Babauta, Ichihara hold fort in Asia Flow Series

Local bets Ray Babauta and Keoni Ichihara held their own against a host of competitors that included a strong Japanese contingent to rule the Pro Men’s Bodyboard and Flowboard events in the 2014 Asia Flow Series held over the weekend at the Pacific Islands Club-Saipan in San Antonio.

Babauta and Ichihara wowed the judges with their smooth moves, combinations and stunts to clinch berths to the 2014 Series Finals set from Oct. 3 to 4 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Dan Westphal, who placed fourth in the Men’s Pro Flowboard, will also represent the CNMI in Bangkok after winning last year’s competitions.

Suzuki Yu, Men’s Masters Bodyboard champion Tatsuo Man Kato, and Pro Women’s Bodyboard fourth place finisher Sayuri Onuki are also Thailand-bound and will be representing Japan.

Babauta tallied 45.3 points to beat Yu and in the process dislodged last year’s champion Francis Hartman, who finished third.

Yu garnered 41.6 points to edge out Hartman (41.2) for second place in the three-cornered finals.

Hartman was the top seed after easing his way into the finals after finishing first in the qualifying round with 44 points.

Babauta finished second with 41.8 points, while Suzuki came in third with 39.5 points.

Ichihara, runner-up last year to Westphal, claimed the Men’s Pro Flowboard crown with a 44.5-point effort.

Babauta was a close second with 40.2-point, while Christo Mojar finished third with 39.2. Westphal placed fourth (38.1).

Ichihara topped the first and second heats with 42.1 and 47.2 points, respectively, in the top bracket, while Westphal registered 46.2 and 43.8 markers in the other group to earn automatic finals berths.

Mojar needed to show his best form to beat Shu Ohara (43.9-32.7), while Babauta duplicated the feat when he eliminated Kato (38.3-31.1) to secure the two remaining finals spots.

Mojar and Babauta had identical 40.5-point efforts in the first heat.

Mineyuki Seita (27.4) and Nate Kaipat (27.3) were the other contestants in the Men’s Pro Flowboard.

Kato bounced back to win the Men’s Masters Bodyboard title with 33.6 points while South Korean Heechul Ryou (25.1), and the Japanese duo of Tadashi Yoshida (35) and Kenji Tokado (23.2) finished second, third, and fourth, respectively.

Hiroshi Ono (31.9) and Jin Woo Kim (23) also competed in the Men’s Masters Bodyboard event.

Saipan’s Reymark Castro was the top rider in the Men’s Open Bodyboard division with 42.5 points followed by Minkyu Ryou (41.4), Mark Caacbay (40.5) and Jin Woo (39.4) from second to fourth, respectively.

Jae Won Kim (41.1). Ryou (35.1) and Hyun Woo Jo (31.4) were the top three finishers in the Kids Bodyboard, while Vova Prokopenko of Russia (38.4), Ryou (37.0) and Yuzuka Nishimura (18) duplicated the feat in the Grommets Bodyboard.

Kaoru Nishimura (40.8), Junko Seto (26.0) and Katie Norman (22.3) finished 1-2-3 in the Pro Women’s Flowboard.

Seto rebounded in the Pro Women’s Boyboard and Women’s Masters Bodyboard events by besting hard-fighting Eun Ok Choi of South Korea in their head-to-head match up.

Seto scored 41.5 and 32.3 in the Pro Women’s Bodyboard and Women’s Masters Bodyboard against Choi’s 35.5 and 28.3 points.

Nishimura topped the Women’s Open Bodyboard with 32.5 points beating Mika Fukuda (28), Norman (17.8) and Onuki (13.6).

The two-day Asia Flow Series was sponsored and supported by Delta, Bridge Capital, Triple J, Monster Energy Drink, Pepsi, IP&E, WaveLoch, Cartel, WCB, Boarderline, Regal Cinemas, and the Japan Flow Rider Association. (Jon Perez)