Amorn hopes his young Thammasat players will make grade
[BASKETBALL] Thammasat's head coach Amorn Teeyawut hopes his players will make a mark in the Nation Siam University League Tournament, which gets underway at Siam University's Gymnasium next Tuesday.
The two-time champions face a lack of experienced players, as some of their best players have graduated from the university. "We lost seven good players this time as all of them graduated and some are continuing their studies at other universities. As a result, we have to find new players," Amorn said. "We will try to take advantage of their freshness instead of experience." The head coach feels teams such as Dhurakij Pundit, who won the recent University Games, Rangsit, Rattanabundit and Bangkok University will be a strong threat this time. All eight teams that competed last year will revive their rivalry in this edition. A trophy from HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn plus total prize-money of Bt140,000 is at stake. Two teams that finished in the last eight of this year's University Games - Kasetsart and Sripatum - have also been invited to take part in the tournament. All teams have been separated into two groups. Group A consists of title holders Thammasat, Rattanabundit, Bangkok, Siam and King Mongkut's Institute of Technology North Bangkok. Last year's runners-up Dhurakij Pundit are in Group B, along with Srinakarinwirot, Rangsit and the two newcomers. The tournament is split into two legs as it coincides with the Bangkok World University Games, which will be held from August 8 to 18. The first leg will take place from June 19 to July 6, while the second leg will run from August 12 to September 14. All teams will play home and away matches. After the opening ceremony on Tuesday, there will be a special match between VIP Nation and VIP U-League followed by an opener - Thammasat versus Siam. Meanwhile, the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) went down to an NBA team, a gathering of foreign players, 92-61 in their first match in the 'Nation For the Love Basketball Tournament' at Bangkok Patana School's Gymnasium on Monday. Top seed Hi-tech thrashed Sun Spark 89-79, despite key players being absent, while Tew Phai Ngarm crushed Bangkok Bank 94-88. Today, Bangkok Bank face Sun Spark, while Hi-tech take on the PEA. Tew Phai Ngarm meet the NBA team. The tournament will last until next Friday and tickets are available for Bt100 at the gym entrance.
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