Series Champions Crowned as Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series 2009 Wraps Up with the Kata Beach Island Crown Event in Phuket<\/p>\n
The Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series 2009 finished up yesterday in spectacular but often testing surfing conditions at beautiful Kata Beach in Phuket Thailand, with this final event culminating in both Island Crown event winners and the overall championship winners of the three-event series. Over 100 surfers participated in the Island Crown, locals as well as surfers from Australia, Japan, France, South Africa, Indonesia, Hawaii, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore.<\/p>\n
Over the course of the three-day event, the surf at Kata Beach varied from 2-3 foot glassy faces to stormy 5-6 foot non-stop windswell, giving the competitors in each division a challenging test of their endurance and skill. \u201cIf I wasn\u2019t in the contest I wouldn\u2019t have paddled out for some of those heats. In all my years of surfing here in Phuket I\u2019ve never surfed in conditions like this. It was really hard work but I\u2019m glad I did it,\u201d said Decha \u201cDay\u201d Sittidej after his heat on Saturday morning. Saturday\u2019s competition was stopped three times when howling winds brought torrents of rain that blasted the beach for several minutes.On Sunday the weather and the waves made a miraculous turn to produce a sunny and less windy day with more controlled surfing conditions overall. There were still sizeable waves that at low tide made for lots of paddling, but the surfers were up to the challenge and the spectators enjoyed cheering them on from the beach.<\/p>\n
On Sunday evening at the end of the three days of competition, everyone gathered by the pool of the Kata Beach Resort for the awards presentation. After enjoying the delicious food and tapping the bountiful supplies of Kingfisher Beer and Jim Beam, as well as other refreshments, the crowd was treated a Quiksilver\/Roxy fashion show by the stunning Maxim models.<\/p>\n
Having gotten the crowd\u2019s attention, Mr. Chanin \u201cJoob\u201d Aiyarak then took to the stage and begun the awards ceremony, starting with the Island Crown events winners in the Junior, Women\u2019s, Longboard, and finally Men\u2019s Open Division. Oliver Penmit got his first event series win in the Juniors, Tiffany Riggs from Australia was victorious in the Women\u2019s, Aaron Wright from the USA stole the show in the Longboards, and Jamie Smith claimed his first win at his home break of Kata Beach.<\/p>\n
Then it was time to announce the overall winners of each division in the Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series, so Quiksilver\u2019s CEO of South East Asia Paul Hutson took to the stage, first taking a moment to say, \u201cOn behalf of Quiksilver I would sincerely like to thank all the sponsors, including the government of Phuket, as without their support we couldn\u2019t have put together such a great series of events. And equally we are very grateful for the hard work and great job that Surached and his team from Quiksilver Thailand, together with Joob and his Phuket Boardriders crew here in Phuket, have done over the three events to make it such a fantastic success. We couldn\u2019t be more pleased and can\u2019t wait to do it again next year. See you then and thank you!\u201d<\/p>\n
Taking the overall championship victory in the Men\u2019s Open Division was Ekkarat Sriden, who won the Monsoon Riders event at Kalim Beach on June 16, was the runner up the King of the Jungle event at Kamala Beach on July 16, and was the runner up in the Island Crown. For his championship victory he received a trophy, products from Quiksilver and other sponsors and the grand prize of a surfboard signed by 9-time world champion Kelly Slater.<\/p>\n
The Junior and Women\u2019s divisions were both won by Phuket\u2019s 11 year old girl grom phenom Annissa Flynn, who didn\u2019t manage to rack up another win at the Island Crown in either the Junior or the Women\u2019s Division but had two first place victories in the Junior Division and a first and a second placing in the Women\u2019s Division at the previous two events to lead the rankings and score the championship.<\/p>\n
The Longboard Division series championship was nabbed by Kata Beach local Jamie Smith, whose consistency throughout the series saw him narrowly best two-time Longboard event winner Preecha Takira for the final trophy, as Preecha failed to advance into the semifinals which would have ensured his championship victory. Both surfers competed in the Mens Open and the Longboard events and are Kata Beach locals.<\/p>\n
With the awards presentation over and all the winners laden with products and cash for their hard work, the Maxim models took one more turn at the runway before giving up the rest of the night to \u201cPae Slur\u201d, a very popular Bangkok band that came down to rock the house and close out the evening with an energetic finale!<\/p>\n
Quiksilver\u2019s Sports Marketing Manager and ex World Tour pro surfer Jake Paterson was very happy with what he has seen in the Phuket surfing community saying, \u201cIt was so great to come here and see the growth and development of the surfing here, even just over these three events. >From the grommets to the older set, they are all very into the sport and learning fast. I\u2019m stoked to be able to come here give them a hand\u2026and to get a few fun surfs in with the crew here too!\u201d<\/p>\n
Phuket Boardriders President Chanin \u201cJoob\u201d Aiyarak was also extremely pleased with the success of the series, adding, \u201cTo have Quiksilver, the government, and our many sponsors give us this opportunity is a dream come true. We have been working hard over these last months, for years actually\u2026so to see such a successful conclusion today makes it all worthwhile. And as part of the Asian Surfing Championship tour, the Thailand Surf Series is now a good example for surfing communities in other South East Asian countries as to what is possible to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also the opening ceremony on the beach on Friday morning, the governor of Puget Mr. Withal Praising voiced his appreciation to the sponsors and pledged his support of the Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series, encouraging everyone to come an enjoy the surf, the beaches, and all that Phuket has to offer.<\/p>\n
The Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series was hosted and supported by the following: Quiksilver SEA, Phuket Provincial Office, Thailand Tourism and Sport Department, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Patong Municipality, Kamala OBT, and the Karon Municipality, with media sponsors Phuket Gazette, PG TV, Blue Wave 90.5FM, B95FM, Phuket Bulletin, Art and Culture Magazine, MTV, and the Phuket Neo Photo Club, as well as Jim Beam, Nok Air, Kingfisher, Print Kamala Resort, the Jungceylon Shopping Center, the Patong Paragon Hotel, the Kata Beach Resort, and the Absolute Resorts&Hotels.<\/p>\n
Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series 2009 Championship Results<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s Open Division Champion \u2013 Ekkarat Sriden (Kamala Beach)<\/p>\n
Longboard Division Champion \u2013 Jamie Smith (Kata Beach)<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s Division Champion \u2013 Annissa Flynn (Kata Beach)<\/p>\n
Junior Division Champion \u2013 Annissa Flynn (Kata Beach)<\/p>\n
Island Crown Results<\/p>\n
Men\u2019s Open Division
\n1. Jamie Smith (Thailand)
\n2. Yudi Andika (Indonesia)
\n3. Jakkapan Thongnak (Thailand)
\n4. Ekkarat Sriden (Thailand)<\/p>\n
Longboard Division
\n1. Aaron Wright (USA)
\n2. Yudi Andika (Indonesia)
\n3. Sammarat Rattamart (Thailand)
\n4. Jamie Smith (Thailand)<\/p>\n
Women\u2019s Division
\n1. Tiffany Riggs (Australia)
\n2. Lulu Skarpa (South Africa)
\n3. Masako Hasebe (Japan)
\n4. Yuka Kobayashi (Japan)<\/p>\n
Junior Division
\n1. Oliver Penmit (Thailand)
\n2. Amnad Chisaman (Thailand)
\n3. Sittiwat Jabchu (Thailand)
\n4. Annissa Flynn (Thailand)<\/p>\n
About the Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series<\/p>\n
Organized and presented by the Phuket Boardriders Club, the Quilksilver Thailand Surf Series is the first Asian Surfing Championship tour series to be held in South East Asia, and is the first major surfing series in Thailand to be presented by a large international surfing brand.<\/p>\n
About the Phuket Boardriders Club<\/p>\n
The Phuket Boardriders Club is a non-profit organization formed in 2002 to strengthen local surfing talent and create camaraderie and friendship between local and visiting surfers. The management of the club consists of Thai office bearers and local expatriate volunteers, and over the past 7 surf seasons the Boardriders have held numerous surf contests in Phuket including the Kalim Surfing Contest, The Kamala Surfing Contest, and the Kata\/Karon surfing competition (also known as The Phuket Surfing Contest).
\nMedia Contact \u2013 ASC<\/p>\n
Tim Hain<\/p>\n
Email: tim@isctour.com<\/p>\n
\u2013
\nTim Hain
\nMedia Director- Coca-Cola ISC Tour<\/p>\n
CV. Selancar Indonesia (ISC)
\nJl. Raya Kuta No. 21
\nPertokoan Kuta Raya Blok 9 Abian Base
\nKuta, Bali 80361
\nINDONESIA
\nPhone\/Fax: +62 361 768293
\nMobile: +62 8123606674
\nEmail: tim@isctour.com
\nwww.isctour.com<\/p>\n
PHOTOS BY TIM HAIN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Series Champions Crowned as Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series 2009 Wraps Up with the Kata Beach Island Crown Event in Phuket The Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series 2009 finished up yesterday in spectacular but often testing surfing conditions at beautiful Kata Beach in Phuket Thailand, with this final event culminating in both Island Crown event winners and … Continue reading “Series Champions Crowned as Quiksilver Thailand Surf Series 2009 Wraps Up with the Kata Beach Island Crown Event in Phuket”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-thailand-surfing-news","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13764\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}