Phuket’s youth futsal squad tops the South

PHUKET: A flawless shoot-out by Phuket’s provincial youth futsal squad, against regional rivals Phatthalung on October 17, guaranteed the young islanders a place at the 30th National Youth Games next year.

With the final 8-4 victory, Phuket have qualified to be Southern Thailand’s representatives at the games, scheduled to be held in Si Saket, March, 2014.

The match, played at the Nakhon Sri Thammarat technical college as part of the 56th “Nakhon Games”, was finally decided by a shootout following the 4-4 deadlock in regulation; Phuket had come back from a 3-1 deficit at half time.

Four Phuket shooters nailed every one of their spot-kicks, while their Phattalung counterparts failed to beat the Phuket keeper even once in three attempts. The win followed Phuket’s 4-0 win over Ranong provincial youth squad in the semifinals.

Held from October 11-21, the Nakhon Games represented the Southern region qualifying round for the National Youth Games for various sports, including futsal, volleyball, taekwondo, basketball and the Chinese strategy game Go, among many more. Stay tuned for more updates.

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— Steven Layne