13 October, Jialeshuei, Taiwan: The 2019 Pingtung Manzhou Jialeshuei Pingtung County International Surfing Competition concluded yesterday in excellent wave conditions with winners crowned in 12 divisions of competition numbering almost 200 competitors, all run in two days of non-stop action.
Scheduled to run over a three day period from 11-13 of October, the unpredictable nature of Typhoon Hagibis and the forecasted threat of gale force winds starting on the 13th had TORSA Contest Director Neil MacDonald making the call on Friday the 11th to try and complete the event in just two days. Turns out it was absolutely the correct call, as on Sunday morning by 8 am strong offshore winds had arrived.
“It was hard work getting through that many heats with two banks and two setups, with almost 200 surfers and 12 divisions, so we had to limit heat times to 15 minutes and the finals to 20 minutes, but everybody got waves and the best surfers won, so I’m really satisfied with the results,” said MacDonald. “In past years we’ve had all sorts of weather challenges, so we’ve learned a lot and this year everything went just about as perfect as anyone could expect.”
Without a question, the highlight of the day came in the finals, where Taka Inoue from Japan won both the Shortboard and Longboard Open Divisions to the cheers of the crowd on the beach. In the Men’s Longboard Open Division he dominated the final by leaving the other 3 competitors requiring a combination of new scores after posting a near perfect 9.67 (out of a possible 10) point wave. When added to his second highest score of 7.33, his total at the end of the final was 17.00 points out of a possible 20. The next closest competitor had a 10.33 total.
In the Men’s Shortboard Open Division Taka was dominant as well, though winning by a slightly smaller margin. He earned first a near excellent 7.83 score and then an excellent score of 8.67 to win with total of 16.50 points to runner up Rory MacDonald’s total of 13.00 points.
“I’m so happy to win this event,” said Taka. “This is my first time to Jialeshue, but I’ve been to Taiwan before last year at Taitung for the WSL World Longboard Championships. One of my Taiwanese friends invited me to come here for this competition, and I’m so happy I did.”
When ask how he liked the wave here, he replied, “For me, this wave is especially good for longboarding. It’s good for shortboarding too, but it’s not really as much of a high performance wave like it is for longboarding. It was so fun to compete here and I’ve had really good time surfing with the local guys and everyone is very nice, so I hope I can come back here again next year.”
On the woman’s side, most impressive was the performance of Leanne MacDonald (Pan Mei Shin), who competed in three divisions (Junior Under 18 Shortboard, Women’s Shortboard Open, and Women’s Longboard Open) surfing 6 heats on finals day and coming home with a 4th in the Juniors, a 2nd in the Longboards, and winning the Women’s Shortboard Open.
When asked what motived her to join all of these divisions and test herself against not only the other competitors but the elements as well, Leanne replied, “The desire to win I guess. I’ve always had a competitive nature, and since I’ve grown up surfing mostly with boys, when I’m up against them it really motivates me to win. I only got 4th place in the Under 18 Shortboards, but I was trying to save my energy for the longboard and shortboard finals. In the Women’s Longboards, I was lucky that the waves were big or I may not have even got second place, but luckily I ended up winning the Shortboard division.”
She added, “Yes I surfed 6 heats yesterday, some back to back, so I did have a real workout for sure. The key was positioning, and knowing where the channel was, to keep from getting smashed by the big closeouts. It didn’t always work out, as I did get stuck inside a few times, but today my parents are paying for me to get a massage, so with that and some money in the bank, I’m pretty happy with how it all worked out.”
As the 14 year that this contest has been held at Jialeshuei, Jose Chuang from TORSA is proud of what has been achieved as well as the progress made by the surfers of South Taiwan. After the contest wrapped up yesterday, he received a call from the Mayor of Pintung County Mr. Pan Men-an congratulating him on the success of the event. The Mayor apologized that he couldn’t attend himself, but he had sent Director of Tourism Mr. Gouwei Huang to represent him, who filled him in on the details.
“The Mayor called me yesterday and was very complimentary,” said Chuang. “And I was very proud to tell him how the support he has given to support surfing in this area has resulted in our surfers doing so well in the competition. Further proof of this success is the fact that 5 out of the 6 junior surfers going to America to compete in the upcoming ISA World Junior Championships are from this South Taiwan area. So we are really proud and happy to show off these results and put another great event in the books, and next year you can look forward to the 2020 Pingtung Manzhou Jialeshuei International Surfing Competition being even bigger and better.”
You can see all the heat scores and results of the event at https://www.liveheats.com/events/2383/division/16650
For more photos please click this link:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/p4l4n6arp9z730b/AAAmJ6oTKeM9BukRp3mRVgNka?dl=0
Note: Photos for Media Use Only. For commercial or other uses, please contact tim.hain@asiansurfingtour.com
Official Contest Results:
Men’s Shortboard Open
1. Taka Inoue (Japan)
2. Rory MacDonald (Taiwan)
3. Kuo Heng Liang (Taiwan)
4. Chen Sheng Fu (Taiwan)
Men’s Longboard Open
1. Taka Inoue (Japan)
2. An Tsung Lin (Taiwan)
3. Rory MacDonald (Taiwan)
4. Chen Tong Ming (Taiwan)
Women’s Shortboard Open
1. Leanne MacDonald (Taiwan)
2. Chung Yun Jung (Taiwan)
3. Chang Yen Tzu (Taiwan)
4. Chen Chi Chieh (Taiwan)
Women’s Longboard Open
1. Tseng Yi Chun (Taiwan)
2. Leanne MacDonald (Taiwan)
3. Azuma Aki (Japan)
4. Chung Chi Yao (Taiwan)
Men’s Bodyboard Open
1. Tomioka Kenji (Japan)
2. Bevan Langley (South Africa)
3. Chen Ming Feng (Taiwan)
4. Yanase Kenji (Japan)
Women’s Bodyboard Open
1. Ono Kaori (Japan)
2. Sakula Sato (Japan)
3. Yeh Chi Ting (Taiwan)
4. Miyauchi Mona (Japan)
Junior Under 18 Shortboard Open
1. Chen Sheng Fu (Taiwan)
2. Noa Parrish (Taiwan)
3. Pan Wenjie (Taiwan)
4. Pan Mei Shin (Leanne MacDonald – Taiwan)
Junior Under 16 Shortboard Open
1. Pan Wenjie (Taiwan)
2. Chen Sheng Fu (Taiwan)
3. Wu Chia Wei (Taiwan)
4. Wu Chun Ming (Taiwan)
Men’s Shortboard
1. Wu Chun Ming
2. Wu Chia Wei
3. Liu Ming Jang
4. Chao Yen Huang
Men’s Longboard
1. Noa Parrish
2. Hsieh Yu Hsuan
3. Yu Chia-Chi
4. Shih Hong Chi
Women’s Longboard
1. Chen Chieh Mei
2. Su Yu Han
3. Wang Ya Hsuan
4. Huang Yu Lin
Master Longboard
1. Yang Horn Min
2. Hsueh Shao Kuo
3. Lee Wen Cheng
4. Huang Chih Yen
The 2019 Pingtung Manzhou Jialeshuei County International Surfing Competition is organized by TORSA in cooperation with the Pingtung County Government, with co-organizers the Manzhou Township Government, the Manzhou Branch of Pingtung County Police Bureau, Pingtung County Wei-Jing Rescue Association, and the Chinese Taipei Surfing Association(CTSA) with sponsors Quiksilver, ROXY, Australian Gold, Nanum Surfboards, USA Style Shop, SurfAce, Pineapple Surfboards, J.Board/Hawaii, Surf Trip World, and UUKT.
This event was organized by TORSA (Taiwan Ocean Recreation and Sports Association) and sanctioned by the ASC (Asian Surf Cooperative).