Three Years Strong: Weathering Every Storm
“We’ve built this tournament the same way we endured the rain—together.”
The randomness of life never ceases to amaze me. Four years ago, a hapless Japanese American from Hawaii ventured to meet an Australian who’s Malay and married to a wonderful Thai lady. The pitch to start a flex league in Bangkok, based at Impact Tennis Academy and using the awesome but unseen tennis ball, which we shall not name. The meeting lasted three hours and the league began as Champions League Bangkok Season One. Before we knew it, the name became Thailand Premier Tennis League Season Three and a small little tournament was to camp off the three previous seasons using the leagues for seeding and thus began Series One Thailand Premier Tennis League, only singles from Men 3.5 to Men 4.5. It started at 8 am and ended at 4 pm, and then, we had dinner at Impact Tennis Speedway.
Ohana means family and no one plays alone. The friendship we made on that first day extend to today. Mrs. Totoh sponsored us with hotel vouchers for our league. Sam was disgruntled after Series 3 and was thinking about hanging it up–I watch him play and saw potential. So we made Men 3.0, and he was reborn. He plays 4.0/4.5 sometimes and is always around. The draw had Thani M4.0 who plays M4.5 now and is and always has been my bro, we hang out, we do businesses together, and he is a pillar of our tournaments. Niko and Rafa are brothers who took lessons from me and still do when they have time back from college. Ken is the lefty Japanese master from Japan with Yatty who is always a pleasure when they come to play. Mr. Theerasak played M4.5 and is a solid M5.0 player who barely lost to Duke this past Saturday. Pon was M5.0 and a cramp-aholic–he would cramp before the match began on Friday… Santiago moved to Spain last year but his humor and game always brought smiles to me. Andy came from Hawaii, USA and played amazing. Mia who is my doubles partner BB smashed her way through the W3.5 and Elaine from Hua Hin–I just visited in early May–playing tennis. Young Bryan joined in Series 2 September 2022
Dinner was at Impact Tennis Speedway.As the revelry continued, I sat down and did the math. I figured some losses would be okay and we could live for another day. We made a profit. We added another tournament in two months. And then, something else occurred. I really, really enjoyed running it. My daughter marvelled at how our team would roam around, taking photos, and mingling. “Poppa, you love doing this, don’t you?”
I sat there with a beer in my hand, a smile on my face, and considered the question.
The team now has Dr. Nalin Tournament Director, Mr. Duke Tournament Referee, Mr. Ting Logistics Team along with Ms. Fang, Ms. Kaytier, and Ms. Yana. Other tournament assistants: Mr. Edip, Mr. Dream, and Mr. Bryan. We have a sponsor High Tea along with NIdhra and Cafe Dhana. Pro Kennex does Padel, Tennis, and Pickleball supplies while Toroline is our title sponsor with player sponsorships and coaching benefits. There are two silent sponsors who assist us quietly but do not want to be recognized–we greatly appreciate them.
Before we forget we had a tournament…
The large entry list prompted us to expand our event to accommodate more players, it did create a situation where if you lose two matches, you would not have a third match but what is life without a bit of pressure? The M3.0, 3.5, and 4.0 opened play at 730 with a bang with newcomer Eli hammering his way through Kiak. Ice took down Tar while Tobias beat out Pong. At 8 am matches, Duke took down Mo in Men 5.0 while Zen battled Mr. Theerasak. The Mixed 3.5 Spouse Abuse Division saw Husband/Wife Jay/Noi against Coach and Student=Nut/Fai as Husband/Wife Nick/Nabtong continued the spouse abuse against Mook/Fluke. The Mixed 4.0 saw Team Toroline Nalin/Ting battle Boss/Ploy of Thana City–Their team initials are TPTL… I told them it’s not Than City whatever, it’s Thailand Premier Tennis League–Boss has a story also. The 9 am matches saw Boss/Son (not father son, but it is Boss of Mixed) playing Don/Gabe–we will miss Mr. Gabe as his family will return to live in Germany. Beep returned with his partner Por to go into an extremely tight 7-5 vs Zen and Gain who prevailed–another story. Then, Nalin played with Achara vs May/Fai while Mew/Kittiya battle Pin/Pao. Then, Nick played singles in one group while his son Timmy played in another group.
Pause.
Once upon a time, there lived a boy from Thailand named Zen. He plays a BIG game blasting shots left and right–no fear all guts and all glory. In the battle between Mr. Theerasak and Zen as our staff was running around playing and doing tennis things.
“Gary go to court 7.” Duke shouted.
“Seriously…”
“Gary. You got to go to court 7 now.” Duke shouted louder and for him, louder is loud.
“Ok,” What am I dealing with a bunch of athletes or what? A cramp in the first match? I thought.
As I walked to the court, Zen stood there with ice on his face. Perplexed, I asked, “So what’s going on? We got to play bro–I can give you three minutes.”
Mr. Theerasak looked at me deeply concerned. I was befuddled, then I saw the bump. Or the LUMP, it looked like a pink grape or something growing out of Zen’s cheek next to his eye. I was like, “OMG… WTF happened?!”
Zen said flatly. “I hit myself in the face with my racquet.”
Hearing him but with nervous humor intact, I blurted, “Mr. Theerasak YOU HIT HIM IN THE FACE WITH YOUR RACQUET?!”
Mr. Theerasak took that with a smile.
“Um. Zen. You might want to consider stopping.” I said.
Zen shaking his head, “No. I am fine.”
I was looking at a burgeoning Unicorn coming out the side of his face and bro said he was fine, so I said, “OK but you got three minutes and after you are done, you need to go look in the mirror.”
As I walked back to the Ref Table, I was like oh that’s going to be ugly… I messaged him today but got no response. It’s going to be black and blue across his eyes and then, turn green and yellow… but I didn’t want to tell him that.
Pause. His name on my line was Chayapon R. I have no idea who this guy is. “Gary is that MD 3.5 open?”
“Sure.”
Chayapon messaged, “Can I enter it?”
“Sure”
The next message from Chayapon said, “You put these matches really close together.”
“What are you talking about?” I said.
“I am playing in MD 3.5, Mxd 3.5, and M singles. “
“WHAT?! You sure you can do that?”
(second from left above–black shirt and black shorts) “Yes” and he did.
My over under on the Cramp-Pa award was 70–30…
Welcome Thana PTL==um Thailand Premier Tennis League from Thana City.
Pause
In the Battle of the Family–a true ohana story, in the men’s 3.0a-b the winner of the group was Nick who was to play the men 3.0b-a winner of the group, his son. Nick who is Timmy’s father says, “ Gary. I give the match to Timmy.”
“What?”
“Gary. I give the match to my son…”
I sincerely almost cried, and sadly I wondered if I would do the same.
Continue…
Nalin and Ting defeated our three time champions Drew/Achara (footnote who beat Nalin/Me last time… WTH).
Mxd 3.5 saw Noi and Jay pull off the Husband of the Year award winning the Mixed 3.5 over Nut/Fai–7-6 first round match up
Nalin/Achara won the WD3.5
while Gain/Zen took Md3.5 while Zen captured the hearts of millions winning the M5.0 and Duke took second–Duke received the Cramp-Pa Award.
And of course, there are Gary stories. In the MD5.0 Group 1, Down 1-4, Leilani and Gary clawed their way back to 3-4 deuce with Gary serving to even it up. The rally was intense as Leilani and Gary moved to a net position, Vorayos on the ad hits a crosscourt forehand inside out that Leilani barely gets. It’s a pop up with the ball rebounding high into the air short in the service box. Pomme rushing in. Leilani retreating. Gary transfixed by the moment. “I saw the whole thing in slow motion–Pomme was going to blast that ball right through me with her backhand and if I retreated I would have no chance to get it back. So I bent my knees, assumed a low position with the racquet in front of me, and basically, prayed.” Pomme lined it up and blasted the ball with everything she got, Vorayos in the ad position rushing into the net by the service line. The world froze for a moment as the ball left her frame a missile of death, and Gary flinched. The ball careened off his strings, dribbling over Pomme’s outstretched arms and Vorayos pursued the dying bird of a lob volley to no avail. 4-4.
The match continues with Gary and Leilani getting the first match point on ad in deuce but Gary muffs the backhand slam. The next match point–Gary misses a backhand volley on the world’s easiest slice shot. As he dropped his racquet to the ground and grabbed his eyes in his hands, shaking his head. Leilani just high fived him and said, “It’s ok.” and they changed sides. That is the epitome of team play between Leilani and Gary, no matter how crap Gary plays, Leilani’s demeanor never changes.
Leilani and Gary successfully won the group with an unbelievable victory over Pomme/Vorayos–easily the match of the year (in Gary’s eyes).
The afternoon session saw the advent of the women singles with Toey beating out a tough group of ladies May, Nabtong, and Porpor. While the Men 5.0 with Leilani, Sora, Shane, and Knot saw Shane winning. Unfortunately the storms came
It starts as a whisper. A leaf floating in the wind, then it gains momentum. Before you know it, Winter has Come. and it rained.
As a tournament, we have had 6 rain delays and this year, series 33… we had 3… WTH I thought it was global warming not global raining.
A few newbies questioned the idea of shortening the format, but our team is made up of a tournament organizer/director who helped run 18 Nationals three times in Hawaii–the significance of running 18 Nationals in Hawaii, there are 4 nationals held at the same time across the country, when we host the 18 Nationals we get everyone in the Western region of USA–the draw is legitimately 128 players over one week of play and you deal with parents, players, and coaches so just as we did in Hawaii, we ball back on ITF rules (International Tennis Federation–.
📘 ITF Rules of Tennis – Rule 29: Continuity
Rule 29(c)(ii):
“In the event of a rain delay, darkness or other external conditions halting play, the match is resumed at a later time, with the same score as at the time of the delay… The Referee or Tournament Director may amend match formats (e.g., use a match tie-break instead of a full third set) to complete play.”
This clause empowers tournament officials to:
- Resume matches at the point they stopped
- Change the format (like adopting no‑ad scoring or a match tie-break)
- Ensure the tournament can finish on schedule despite weather or other delays
While the full text outlines the mechanics (resuming by score, maintaining court ends), the key is that the Referee or Tournament Director is allowed to modify formats when necessary.
We had some issue with players not showing up or leaving due to the rain delays, but overall, the Ohana survived. The key is we as tournament officials follow the rule of law–ITF standard.
As the matches resumed Toey took Women 3.5.
Men 4.5 b saw Thana overwhelm Tonson
while the Mixed saw Somkid/Tanakit take down Kittikun/Ploy.
MD 4.0 saw Thanid/Metha beat out Nut/Bank.
Women doubles 3.5 saw Thommakorn/Poon win out over Eve/Pup
As the matches finished up at midnight and the items were taken away, we took one last photo.
As all things, perseverance is a mark of continued growth and success. The tournament started small and has grown large. The impact on the communities have been amazing. Teams come in from Chachasao, Chonburi, and other provinces to play. Last tournament we had the Asian Games Gold Medalist and a player going to Junior Wimbledon.
It’s just amazing. And it’s great to do it together.
We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to all those who contributed to the success of this event. Special thanks go to Steve Koon, our Tennis Director, for his exceptional leadership and dedication, as well as Nuey, our Staff Manager, and Boy from Logistics at Impact, whose hard work ensured everything ran smoothly. Additionally, we are deeply appreciative of Nalin, our Tournament Director, Duke, our Tournament Referee, and Ting from Logistics on our staff for their unwavering commitment and professionalism throughout the tournament. We would also like to express our sincere thanks to our generous sponsors—High Tea, Café Dhana, and Nidra Hotel—for their invaluable support in making this event possible. Your collective efforts have been instrumental in creating a memorable experience for everyone involved.