The competition ran from Oct 6-10 and was organised by the Thailand Surfing Federation and the Surfing Association of Thailand. The first two days of competition experienced heavy rainfall and strong winds which made things extremely challenging for the participants, although conditions did improve into the weekend and for Sunday’s final.
It was the first official competition since the outbreak of COVID-19 last year and was carried out while strictly adhering to stipulated health and safety measures. Spectators were limited although a live feed via Facebook allowed eager fans to follow from the comfort of their homes.
Competition highlights included local favourite Annissa Flynn winning the women’s short and long board categories. Annissa is a Thai national team athlete who won a silver medal in the women’s short board competition at the 2019 SEA Games and who is a two-time flow board world champion.
On Sunday, Annissa defeated Sukanya Thepwongsa by 8.05 to 4.00 in the short board competition and Mink Chonnikarn 8.75 to 6.75 in the long board competition.
In an interview with the organisers after her victories, Annissa thanked the fans for coming out and cheering her and her fellow surfers on, adding that the strong waves made things challenging but she tried her best.
Jamie Smith won the men’s short board contest after defeating SEA Games bronze medalist Henry Chapman with a score of 12.70 to 10.80.
Teerayut Phetsura overcame the challenge of Pattana Kenkhuntod to win the men’s long board category.
In the under 14s youth category, Natthakron Sae-Yew won the male competition and Pennapa Khotchadet triumphed in the female catgeory.
“This past year has been very challenging following the outbreak of COVID-19 and many races had to be cancelled,” commented Chanin Aiyarak, President of the Surfing Association of Thailand.
“Athletes have been unable to compete nationally, let alone in overseas competition so it was crucial that once the restrictions on sports activities were relaxed that we managed to organise this event,” he added.
“We strictly followed the provincial health and safety measures and provided a live broadcast to limit spectators at the venue. This was very warmly received by surfing fans as we witnesed a large audience tuning in,” Mr Chanin said.
The results were as follows:
Male Short Board
1st place: Jamie Smith
2nd place: Sitipong Henry Chapman
3rd place: Songkrod Jomboon and Wasan Sarisai
Female Short Board
1st place: Annissa Flynn
2nd place: Sukanya Tapwongsa
3rd place: Jasmine Nolan and Piyamas Nakayasith
Male Long Board
1st place: Teerayut Phetsura
2nd place: Pattana Kenkhuntod
3rd place: Bukohri Koto and Werawat Kuru
Female Long Board
1st place: Annissa Flynn
2nd place: Chonnikan Phaitucksri
3rd place: Athiya Junprasert and Thanaporn Trairat
Under 14s male
1st place: Natthakron Sae-Yew
2nd place: Patchara Tiangnoi
3rd place: Natthaphon Yamsila
Under 14s female
1st place: Pennapa Khotchadet
2nd place: Jirapat Chulasukontha
3rd place Mathiya Ashley Holmberg
The Thailand Surfing Federation extended their thanks to the Sports Authority of Thailand, National Sports Development Fund Sports Authority of Thailand, Phuket Province Rawai Subdistrict Municipality, Phuket Sports Association and RipCurl Thailand for their support which allowed the competition to proceed.
The Surfing Association of Thailand is sponsored by Quiksilver Thailand, Roxy Thailand and The Coral Lounge Thailand.
All competition photo albums are available at https://www.facebook.com/surfingthailand/photos/