany.

Dario Srna scored some crucial goals during qualifying; the Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder scored in the two 1-0 wins over Sweden in the group's defining games.

Assessment: Finished top of their qualifying group (ahead of Sweden), but have been slightly unfortunate to find themselves in the same group as Brazil, and potential surprises Australia, as well as the competent Japanese team. They believe they have one of the best defences in the world. Their World Cup qualification campaign was based on clean sheets - they kept six in 10 games. However this strong point is balanced by their lack of scoring power, and if they concede a goal they may not be able to get back into matches. Consequently they are unlikely to get past the group stage.

Ukraine (Group H)

Fixtures (all times BST):

Wed 14 June (14:00): Spain v Ukraine (Leipzig)

Mon 19 June (20:00): Saudi Arabia v Ukraine (Hamburg)

Fri 23 June (20:00): Ukraine v Tunisia (Berlin)

Manager/Coach: Oleg Blokhin, appointed in October 2003, played for the USSR 109 times and scored 39 goals.

Key Players: Captain Andriy Shevchenko, once of Dynamo Kiev, is Ukraine's highest profile - and undoubtedly their best - player. He leads by example and will be desperate for his country to do themselves justice. His pace, strength, technique and clinical finishing will trouble any opponent.

Ruslan Rotan has a habit of scoring vital goals, including the strike against Denmark in his side's 1-1 draw, which sealed qualification.

Assessment: This will be their first appearance in the World Cup finals, having won their group comfortably and they were the first European team to qualify for the finals. Ukraine's attacking line-up is impressive and they could choose to re-create the partnership between Shevchenko and Sergei Rebrov that worked superbly when the two played together at Dynamo Kiev. However midfield is a problem area and they could struggle against the heavyweights of the tournament.

Will almost certainly get to the second round but may struggle to go further.

Spain (Group H)

Fixtures

Wed 14 June (14:00): Spain v Ukraine (Leipzig)

Mon 19 June (17:00): Spain v Tunisia (Stuttgart)

Fri 23 June (20:00): Saudi Arabia v Spain (Kaiserslautern)

Manager/Coach:

The outspoken Luis Aragones made his name as a player and coach for Atletico Madrid in the late 1960s and early 70s. As a club coach he led a nomadic existence but enjoyed success at most stops. Spain remain unbeaten in 18 games since his July 2004 appointment.

Key Players: Captain and Real Madrid striker Raul is Spain's most capped outfield player, all-time leading scorer and the team's talisman, but suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury in November. How long he takes to recover from it - and how fully he recovers from it - is likely to have a massive bearing on Spain's chances.

Atletico Madrid's Fernando Torres was joint fourth-highest scorer in the European qualifying zone, with seven goals.

Goalkeeper Iker Casillas is undeniably world class, one of the best keepers going to the finals.

Defender Carles Puyol is also one of the world's outstanding players in his position.

Assessment: Surprisingly needed a play off to qualify but they won that easily. Spain have not generally done well at major tournaments; they are always tipped as dark horses who will finally end years of disappointment and fulfil their undoubted potential, but they never rise to the challenge. They have got a supremely talented squad however, and it will be the last hurrah for many of them. Aragones has added muscle to Spain's silky skills but, as has been said so many times before, while they have the talent it is a question of whether they can convert it into results – they should reach the quarter finals.

Sweden (Group B)

Fixtures

Sat 10 June (17:00): Trinidad & Tobago v Sweden (Dortmund)

Thu 15 June (20:00): Sweden v Paraguay (Berlin)

Tue 20 June (20:00): Sweden v England (Cologne)

Manager/Coach: For four years Lars Lagerback was part of an unusual managerial combo with Tommy Soderberg. Lagerback took sole control after Euro 2004 and it's so far so good for the 62-year-old.

Key Players: Captain Olof Mellberg, the Aston Villa defender, is feeling the years in his legs and is perhaps guilty of picking up too many bookings, but he remains a natural leader.

Juventus striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is powerful yet skilful. He also possesses a combustible temper. Ibrahimovic scored a 91st-minute goal in Sweden's crunch qualifying win over Hungary in Budapest.

Goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson was extremely impressive during qualifying. The Rennes stopper made just one mistake - against Iceland in a game the Swedes comfortably won to seal their spot.

Barcelona striker Henrik Larsson was troubled by injury earlier in the season but appears to be ready to terrify defences again.

Arsenal's Freddie Ljungberg has not been in good form this season for his club, but will still be a danger.

Assessment: Qualified as one of the best placed runners up, level on points with winners Croatia, and have a pretty good record in the finals, and this one will be their 11th. They also have a good record against group favourites England, but both will be hoping that progression to the knockout phase will have been achieved by the time they face each other in Cologne. Their strength is in their attacking prowess, but even though they only conceded four goals in qualifying there are still many doubts about the defence, particularly if it is attacked at pace. They are likely to finish second in the group to England, but this sets up a horrible likely second round game against hosts Germany, which would probably mean the end of their progress.

Rugby

France 's late win over Wales in the last round of matches sealed the Six Nations title as Ireland failed to beat England by a big enough margin. However the Irish could be content with their performance as they secured the Triple Crown and realistically knew they were never likely to beat England by the 34 points difference needed. England on the other hand must have been desperately disappointed in both their overall tournament performance, and the manner of their defeat to Ireland , claimed by a last gasp try and conversion from Shane Horgan, which had to be referred to the television referee. England thus suffered an eighth defeat in 15 Tests under Andy Robinson which will only increase the pressure on the coach, despite an improved display.

The French team were again impressive, and team manager Jo Maso believes France are on course to lift the 2007 World Cup after their Six Nations success.

"We have won 13 of the last 15 matches over three years in the Six Nations. We are undefeated in France in seven matches since November," he said. "We have also got the record number of points since 2000 in the Six Nations. This team is going to go a long way."

RBS Six Nations Table

18 March 2006

Results

Saturday, 18 March 2006

England 24 - 28 Ireland (Twickenham)

Italy 10 - 13 Scotland (Stadio Flaminio)

Wales 16 - 21 France (Millennium Stadium)

Sunday, 12 March 2006

France 31 - 6 England (Stade de France)

Saturday, 11 March 2006

Ireland 15 - 9 Scotland ( Lansdowne Road )

Wales 18 - 18 Italy (Millennium Stadium)

Sunday, 26 February 2006

Ireland 31 - 5 Wales ( Lansdowne Road )

Saturday, 25 February 2006

France 37 - 12 Italy (Stade de France)

Scotland 18 - 12 England (Murrayfield)

Sunday, 12 February 2006

Wales 28 - 18 Scotland (Millennium Stadium)

Saturday, 11 February 2006

France 43 - 31 Ireland (Stade de France)

Italy 16 - 31 England (Stadio Flaminio)

Sunday, 05 February 2006

Scotland 20 - 16 France (Murrayfield)

Saturday, 04 February 2006

England 47 - 13 Wales (Twickenham)

Ireland 26 - 16 Italy ( Lansdowne Road )

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