“This tournamet is always fantastic. We have a ball... the boys enjoy Phuket but we're very serious up to the touanment. The food and everything will taste sweeter tonight,” said Charmart Vets goalkeeper Sadik Dhirani immediately following their 2-0 win over Kedar Aman in the Cup final.
Both teams met earlier in the weekend in group play, which Aman won 1-0. For the Charmart Vets – a team that had won eveyr single Cup in the Masters Over-35 category four times – the loss was extra motivation.
“I think the hunger to win gave us the victory. We're a bunch of bad losers, we hate losing and our motive was to come and have fun, which we did. But then, of course, it's more fun if you win,” Dhirani said.
The competition is part of a two-weekend event of international 7-a-side football where over 90 teams with players from over 20 different countries take part for the share of a Cup, Plate and Bowl prize in each category. Next weekend (November 22-23) the 9th CLA Phuket Soccer Sevens competition will take place, once again at Thanyapura in Thalang.
Local team Morning Star walked away with a Plate prize after winning the Plate in the Masters Over-35 competition. The team, made up entirely of older Phuket-based expats who participate in the local Super Six League played at Headstart International School, have taken part in the competition for over 6 years.
“I think it's organised well. The football is good, there's quite a bunch of ex-professional here. I just wish the games were longer,” laughed Ryan Meinhart, a teacher on the island.
“The venue is nice, it's a beautiful place to play, the surroundings are amazing. There are two teams that are our biggest competitions and it's a good game all the time, but we try to attack too much,” he joked.
List of winners from this past weekend (Nov 15-16)
3rd CLA Phuket International Soccer 7s
- Cup Champions - Kelmscott Ross FC (Australia)
- Cup Runners-Up - Cairns Cassowaries (Australia)
- Bowl Champions - Vanneroo City (Australia)
- Bowl Runners-Up - Show Di Bola (Macao)
9th CLA Andaman International Soccer 7s
- Open Cup Champions - 1TM FC (Singapore)
- Open Cup Runners-Up - Azzurri FC (China)
- Open Plate Champions - Aioli United (Singapore)
- Open Plate Runners-Up - Backpackers FC (Australia)
- Open Bowl Champions - Southern FC (Malaysia)
- Open Bowl Runners-Up - Shanghai Reunited (China)
- Masters Cup Champions - Charmant Vets (Dubai)
- Masters Cup Runners-Up - Hanoi Drink Team (Vietnam)
- Masters Plate Champions - Phuket Morning Star (Thailand)
- Masters Plate Runners-Up - French Kiss (Hong Kong)
- Masters Bowl Champions - Boca Seniors (Hong Kong)
- Masters Bowl Runners-Up - Marrara Dragons (China)
All the awards are formally presented to the teams at a ceremony at Thai Pan Nightlub in Patong on the Sunday night following the competition. For more information, visit thaisoccer7s.com