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Otake tops Micronesian Open
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Posted on Mar 04 2009
More than 30 participated in the 27th Micronesian Open Windsurfing Cup held over the weekend on the shores of Micro Beach.
Windsurfers, who mostly came from Japan, were divided into four divisions, namely the men’s open, masters, women’s open, and beginners. A fun race featuring selected participants from the four divisions was added into the two-day event.
Hideaki Otake bested 18 other participants in the men’s open division after collecting 8.9 points in nine heats.
Otake received a wooden plaque and a windsurfing board during the awards ceremony held Sunday night at Kili Café at Hyatt Regency Saipan.
Also receiving wooden plaques were runner-up Masataka Hattatori and third placer Daisuke Inaba.
Masataka earned 10.2 points and besides the wooden plaque, he also took home a set of windsurfing sails. Inaba settled for third and a harness after scoring 16.8 points.
The Top 10 finishers in the men’s open also received prizes from tournament organizer Seawind Marine Sports. The list included Kazuo Oura, Shinya Anami, Pacific Islands Club’s Sergei Bargamotos, Naohiro Oota, 12-year-old Kensuke Kaku, Hiroshi Tajima, and Yoshiaki Udagawa.
Masao Hirota ruled the masters division and the fun race. He netted 13.9 points in nine heats to beat eight other participants.
Joining Hirota in the Top 3 in the masters division were Hideo Yamazaki (22.4), and Mamoru Mouri (27.4). Others who competed in the masters were Yutaka Kuboto, Kenji Hayakawa, Nobru Iisuka, Ryo Okawa, Saburo Aoki, and Shigeru Tomita.
In the fun race, completing the Top 3 were Wada and Mouri. Six others joined the side event. They were Mouri, Oura, Udagawa, Tonegawa, Otake, Oota, and Iizuka.
In the women’s division, Mayuki Ikeda dominated Yasuko Hayakawa with the former scoring 11.9 points against the latter’s 31.
The beginners division also had two participants in Saeko Satou and Kouji Kimura with the former finishing on top after recording 7.6 points. Kouji Kimura nailed 16.7 points.
Scoring was based on how fast participants finished the race, which had windsurfers circling six buoys on the Micro Beach waters.
