The First Ever Chinese National Team Competed At An ISA Competition
Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival
November 23-28, 2014
Riyue Bay, Wanning, Hainan Island, China
Wanning, Hainan Island, China, November 23, 2014- The opening day of the ISA China Cup was a historic moment for the global development of Surfing as China competed for the first time in ISA history.
The 8 participating National Surfing Teams: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and South Africa, along with their 48 surfers, traveled from every corner of the globe to compete for Gold. All the surfers have gathered in tropical Wanning, on Hainan Island in the South China Sea, for the third annual event.
The surfers faced challenging conditions on the opening day of the ISA China Cup at the left point break Riyue Bay. As predicted by Surfline, the official forecaster of the event, the surf was in the 2-3ft range. Despite the scattered showers throughout the day, the conditions remained glassy and contestable all day long.
“Today was a historic day for surfing, as the first ever Chinese National Team to compete at an ISA competition faced the top seven surfing countries in the world. This moment truly shows how Surfing is developing globally and especially in China,” remarked ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “The world’s best surfers showed today they can perform at a very high level even in challenging surfing conditions. Tomorrow is the Final Day of the ISA China Cup, and I am certain it will be an exciting race to the Gold Medal and the ISA China Cup Trophy.”
The day kicked off with a memorable Welcoming Ceremony featuring the eight participating countries. A member from each country went up on stage carrying their National Flag as the Mayor of the City of Wanning Mr. Zhang and ISA Director General Liam Ferguson welcomed all of the surfers to China.
On Day 1 of the ISA China Cup, Australia’s Kai Hing delivered the highest scoring performance in the Men’s division. Hing, in his Round 2 heat managed to overcome the challenging conditions and earned a 9.00 and 8.17 for an impressive total heat score of 17.17. The Australian defeated Peru’s Lucca Messinas (11.34), and South Africa’s Casey Grant (9.50) and Davey Brand (7.33).
On the Women’s side the best surfer of the day was Codie Klein, also from Australia, who is leading the way towards tomorrow’s Women Grand Final. During her Round 1 heat, Klein earned the two highest single waves scores in the Women’s draw of 8.17 and 7.00. The Australian dominated her heat and defeated the defending ISA 50th Anniversary World Surfing Games Women’s Gold Medalist, Anali Gomez (8.90) from Peru, Costa Rica’s Lisbeth Vindas (6.60) and Argentina’s Lucia Indurain (5.90).
Monday is the final day of the 2-day ISA China Cup. Individual Men and Women’s Gold Medals will be determined. South Africa, Australia, Peru, Brazil, and Costa Rica still have all of their athletes in contention and are still in the hunt for the Team Gold Medal and the 2014 ISA China Cup.
Argentina is sitting in 6th place, Panama in 7th, and unfortunately for the local Chinese team, despite a solid effort they have lost all of their athletes and will finish in 8th place.
Official Forecaster, Surfline, has predicted for Monday, small to fun-size ENE windswell with a slight reinforcements early, then eases throughout the day. Inconsistent surf going 2-3’+, mainly knee-waist high with occasional stomach high sets around favorable tides. NE winds are light to moderate (5-13kt) in the morning, trending ENE through the afternoon.
The Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival resumes tomorrow at 7:40am with The Morning Show hosted by Mike Latronic, who will be joined by Team China.
For a full list of today’s results, click here- http://hainaninternationalsurfingfestival.com/china-cup/results/
Watch the Final Day of the ISA China Cup on the live webcast tomorrow- http://hainaninternationalsurfingfestival.com/china-cup/live/
Here is the schedule for the Final Day of the ISA China Cup live webcast:
Sunday, 7:40am China
Sunday, 10:40am Sydney, Australia
Sunday, 1:40am South Africa
Sunday 12:40am, Western Europe
Saturday, 3:40pm West Coast USA
Saturday, 5:40pm Costa Rica
Saturday, 6:40pm Panama/Peru
Saturday, 8:40pm Argentina
Saturday, 9:40pm Brazil
