Open Asian Windsurfing Championship – Four days of strong competition

by Icarus Sailing Media on 6 Feb 2014 The SIM 33rd Singapore Open Asian Windsurfing Championship was successfully completed for 2014 with athletes and students from Singapore and across Asia having a blast with the breezy conditions.

Four days of strong competition was the main characteristic of the event, with the biggest interest on the Techno 293 class where the 27 boys and girls competing had to fight hard for the remaining three spots that would give them the valuable ticket to this years Youth Olympic Games taking place in Nanjing, China.

Hong Kong swept the top three podium positions after having led the competition in this division throughout most of the competition. Japan’s Ikeda Kensei, Thailand’s Thanatip Suebyubon, and Myanmar’s Set Naing Aung took the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions respectively, earning their countries a berth in the 2014 Nanjing YOG.

In the Techno 293 Youth Girl’s Thailand's Duangkamon Phongern defended her leaderboard position to take home the 2014 Techno 293 Asian Champion title. Finishing in second spot was Hong Kong’s Choi Wing Chi while 2013 SEA Games Silver Medalist Ynez Lim from Singapore, managed to secure a spot for Singapore in the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games (YOG) with a strong finish.

The two-day of intense racing amongst windsurf novices in the fifth SIM Windsurfing Championship ended with SMU walking away with the highest number of medals. The battle for top honours was clearly between Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) and Singapore Management University (SMU) right from the start. The closest fight was seen in the 6.2m Intermediate Mixed division which saw SIM’s Melvin Huang and SMU’s Kyne Aldrich Chan switching positions from race to race. Finally, it was SIM’s Huang who triumphed with a two point win over SMU’s Chan.

The event was one of the most successful editions of the Singapore Open Windsurfing Championship that has been held with 136 participants from Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Myanmar, India, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Great Britain, Argentina, and Russia.

A festival of sails with six different classes competing from the very competitive RS: X Olympic Board to the fun board classes. Happiness for some disappointment for others but a general satisfaction for the quality of racing and conditions throughout the event. All classes managed to complete their racing schedule in various sailing conditions that formed a fair result.

For the race results, please see: click here