Double winners in PIC point break tourney

Six participants in the 2018 Asia Flow Tour and 12th PIC Point Break Championships made it to the honor roll twice as the weekend competition wrapped up last Saturday at the Pacific Islands Club Saipan.

Korean Jae Ho Cheul and Japanese Kaoru Nishimura topped two categories, while Daniel Ryou, Jia Ya Yun, Se Young Kwak, and Do Hyun Kim also had podium finishes in two divisions of the tournament held at PIC Saipan’s artificial wave machine facility.

Jae Ho Cheul came out on top of the masters bodyboard class after beating Japan’s Tasuo Kato and fellow Korean Daniel Ryou. Each competitor was given three chances to show their tricks to the three judges and the best two scores (each participant could get as much as 5 points per round) were totaled to determine the rankings in the finals. Riders had 40 seconds to wow the judges with their acrobatic moves. Cheul got 7.73 points against the 6.06 and 5.23 of Kato and You, respectively.

Cheul moved into the finals after topping the golden ticket round with his 4.63 points, while Kato (1.53) and Ryou (1.13) placed second and third in the last qualifier.

In the pro bodyboard, Cheul prevailed against Do Hyun Kim and PIC Saipan’s Reymark Castro.

Hyun Kim had another runner-up finish in the open men’s flowboard, while Archie Abuyan ruled the category, and Ki Taek Kim rounded out the Top 3.

In the women’s flowboard, Nishimura downed Morgan Moon and Se Young Kwak. The Japanese also notched the first place honors in the open women’s bodyboard after outclassing Kwak and Jia Ya Yun.

Jia Ya entered the open women’s flowboard, too and was ranked second in the division, which was ruled by Go Eun Woo. Ja Kia Yun completed the Top 3 in the category.

In the open men’s bodyboard, Sai Bagnot clinched first place, while Carmelino Garcia and Ryou came in at second and third, respectively. In the beginner division, Justin Lim took the top honors and was joined in the podium by runner-up Isaiah Aleksenko and third placer Dong Hwan Kim.

Dong Hwan’s sibling Ji Young also had a third place finish in the kids bodyboard, which Jin Woo Ryou won. Vladimir Propokenko was ranked second. Still in the bodyboard contest, Timo Bierer prevailed in the grom division after defeating Je Damin and Sophia Heras.

In the men’s flowboard, PIC Saipan’s Christopher March Mojar won over Norjay Hipolito and Thomas Reyes.

Meanwhile, organizers of the weekend tournament would like to thank the following for sponsoring this year’s competition: Pacific Trading Company, Bridge Capital, E-Land, Kensington Hotel, Coral Ocean Golf Resort, Marianas Visitors Authority, 670 Rock Steady (Magas), Kanoa Resort, Fiesta Resort, Triple J Wholesale, T-Galleria, and Saipan Vegas.