Suki: Help me conquer world

FOR TWO DECADES, one of the greatest ever draughts players to grace the world stage, Ronald “Suki” King, has been begging corporate Barbados for assistance.And the man who brought Barbados international acclaim in 1991 when he won the World Go-As-You-Please (GAYP) draughts title which he has successfully defended ever since, is still pleading for financial help so that he can make more moves internationally on the black and white board.In a letter written to several business houses, King said he was seeking support with his international itinerary for the rest of the year.He will push off his schedule with the American Checkers Federation (ACF) Three-Move National Tournament in Springfield, Illinois, from August 1 to 5.This will be followed by his World GAYP title match against Richard Beckwich in Medina, Ohio, from October 5 to 10. From October 27 to 30, King will attend the World Three-Move-Restriction (TMR) Qualifying Tournament in Dublin, the winner of which will challenge Alex Moiseyev for the world TMR title.In addition, the national sporting hero will be touring the Caribbean extensively assisting regional associations in Guyana, St Lucia and Jamaica with furthering their draughts programmes.King is the only man to hold two major world titles simultaneously – as he was also the world Three-Move-Restriction champion for seven years – and made the Guinness Book of Records for playing 385 people at the same time in Houston, Texas, in 2000.He has also won the British, Scottish, Irish, Canadian, United States and Barbados Open Championships.Reigning Barbados’ women’s champion Joyann Branch will accompany King to the US Open after her relatively successful tour of Beijing, China, where she was the runner-up in her bidto challenge for the world title.