Nationals still seeking sponsors

BARBADOS WILL HAVE to wait a while longer to see World Go-As-You-Please champ Ronald “Suki” King take on the top local players in the annual National Draughts Tournament. That competition, which was scheduled to have started last Sunday at the St Stephen’s Primary School, has been postponed to this weekend. President of the Barbados Draughts Association (BDA) Dennis Douglin explained that the postponement was due to insufficient publicity of the tourney.King’s long-awaited return to local draughts’ biggest stage was set to be the highlight of the tournament, as he has been absent from competition since he last won in 1998. King will enter the tournament, which now carries his name, as the highest qualifier of a 16-man masters field, having won the Claytons Kola Tonic Double Knockout Competition this year. Reigning national champ Jack Francis, Carson Farley, and Nathaniel Grosvenor are among the big names in the competition, set to run for two weeks starting at 5 p.m. on August 22. The competition has three divisions: masters, majors, and newcomers. Meanwhile, Douglin has called on businesses to help finance this and other tournaments being organised by the BDA. He said no business had come forward to help bankroll the competition, where assistance could be in trophies and/or cash prizes. (PR/JM