Last year’s champs to defend titles

Champions of last year’s Point Break Open will try to defend their respective division titles when the 2015 edition of the annual Pacific Islands Club-hosted tournament kicks off today at its flowrider facility in San Antonio.

Keoni Ichihara prepares to launch himself in order to do some of his winning stunts and other tricks in last year’s Point Break Open at the Pacific Islands Club’s flowrider facility in San Antonio. (Jon Perez)

Local bet Keoni Ichihara, last year’s men’s flowboard champion, will attempt to thwart the respective bids of Ray Babauta, Chris Mojar, and Dan Westphal to grab the title from his hands.

Kaouru Nishimura of Japan, likewise, will be the person to beat in the women’s category after she qualified and competed in the 2014 Asia Flow Series Finals held in Bangkok, Thailand.

Kids bodyboard champion Vova Propenko of Russia aims to again foil the attempt of riders from Japan and Korea to dislodge him on top. The kids’ bodyboard category is 12-17 years old while the Grommets is Under-11.

The two-day event, which ends on Saturday with the finals, attracted riders from Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Russia, and the United States.

Close to 30 had already signed up as of Thursday, which is spread out in the men and women’s open, masters (35 years or older), expert bodyboard, and novice divisions.

A practice round was also held last night that started at 6pm. Competition begins at 5pm with the seeding in the men’s and women’s open divisions at 5pm today.

The seeding format, which only started last year, gives the judges a preview of what to look forward to in the final day of competitions in the bodyboard and flowboard’s open and expert divisions.

In today’s seeding, open and expert riders will only have 45 seconds to show their skills and other stunts. The rider with the highest scores after two rides will get the top seeding where the higher seeds will be paired against the low seeds in Saturday’s elimination.

PIC director of sports, entertainment, and activities Glenn Policare said the event is also open to newbies who haven’t tried the flowrider yet with the Experts will give them riding tips and other pointers.

IT&E, Bridge Capital, LLC, PIC Saipan, Pacific Trading Co., Jeju Airlines, Coral Ocean Point Golf Resort, Triple J Five Star Wholesale Foods, Swirls, Loco Boutique, Waveloch, Japan Flowrider Association, and Boarderline are the event sponsors.

For more information, contact Policare at glenn.policare@picsaipan.com or 237-5148.