Hainan Classic kicks off in good surf

Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival

ISA China Cup
Hainan Classic 4-Star Men's ASP event
International Surfing Association
Wanning, Hainan Island, China
25 - 30 January 2013

Live Coverage | Results/Photos/Videos etc

Hainan Classic Opens 2013 ASP World Tour Season With Great Day Of Surfing | espanol

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 28 January, 2013 : - - Riyue Bay, Hainan Island -- After two days of the ISA China Cup held in small beach break waves, the swell finally arrived as predicted by Official Forecaster, Surfline, with waist to chest high waves that peeled down the left point break at Wanning’s Riyue Bay. Day 1 of the Hainan Classic, 4-Star Men’s ASP, the second event of the ISA’s Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival, saw pumping waves that greeted the world’s best surfers for the opening day of competition.

The improving surf conditions allowed for the Opening Day of the Hainan Classic to be held at the left point break made famous in 2012 during the first edition of this event. Today, Riyue Bay showed signs of its true potential.  Even though the wind and weather conditions were not ideal, the wave offered multiple turn sections with steep walls for airs and other critical maneuvers.

“I’m very happy the swell has picked up and we are able to run the competition on the point at Riyue Bay,” remarked ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “While the surf today is not as perfect as a year ago, the waves and the rides are long, the performance level is high, and the competition has been strong. I’m amazed at how good the young Chinese surfers have become in just one year since the ISA first came to China. Good luck to all of the competitors in the final days of the Hainan Classic.”

The standouts of the day were Carlos Zapata (PER), who had the highest combined heat score of the day totaling 17.50, Hiroto Arai (JPN) with the second highest heat score, 16.77, and Maxime Huscent (FRA) with the third highest heat score of the day, and also the highest single wave score of the day, 9.47.

                                                  Raditya Rondi © ISA/Gonzalez

Raditya Rondi (IND), reigning Asian surfing champion posted an impressive heat win in the Round of 96 today. The four man heat was a see-sawing battle with multiple position changes, but in the end Rondi held the lead thanks to an excellent ride that saw him earn an 8.00 (out of a possible 10), making his two-wave heat-total 13.83 (out of a possible 20).

"I'm stoked to be here," said Rondi. "I saw this contest on the webcast last year and saw that it was left handers, so I was preparing by going left a lot at home in Bali. I feel so good because I know Kanoa (Igarashi) is very famous, I just tried to catch a lot of waves. I'm stoked to win the heat."

Kanoa Igarashi (USA) required a 7.51 to take the lead from Rondi in the dying minutes of their heat as he paddled into a great looking wave. Igarashi unleashed some vertical turns, falling just short of the required score, earning a 7.50, matching Rondi's heat-total of 13.83. In the case of a tie the surfer with the highest single wave score of the heat takes the win and today it was Rondi. Igarashi went on to finish second in his Round of 64 Heat to advance to the Round of 32.

"I love it here in China," Igarashi said. "It's really cold at home in California right now so I'm stoked to be somewhere tropical and warm. This is my first ever ASP Star event, it was fun and I'm stoked to make the heat. I'm just here with a friend and we're just having fun, it doesn't matter if we lose early or go all the way, we just want to enjoy our time here."

                                                Rainos Hayes © ISA/Gonzalez


Carlo Zapata (PER) was the day's most dominant surfer posting a near perfect 9.17 and backed that up with another score in the excellent range, a 8.33. Zapata started the heat off slow posting a couple of average scores, but came out of nowhere in the second half of the heat to earn the title of the day's standout surfer.

"I was just waiting for a good one," Zapata said. "I know the quality of this wave is high and the heat was 25 minutes, so I waited a long time for a good one. The first heat is the one that breaks the ice, it's the one that if you do well you feel comfortable. There are a lot of lefts in the north of Peru, but I live in Lima where there is rights. I do go north to surf a lot because the waves are really good. I do feel really comfortable here."

Kaipo Jaquias (HAW), 90s ASP World Tour veteran and Hawaiian legend today showed that good old fashioned power surfing will never go out of style. Jaquias was in second position as time was running out, he caught one last wave, belted the long Riyue Bay runner and clocked an excellent 8.00 that saw him win his Round of 96 heat.

"My era on tour was with guys like Dane Kealoha, Tom Carroll, Tom Curren, Occy and even Kelly Slater," Jaquias said. "I gave it away to stay at home and raise my son and family, which I don't regret, but I honestly do miss competing. ISA gave me an opportunity to come here to surf and my wife told me do it. I don't have a sponsor or pressure to get results, it's about doing what I know how to do best and that's catching waves. I'm having fun."

                                                 Kam Richards © ISA/Gonzalez


Hiroto Arai (JPN) was the surprise package of the day, using his smooth and sharp backhand attack to notch the day's second highest two-wave heat-total - 16.77. Arai will now face Messias Felix (BRA), Soli Bailey (AUS) and Matheus Navarro (BRA) in Heat 13 when competition resumes tomorrow.

"I spend a lot of time in Australia competing and it's helped my surfing," Arai said. "The waves were small, but amazing in my heat. It's slow out there, but if you get the set, it doubles up and lets you do some turns. I got a few good waves so I'm happy with that heat."

Ryan Callinan (AUS) looked right at home on his forehand at Riyue Bay's long lefts today. Callinan's competitive career has suffered a couple of injury blows in recent years, but hard work and training has seen him get back to his best and now he's looking for a big result at the 2013 Hainan Classic.

"I've only surfed out here once so I was just feeling out the line-up," Callinan said. "This is my first trip to China, I heard the event was at a left point and I thought it would suit me and my style. The 12-year-old kid in my heat Wolf has probably got the coolest name in the event. I was talking to him out there, he's really cool. It's good to see the local surfers get into it."

                                                  Benji Brand © ISA/Gonzalez


Wolf Wertheimer (HKG), the 12-year-old surfer from Hong Kong finished last in his heat, but amassed the highest heat total out of all the local surfers and gained a wealth of experience.

"It's a great opportunity for me to compete in this year's Hainan Classic," Wertheimer said. "I think a lot of kids from Australia and all over the world would love to be given this opportunity. I am so happy. It was so good to have a heat with these pro guys!"

ISA President Fernando Aguerre was impressed by the level of surfing at this year's Hainan Classic from both the international professional surfers and the locals who have embraced our sport.

"I'm very happy the swell has picked up and we are able to run the competition on the point at Riyue Bay," said Aguerre. "While the surf today is not as perfect as a year ago, the waves and the rides are long, the performance level is high, and the competition has been strong. I'm amazed at how good the young Chinese surfers have become in just one year since the ISA first came to China."

The first four heats of the Round of 64 ran this afternoon as the swell started to pick up, with Kaito Ohashi (JPN), Davey Cathels (AUS), Maxime Huscenot (FRA) and Mitch Crews (AUS) all posting heat wins. A call will be made at 7:30am tomorrow for a possible 8am start.

                                            Team Indonesia © ISA/Gonzalez

HAINAN CLASSIC ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:
HT 1: Kaito Ohashi (JPN) 13.33, Lincoln Taylor (AUS) 9.37, Takumi Nakamura, Eduardo Fernandes
HT 2: Davey Cathels (AUS) 15.17, Chris Waring (USA) 14.27, Kenta Hayashi, Adam Goldstone
HT 3: Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 16.64, Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 12.33, Kento Takahashi, Jeffrey Lukasik
HT 4: Mitch Crews (AUS) 12.96, Raditya Rondi (IND) 12.50, David Van Zyl (ZAF) 9.30, Rainos Hayes 
 
UPCOMING HAINAN CLASSIC ROUND OF 64 MATCH-UPS:
HT 5: Vincent Duvignac (FRA), Jerome Forrest (AUS), Benji Brand (ZAF), Made Widiarta (IND)
HT 6: Chris Friend (AUS), Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN), Hairil Anwar (IND), Todd Rosewall (AUS)
HT 7: Ty Watson (AUS), Medi Veminardi (FRA), Shun Murakami (JPN), Matt Passaquindici (USA)
HT 8: Glenn Hall (IRE), Michael Rodrigues (BRA), Deivid Silva (BRA), Lee Wilson (IND)
HT 9: Brian Toth (PRI), Wade Carmichael (AUS), Joao Guedes (PRT), Dane Atcheson (AUS)
HT 10: Thomas Woods (AUS), Frederico Morais (PRT), Carlo Zapata (PER), Kevin Schulz (USA)
HT 11: Sunny Garcia (HAW), Cahill Bell-Warren (AUS), Dustin Cuizon (HAW), Joaquin Del Castillo
HT 12: Adrien Toyon (FRA), Brent Dorrington (AUS), Kaipo Jaquias (HAW), Ethan Egiguren (EUK)
HT 13: Messias Felix (BRA), Soli Bailey (AUS), Hiroto Arai (JPN), Matheus Navarro (BRA)
HT 14: Caio Ibelli (BRA), Arashi Kato (JPN), Ryan Callinan (AUS), Cam Richards (AUS)
HT 15: Vasco Ribeiro (PRT), Connor O'Leary (AUS), Davey Brand (ZAF), Juninho Urcia (PER)
HT 16: Gabe Kling (USA), Cooper Chapman (AUS), Kaoliopuuwai Kahokul (HAW), Noa Deane 

 

HAINAN CLASSIC ROUND OF 96 RESULTS:
HT 1: Eduardo Fernandes (PRT) 12.33, Adam Goldstone (USA) 5.43, Chen Guoquan (CHN) 3.47
HT 2: Chris Waring (USA) 12.67, Takumi Nakamura (JPN) 11.70, Joe Keogh (HKG) 3.87, Moyu Huang
HT 3: Kento Takahashi (JPN) 10.90, Rainos Hayes (HAW) 9.00, Keelan Veitch (AUS) 7.66, Haishou Li
HT 4: Raditya Rondi (IND) 13.83, Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 13.83, Kan Watanabe (JPN) 9.37, Xu Jingsen
HT 5: Benji Brand (ZAF) 12.73, Todd Rosewall (AUS) 11.07, Yugo Kawabata (JPN) 10.77, Liang Zhang
HT 6: Hairil Anwar (IND) 14.10, Made Widiarta (IND) 10.50, Sean Walker (USA) 9.50, Kelly Norris
HT 7: Shun Murakami (JPN) 12.00, Lee Wilson (IND) 9.30, Scott Weinhardt (USA) 8.70, Rory Macdonald
HT 8: Deivid Silva (BRA) 14.34, Matt Passaquindici (USA) 9.77, Saxon Lumsden (AUS) 9.04, Mo Zack
HT 9: Joao Guedes (PRT) 10.76, Kevin Schulz (USA) 10.60, Brandon Smith (USA) 7.83, Ye Yuanming
HT 10: Carlo Zapata (PER) 17.50, Dane Atcheson (AUS) 15.10, Zhuang Tie (CHN) 3.06
HT 11: Dustin Cuizon (HAW) 13.67, Ethan Egiguren (EUK) 9.93, Scott Bush (USA) 4.30, Jianye Liao
HT 12: Kaipo Jaquias (HAW) 13.67, Joaquin Del Castillo (PER) 12.53, Ryan Bignold, Wen Huang
HT 13: Hiroto Arai (JPN) 16.77, Cam Richards (USA) 12.27, Dane Bird (AUS) 8.54, Alan Zhao
HT 14: Ryan Callinan (AUS) 13.00, Matheus Navarro (BRA) 10.43, Robbie France 10.34, Wolf Wertheimer
HT 15: Davey Brand (ZAF) 9.34, Noa Deane (AUS) 6.27, Wu Runquan (CHN) 2.24
HT 16: Kaoliopuuwai Kahokul (HAW) 13.03, Juninho Urcia (PER) 11.54, Qiu Zhuo (CHN) 3.47

Check the Live Coverage


Videos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Slideshows: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Previous reports:
# 1 : China prepares for International Surfing Fest
# 2 : Aussies & Peruvians picked for ISA China Cup
# 3 : Final teams named for the 2013 ISA China Cup
# 4 : ISA China Cup pre-event Slideshow/Video
# 5 : The Greatest Opening Ceremony in Surfing
# 6 : Day 1 of ISA China Cup froths in small surf
# 7 : Team Australia wins ISA China Cup 2013

The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running the Open Division World Championship since 1964, the World Junior Surfing Championship since 1980, the World Masters Surfing Championship since 2007, the World Bodyboard Championship since 2011, the Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival in China, and the World Standup Paddle (SUP) and Paddleboard Championship beginning in 2012. The ISA also sanctions the World Kneeboard Titles and the World Tandem Surfing Championship, and will launch the World Longboard Championship in 2013.

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies of 72 countries on five continents. Its headquarters are located in La Jolla, California. It is presided over by Fernando Aguerre (Argentina), first elected President in 1994 in Rio de Janeiro and re-elected seven times since. The ISA's four Vice-Presidents are Alan Atkins (AUS), Karín Sierralta (PER), Debbie Beacham (USA) and Layne Beachley (AUS).

www.isasurf.org

Source: ISA/ASP

Author: Carlos Escaba/Steve Robertson

Tags: Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival, China, ISA

ISA/ASP: Surfersvillage