It has been a remarkable first year in competition for Lamphun boys’ team as they followed their victory in the National Youth Championships in Lopburi by winning the National Youth Games in Sri Saket and 18-year-old Bunchuai Sombatraksa was the star of the show as he was named player of the tournament for a string of outstanding displays.
Twelve provinces played in men’s and women’s competitions and the biggest surprise of the tournament came near the start when Chiang Mai boys lost to Chanthaburi by 14 runs. Lamphun had been drawn in the same three-team group so one of the finalists from Lopburi would now struggle to reach the last eight.
Lamphun beat Chanthaburi by nine wickets after restricting them to 53 for 5 in 12 overs and they then faced Chiang Mai in a repeat of the recent final. Lamphun reached 87 for 2 thanks to Bunchuai’s 31* and Chiang Mai could reach only 72 for 6 as Lamphun won by 15 runs. Lamphun won the group with Chanthaburi in second place but Chiang Mai finished third to miss out on the quarter-finals.
Lamphun faced Phuket in the quarter-finals and won convincingly by 51 runs after posting a total of 124 for 5 in 15 overs with Bunchuai making an unbeaten 48 and he followed with 2 for 12 with his leg-breaks as Phuket were bowled out for 73.
Lamphun’s semi-final against Khon Kaen who were unbeaten in the tournament followed a similar course with Bunchuai scoring 51 out of a total of 118 for 3 and he took three wickets for 15 as Khon Kaen could manage on 93 as Lamphun won by 25 runs and Bunchuai won his third man of the match award in four matches.
Chonburi would be Lamphun’s opponents in the final after they had won their group and gained impressive victories over Sri Saket and Uttaradit as they passed the hundred mark in both matches as Rittipong Sukjam and Peerakit Sangamaeum impressed with the bat.
Chonburi batted first and reached 83 for 5 in their 15 overs as Theerapong Silapachai made an unbeaten 30 to counter Bunchuai’s figures of 3 for 13. A target of 84 could have proved a testing one if Lamphun had lost their captain early on but young Bunchuai was a man on a mission as he again remained unbeaten as he and Chanchai Pengkamta took their side to victory by 10 wickets with an opening stand of 85.
Lamphun’s victory was well-deserved but they owed so much to their young captain as Bunchuai won his fourth man of the match award in successive matches. His statistics for the tournament were incredible as he scored 177 runs for once out, claimed 10 wickets for 58 and most astonishingly he was on the field for all but 3 balls of Lamphun’s five matches.
Bunchuai was the outstanding candidate for player of the tournament and Lamphun were clearly the most disciplined team as the hours of practice have brought them well-deserved success. The young team has also benefited greatly from playing regularly as Lanna Juniors with Bunchuai, Chanchai and Cher in particular excelling when playing against the adults.
These three outstanding prospects have now won three competitions this season as they played for the Lanna Senior team who won the Chiang Mai Senior League as winning two junior tournaments for Lamphun.
Lamphun were head and shoulders above the other provinces but it was good to see other teams making progress on the field. Chanthaburi had upset Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen and Uttaradut were losing semi-finalists, and Chonburi had surpassed all expectations by reaching the final.
The women’s competition was won by Chanthaburi as their girls matched the achievement of their boys by unexpectedly beating Chiang Mai in the final as they defended a total of 89 for 6 to win by 13 runs. Lamphun and Sri Saket were losing semi-finalists but Lamphun’s girls were pleased with their medals and were even more delighted to watch the boys storm to success in the final.