Babauta, 5 others win in Point Break tourney

Jin Woo Ryou shows some of his moves during Round 2 of the kids bodyboard event in last Saturday’s 10th Annual Point Break Invitational Competition held at PIC Saipan’s flowrider facility. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Pacific Islands Club Saipan’s very own Ray Babauta led the winners list of the 10th Annual Point Break Invitational Competition held over the weekend at the hotel’s flowrider facility.

Babauta ruled the men’s flowboard and men’s pro bodyboard events, while other division champions were Carter Borja, Daniel Bae, Jin Woo Ryou, Min Kyu, and Jin Woo Kim.

The PIC Clubmate was seeded first after last Friday’s ranking and earned 51.8 points in the first round of the playoffs to advance to the finals and beat Jin Woo Kim (42 points). In the finale, Babauta was pitted against Christo Mojar and Jae Won with the former still placing first after collecting 51.7 points. Won, who moved into the finals after defeating three other riders in his group dropped to second with his 48.4 points, while Mojar settled for third after tallying 45.2 points. Participants are given points based on the moves and techniques they showed while riding the flowboard (with time limit) and negotiating the artificial waves created by PIC’s flowrider facility.

In the men’s pro bodyboard, Babauta also got 50-plus points (56.7) to outclass Jae Won Kim (54.5 points) and fellow PIC Clubmate Reymark Castro (48.8 points). Babauta barged into the finals after earning 56.2 points and downing Jin Woo Kim (47.6). John Lewis was also in the group, making it to the playoffs after tallying 30.5 points in the ranking competition last Friday.

Jae Won, on the other hand, topped Ki Taek Kim, 51.6-44.9. Jae Won had 53 points in the elimination to place ahead of Ki Taek (40) and Shuichi Ohara (43.5). Castro was the top finisher in his pool after posting 46.5 points against the 46 of Min Kyu Ryu and 41 of Jae Hyuk Ryu and the former also won the battle for the finals ticket after registering 44.7 points against the 44.5 of Min Ryu.

In the men’s open bodyboard, there was a close fight among Min Kyu Ryou, Hee Chul, and Yong Chung. Min Kyu Ryou recorded 49.1 points in the finals to slip past Chul (48.9) and Sung (48.1). Ohara was the fourth finalist, but missed the podium after getting only 46.2 points from the judges’ scorecards.

In the men’s novice bobyboard, Borja registed 30-plus points in all three rounds to prevail against three other participants.

Borja had 36.5 points in his first ride and 32.7 and 32 in the last two for an average of 33.73 points. Jung Man Seok finished second with his 27.8 average (30.2, 28.3, and 24.9), while James Welly had 26.06 (22.3, 31.5, and 24.4) to round out the Top 3. Neil Fama posted an average of 23.36 (27.1, 22.4, and 20.6) to rank fourth.

The grommets (under 11 age group) and kids (12 to 17 age group) bodyboard divisions were also played in three rounds with Bae and Jin Woo Ryou topping their respective groups.

Bae won convincingly in the grommets category as his 47 points in Round 1 and 25.2 and 42.5 in Rounds 2 and 3 gave him an average of 38.23 points, about 8 points ahead of Jin Yong Lim. The runner-up finisher averaged 30.26 points after scoring 38.5, 17.7, and 34.6 in Rounds 1, 2, and 3. In the kids division, Jin Woo Ryou averaged 44.1 in three rounds (49, 36.9, and 46.5) to win over Vladimir Prokopenko, who collected 42.5, 34.2, and 40 in three rounds for an average of 38.90.

In the men’s masters bodyboard, Jin Woo Kim bested two other finalists. Kim’s 48 points lifted him past Yong Sang Park (47.5) and Hee Chul Ryou (46.3). Kim also lorded it over in the ranking riders last Friday after scoring 57 points.

Besides the men’s events, PIC’s Point Break tournament also held a separate competition for female riders and results will be reported in Saipan Tribune’s Tuesday edition.

Meanwhile, PIC would like to thank the following sponsors of the weekend contest: IT&E, Bridge Capital, LLC, PIC Saipan, Pacific Trading Co., and Triple J Five Star Wholesale Foods.