THIS TIME SUKI isn’t going it alone.
Go-As-You-Please draughts champ Ronald “Suki” King wants to assemble a team to help him defend his crown against Sergio Scarpetta, as the world title-holder continues to seek sponsorship to fund the Italy trip for at least one other companion.
King disclosed his latest move in a telephone interview with SUNSPORT ahead of next month’s title-series – the second in succession against the ever-improving Italian.
“I really need a team this time out because the last time we met I dropped a couple of games because I went by myself and didn’t have anyone with me advising me that he had watched some of my games and was replicating them on the computer,” reasoned King.
“I also had some problems with the time difference when I was travelling to get to the venue, and some issues with the refereeing, so I really am going to need at least one person with me to deal with these things.
“This is a very serious job because I almost lost by default and I am not even feeling confident about the match or talking about preparation until I can say I have secured sponsorship for both me and a team to go to Italy,” he added.
It’s the major storyline surrounding the long-awaited title-series rematch between King and Scarpetta, who settled for a 2-2 draw two years ago in their first showdown for the Go-As-You-Please championship.
But the Italian looms as a greater threat on this occasion, having dismissed a strong world-class field that included Bajan Jack Francis in last year’s world qualifier to set up round two versus King.
And even Suki has acknowledged Scarpetta’s rise to prominence, saying his Italian challenger should prove that much more dangerous on home soil with an entire nation behind him.
“He’s just home training and doing nothing else because it’s not like he has to look for sponsorship or anything, so he’s sitting there and getting better,” said King.
“And he’s different from guys like Don Lafferty because he’s more of a computer man and the computer has improved the sport now so in a week or two if you’re really dedicated you can improve in quick time.
“The Italians on a whole are improving and they really want a clean sweep of the styles as another Italian, Michelle Borghetti, beat Alex [Moiseyev] for the Three-Move title,” he added.
King is slated to leave Barbados on July 2 for the 24-game series, which runs from July 5 to 10.
