20 December 2024, Johor-Malaysia: It was a race against sundown today for the start of the 2nd annual KEJORA Surfing Cup at Tanjung Balau Beach, but before dark all of the non-elimination Round 1 heats were completed to set up tomorrow’s Day 2, which will see the first eliminations of the event as the competition heads towards finals day on Sunday the 22nd of December.
The day’s action got started this morning in 2-3 foot wind swell at 8:45 am, with the Bodyboard division getting first crack at the challenging conditions. Next up was the Grommet division, which saw the first and only excellent score of the event so far posted by Lucas Santiago Wehle, and 8.00 (out of a possible 10 points) for a series of smooth and powerful backhand turns. He backed up his 8.0 with a 5.5 to end the heat with the highest total heat score of the day, a 13.50 (out of a possible 20 points).
The Women’s and Men’s Longboard divisions followed, and with strong onshore winds and resulting short period swell it kept the scoring relatively low as the competitors often struggled to stay in position and find good opportunities. Mohd Nazrin bin Nasruddin, better known as “Super Yen” from Pahang (Malaysia) posted the top score and heat total in the Men’s Longboard division, but acknowledged it wasn’t easy. “My home break at Cherating is a long lefthand point, so it’s really different than this, so it was definitely a challenge to find a good wave,” said Nasruddin. “There was so much wind and waves were breaking all over the place, so you really had to be lucky to find one that would give you an opportunity for a nose ride or even a turn. Lucky I found a couple and now I’m into the semifinals,” he added.
For the Women’s and Men’s Shortboard divisions, it was still challenging but with the lower tide in the afternoon there were more sections to work with, although wave selection was still the key to advancement. Johor’s Melissa Chia Su Xin “Mel” only needed two waves to win her heat and earn her ticket into the final day, her local knowledge proving valuable against the other competitors in the heat.
The Men’s Shortboard division had plenty of drama, with a race against the timeclock as the evening was approaching as well as threatening rain clouds. A rain squall near the end of Heat 4 did cause a delay, but Heat 5 finished up at just before 7 pm while it was still light.
Indonesia’s Rizky Eka posted the highest score of the Men’s Shortboard division, gouging deep turns and weaving around the closing sections for a 6.00 (out of a possible 10) and then adding a 5.57 to end the heat with a total of 11.57 points and skipping tomorrows elimination to land in Sunday’s Quarterfinals. “It was tough out there for sure,” said Rizky Eka. “It was really hard to find a good wave in that heat. With the onshore wind, I was looking for a section to do an air, but nothing came to me. But it was good to get to get through and I hope we get good waves for the finals.”
The event director has called for those in the elimination rounds to be on standby tomorrow morning at 7:30 am.
You can watch the KEJORA Surfing Cup live on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=526170670410618
And check the schedule as well as follow the scores on Live Heats at https://liveheats.com/events/317148
The KEJORA Surfing Cup 24
The KEJORA Surfing Cup 24 is organized by the Sinar Tanjung Balau Cooperative (KSTB) in collaboration with the South East Johor Development Authority (KEJORA), the Malaysian Surfing Association (PLOM) and the Johor Surfing Association with official partners Quiksilver, Adabi, Harley Davidson Motorcycles, BSN, and PT Aliyah Rizq Agriculture.
Consistent with the ASC’s mission to develop and grow the sport of surfing in the Asian Region, the ASC is delighted with the opportunity to work with PLOM, KTSB and KEJORA and provide media support for the KEJORA Surfing Cup 24, and is committed to help support and encourage the growth of surfing in Malaysia in 2025 and beyond.
About the ASC
The Asian Surf Cooperative is a professional surfing organization with 20 years of experience in organizing, managing and supporting surfing events and providing educational programs around the Asian region.
The ASC’s mission is to grow the sport of surfing in Asia by offering reliable and consistent resources and assistance to both small and large organizations as they work to progress the sport and their surfing athletes, including consulting and management, live computer scoring, certified judges and professional staffing, event media packages, athlete management, and site surveys, as well as ISA surf instructor and judging/officiating programs.
See more at www.asiansurf.co and @asiansurfco
About PLOM
Persatuan Luncur Ombak Malaysia is the recognised national governing body to represent the sport of surfing, bodyboarding & stand up paddling (SUP) in Malaysia on a national and an international level.
Formed in 2019, PLOM has managed the national surfing team at Philippines 2019 SEA Games for Men’s & Women’s Shortboard & Men’s Longboard Category.
PLOM is a membership based organisation and currently has 5 state surfing associations registered as our affiliated members. See more at https://www.surfingmalaysia.org and https://web.facebook.com/SurfingMalaysiaAssociation and on IG at @persatuanluncurombakmalaysia
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