Aphibarnrat overcomes weather, thyroid..

KIRADECH Aphibarnrat weathered four days of frustrating stoppages, as well as his medical condition, to become only the second Thai to lay his hands on the Seagram Trophy with a 13-under 203 at the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club yesterday.
  The Maybank Malaysian Open win saw this 23-year-old not only become richer in experience, but also walk away with a handsome pay cheque of US$458,330.
  He joined his illustrious Thai brother Thongchai Jaidee who laid his hands on the Malaysian Open title twice in 2004 and 2005.
  And what does he plan to do with the four-day salary: "I will give it all to my parents, and accept whatever they feel like giving me."
  Kiradech was never upstaged at any point of the tournament, and held the lead on all three days with rounds of 65-68-70. Yesterday, even though he holed out with a bogey on the 18th, there were no challengers in sight as all of them fell by the 16th hole onwards.
  Standing alone at second and just one stroke adrift was Italian Edoardo Molinari who pocketed US$305,550, while also alone on third was Dane Anders Hansen who had 11-under 205 for a US$172,150 pay-out.
  "This win means a lot to me as its only my second Asian Tour title (first in 2011 Sail Open) and first in two years. I've been struggling a lot with my fitness and thyroid but it is now all worth it," said Kiradech.
  And now, even though the Open is sanctioned by the Asian as well as the European Tour which doubles the title count, he wants to win a trophy on European soil.
  "I want to represent Asia and win a trophy on European soil now," proclaimed the portly golfer.
   The erratic weather pattern over four days played a major role in many of the big names, like world No 3 Luke Donald missing the cut, but the Thai sang in the rain like a birdie.
  "The stoppages helped me preserve energy, which I needed badly because of my medical condition. And when I hit a bad shot on the 16th today (yesterday) play was again stopped and this helped me to be more calm when it resumed.
  "And when i hit a birdie on the 16th, I knew that the title was mine to lose in the remaining holes," said Kiradech.
  And after lifting the heavy Seagram Trophy, Kiradech quipped: "I lost all my energy after carrying the heavy trophy, and will have to go for an operation immediately after this (for his tyroid problem)."
  But jokes aside, the Thai admitted that if the tournament had not been shortened to 54holes, he would not have had the energy to carry on.
  "On the 16th onwards today (yesterday) it became increasingly difficult for me as I had almost lost all my energy and was not only trembling, but my voice was also breaking. My caddy told me to stay calm, as there were only two more to go and then my work would be done.
 "So I am thankful that the tournament was shortened by rain." 

Kiradech Aphibatnrat lifts Seagram Trophy..

Maybank Malaysian Open Final round scores
 
203 Kiradech Aphibatnrat (Thai) 65-68-70.
204 Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 66-71-67.
205 Anders Hansen (Den) 66-73-66.
206 Charl Schwartzel (SA) 67-68-71, Victor Dubuisson (SA) 67-69-70.
207 Mark Foster (Eng) 69-69-69, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 69-70-68, Alexander Noren (Swe) 69-68-70, David Howell (Eng) 69-68-70, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 69-68-70.
208 Joonas Granberg (Fin) 71-68-69, Peter Lawrie (Irl) 68-69-71, Thomas Aiken (SA) 71-71-66, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 70-66-72, Wu Ashun (Chn) 67-68-73, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 66-69-73.
209 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 70-70-69, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 71-70-69, Lee Slattery (Eng) 68-70-71, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 69-71-69, Scott Jamieson (Scot) 66-72-71.
210 Joost Luiten (Fra) 69-71-70, Gavin Kyle Green (Mas) 73-68-69, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72-71-67, Liang Wen-chong (Ch) 70-68-72, Rafa Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 72-67-71, Stephen Gallacher (Scot) 71-73-66.
211 Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 70-71-70, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 75-67-69, Alastair Forsyth (Scot) 69-70-72, Prom Meesawat (Thai) 68-71-72, Jbe Kruger (SA) 73-71-67.
212 Berry Henson (US) 71-71-70, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70-70-72, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Thai) 70-71-71, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 71-69-72, Thongchai Jaidee (Thai) 70-74-68, Wade Ormsby (NZ) 70-65-77.
213 Scott Barr (NZ) 75-69-69.
214 Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 68-74-72, Jean Gonnet (Fra) 70-70-74, Angelo Que (Phi) 70-72-72, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 73-70-71, Kim Gi-whan (S Kor) 70-73-71, Oliver Fisher (Eng) 69-75-70, Lee-sung (Kor) 68-70-76, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 70-72-72, Robert Derksen (Fra) 72-70-72, Baek Seuk-hyun (S Kor) 72-72-70, Thaworn Wiratchant (Thai) 73-71-70.
215 Andrew Dodt (NZ) 69-72-74, Masanori Kobayashi (Jpn) 72-70-73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73-71-71, Danny Chia (Mas) 71-71-73.
216 Gunn Charoenkul (Thai) 71-70-75, Prayad Marksaeng (Thai) 69-72-75, Frederik Andersson Hed (Swe) 68-73-75, Simon Khan (Eng) 71-68-77, James Morrison (Eng) 76-68-72, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71-73-72, Julien Quesne (Fra) 72-71-73, Mo Joong-kyung (S Kor) 71-72-73, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72-71-73, Romain Wattel (Fra) 75-69-72.
217 Phillip Price (Wal) 72-71-74, S. Murthy (Mas) 67-70-80, Richard Green (NZ) 74-70-73, Steve Webster (Eng) 71-73-73,
218 Marcus Fraser (NZ) 69-75-74.
221 Lee In-woo (S Kor) 71-73-77, Mohd Siddikur (Bang) 71-72-78, John Edfors (Swe) 76-68-77.
222 Thitiphun Chuayprakong (Thai) 72-71-79.
 

KLHC aiming for High Five..

By Ajitpal Singh

KL HOCKEY Club (KLHC) are aiming for a fifth Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) double as coach Dhaarma Raj Abdullah believes his side, led by six foreigners, can go unbeaten this season.
  Following an impressive 5-0 thrashing of Universiti Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) on Friday, KLHC are confident of winning today's Charity Shield-cum-league match against a disorganised Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
  KLHC have signed five foreigners -- Pakistan's Muhammad Imram, Wassem Ahmad, Fareed Ahmed, Muhamad Umar Bhutta, Akhtar Ali and Australian Timothy James Deavin -- following the departure of several reputed players.
  Despite the lack of training time as most of them represented their teams in the Azlan Shah Cup, KLHC have gelled well as shown by their win over UniKL.
  "Our foreign signings showed mobility and adjusted to my strategies. It shows they are quality players but anyway, I expected them to adapt quickly so it was not a surprise," said Dhaarma in Bukit Jalil on Friday.
  TNB, coached by former international Nor Azlan Bakar, failed to take advantage of an early 2-0 lead as newcomers Terengganu bounced back to force an unexpected 4-4 draw on Friday.
  "I am happy that TNB slipped as it gives us a slight advantage. However, it does not mean we can take them lightly on Sunday. They have experienced players and probably it was not their day against Terengganu."
  KLHC did the double in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
  Nor Azlan, meanwhile, said his players have not quite adjusted to play as some of his regulars were involved in the Azlan Shah Cup.
  "We need to improve defensively and hopefully, will not concede goals on Sunday (today). Yes, the draw against Terengganu was unexpected but we must forget about it and build our confidence ahead of the Charity Shield," said Nor Azlan
  Meanwhile, Ipoh City Council-MBI have submitted a protest following their 4-2 defeat to Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) on Friday.
  The protest, submitted by team manager Hakimi Abdul Hamid, claimed that UiTM had 12 players on the pitch until the 63rd minute of the match.
 The MHL technical committee will deliberate on it today.
 RESULT -- Maybank 2 Terengganu 1.
 SUNDAY -- Premier Division: Nur Insafi Warriors v UniKL (USM Stadium; 6pm), Sapura v Maybank (6pm), TNB v KLHC (8pm).
  Division One: TNB Thunderbolts v Uniten (6pm), UiTM v SSTMI (8pm), Ipoh-MBI v Sunday 2030 KL (Sultan Azlan Shah Stadium; 6pm).
  (Matches at National Hockey Stadium pitches unless stated otherwise).