Pattaya's Panthers and Panties runners up for Plate

The Bangkok British Club (black and pink jerseys) won this year's Pattaya
Rugby 10s Tournament, defeating Bognor Regis (green and purple jerseys) 14-5
in the Cup Final on Sunday afternoon, May 5 at Horseshoe Point Resort &
Country Club.

The Bangkok British Club won it all in this year's Pattaya Rugby 10s
Tournament, defeating Bognor Regis from the UK 14-5 in the Cup Final last
Sunday afternoon, May 5 at Horseshoe Point Resort & Country Club.

The hosts & hostesses of the tournament, Pattaya Panthers and Panties also
played extremely well. Both finished runners up in the Plate competition.

The Pattaya 10s Rugby Tournament this year kicked off with new enthusiasm,
as 22 teams competed, by far the most yet. Most of the teams arrived on
Friday and joined the pre-game social gathering at Shenanigans where there
was plenty of mischief to be had; however, this was relatively calm compared
to the following night's Quaich, with most teams opting for only a few
gallons of amber liquid to prepare for the start of the tournament at 9 a.m.
on Saturday morning.

First up on the block were the Pattaya Panthers and Pirbright Pirates at the
Panthers/Panties' new home pitch at Horseshoe Point. Men's and Ladies games
were played simultaneously on two well prepared pitches on Saturday, and
even a spot of torrential rain couldn't deter the hardcore players, while
the majority of spectators ran for cover.

The Ladies competition was completed on Saturday afternoon with two
Singapore teams, Lion Red and Wantock Wanderers battling it out for the
Ladies Cup. The Wanderers trampled the Lion Red team to win this year's
championship.

The Pattaya Panties didn't mind a little rain, and went on to represent
their home well, finishing runners-up in the Plate Division.

The Bangkok Patana Teachers won the hard fought Ladies Plate competition
when they dropped the Panties in the final.

In the Bowl Competition, the Southerners Green Team ran over the Sri Lanka
'B' Side to win the Pattaya 10s Bowl 2002.

The Player of the Tournament for the ladies was Anna Goh from the Wantock
Wanderers.

After the first day's play, the participating teams prepared for the annual
'Quaich', the traditional competition in which teams are given score cards
for a pub crawl, where they compete for the honour of being the most
outrageous (social) team of the tournament. This was won by our own Pattaya
Panties who wore their underwear outside and danced, sung and crawled their
way to victory. A notable mention was given to the men seen on stage with
nothing but a smile and boxer shorts. The group of party animals ended the
Quaich at Shenanigans after getting profusely lubricated with amber fluid.

The next morning, even though many players were nursing hangovers big enough
to choke a whale, the competition continued nonetheless.

The pitch at Horseshoe Point took another beating with the odd patch of rain
and another day's hard play of round robin weeding out the final six teams
competing for the top three trophies: The Cup, The Plate and the Bowl, all
of which had been sponsored by Santa Fe, Shenanigans and that famous (or
infamous) novelist, Stephen Leather.

With tournament play ably narrated by Bill Mclaren impersonator, Harry
Scrope from the Pirbright Pirates, the final teams were ready to give each
other a beating on the pitch. In the semis of the plate, Bongnor Regis
shafted the Pirbright Pirates to face the British Club after the British
Club slammed the Southerners in the second semi final. The British Club
defeated their fellow countrymen from Bognor Regis, winning the Cup Final
14-5.

In the Plate semis, DEA (Hong Kong) were D.O.A. after the home team, Pattaya
Panthers smuggled their way past in the first round. The Bangkok Japanese
were too fast for the Manila Nomads in the second round and went on to face
the Panthers in the plate final. The Bangkok Japanese then left the Panthers
panting in their wake, defeating the home side in a "close" 22-0 match.

The Bowl final saw the Patana Tigers vs. the Tsunami Teetollers, the latter
from Kobe Japan who actually didn't abstain from the previous night's
activities, and thus lost to the Tigers 26-0.

The player of the tournament for the men was Steve Brown of the Pirbright
Pirates.

Organisers were proud to show the new Panthers/Panties home pitch at the
Horseshoe Point Resort and Country Club, who provided great service to all
players and spectators, making this year's Pattaya Rugby 10s tournament an
overwhelming success. The organizing committee of Paul Crouch, Phil Dunn and
Jimmy Howard were extremely grateful for the cooperation and assistance from
the rest of the committee including Mark Coombs, Karen Pennock, Wayne
Sutcliffe, Jeremy Coles (visiting from Malaysia), Kim Fletcher, Graham
Macdonald and Niel Smith.

Tournaments such as this are difficult to organize and the need for
sponsorship is ever present and would not have been possible without the
support of Foster Wheeler, Santa Fe, Horseshoe Point Resort & Country Club,
MBMG International, Terra Quest Group plc, Bach Treharne, Shenanigans
Pattaya, CR Shelter, McConnell Dowell, CBI/ST, Stephen Leather, Alistair
Cummings and the Pattaya Mail.