Monsoon Cup Terengganu – Victory for Maximilian Soh

by Monsoon Cup Terengganu on 25 Nov 2014 Maximilian Soh (SIN) the Team Red Dot skipper came from behind in the latter half of the Monsoon Cup Terengganu, first by beating favourites Sam Gilmour (AUS), and then pushing another Australian Matthew Jerwood to five races before triumphing in the semi-final.

Captaining his Neptune Racing team, Gilmour dominated the first round-robin stage where he had kept a clean sheet against the other seven teams but his loss against Soh in the second round-robin signalled the start of the turnaround in his fortunes.

Going into the knockout round as the top skipper, Gilmour had chosen to race against Arthur Herreman (FRA) and Match The World team. The young French drew first blood and took the first two flights. Gilmour then fought to win the third race but couldn't get a good start in the next flight and lost his hopes to qualify for Monsoon Cup Malaysia. Herreman went on to the final against Soh but lost two consecutive races and had to be satisfied as runner-up.

Jerwood and Redline Racing rubbed more salt to Gilmour's wound in the petit-final by winning 2-1 against his friend and ended up on the podium as second runner-up.

Malaysian Jeremy Koo, overall champion of the Liga Layar Malaysia circuit, finished the tournament in fifth with his Sime Darby Foundation / 1Malaysia Match Racing Team. Already qualified for the final leg of Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT) in Johor next February, Koo had a chance to advance to the knockout round if it were not for Soh's awesome comeback.

Veteran skipper Morten Jakobsen and team EM Thailand struggled to find form this time around and were placed sixth, followed by 1Malaysia Match Racing Team, led by Hazwan Hazim Dermawan in seventh. David Chapman of DC Racing rounded up table in eighth place.

It has surely been a great year for Soh, who had earlier won the gold medal for match racing at the Asian Games in Incheon, Korea. As the eight teams head out of Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort and Spa, he has one more regatta to compete in next week before taking a well-deserved break and resume his training in preparation for Monsoon Cup Malaysia which will take place in Johor ISAF website