Day Two of the REnextop Asian Surfing Tour in Malaysia Challenged by Non-Stop Rain but Pushes Through to Decide Quarterfinalists and Semifinalists

16 December 2019, Cherating, Pahang, Malaysia: Despite torrential monsoon rains pouring down for the majority of the competition today, Semifinalists were decided in the Women’s Shortboard and Men’s Longboard Divisions, and Quarterfinalists decided in the Men’s Shortboard Division, with a respectable 24 heats being run leading into the final day tomorrow. Although the weather created challenges for the event management crew, dealing with the pouring rain, the wind changing directions often, and the lack of sunshine to dry things out, Mother Nature gave the surfers the best waves of the event so far, with great shaped 1-3 foot waves peeling down the point offering up a variety of sections for both the longboards and the shortboards alike. Tomorrow after the final 16 heats have been completed, not only will event winners be celebrated but the 2019 RAST Champions will be crowned as well. There are two especially interesting scenarios for the title race the Men’s Shortboard and Women’s Shortboard Divisions, where it’s even possible that there could be a ti between the top two surfers, which would then require a surf off. The first in RAST history. Mega Artana and Rio Waida both from Indonesia will face off in a man-on-man heat in Quarterfinal 2, and as both competitors have event wins but it’s Rio who needs to advance out of the quarters or his championship hopes are gone. Dhea Natasya from Indonesia and Hayanna Iguchi (Bali/Brazil) in the Women’s Shortboard Division, who both have event wins to set them on top of the rankings. But Dhea will need to finish in first place over Hayanna in order to claim the champship Dhea Natasya and Japan’s Natsumi Taoka have both posted wins in the Women’s Longboard Division, but Natsumi need to win this event in order to claim the championship. If she places second, then both competitors will have the same points total, which will require a surf off to decide the championship. In the Men’s Longboard Division, Japan’s Masaya Tsukamoto is in the semifinals so regardless of if he makes it to the finals he has already taken the 2019 RAST Championship as Bali event winner Arip Nurhidayat from Indonesia isn’t competing at this event. So there will be a spectacular race for the championships coming down to the wire tomorrow! And remember, it is the competitor with the highest points total from two of the three events that will be crowned the champion, and each of the four champions will receive a trophy and $1,000 USD in addition to their event earnings. Tomorrow’s matchups: Men’s Shortboard Quarterfinalists: 1) Ketut Agus vs Ryuki Waida 2) Rio Waida vs Mega Artana 3) Kian Martin vs Kusuma Rai 4) Dhanny Widianto vs Taka Inoue Men’s Longboard Semifinalists 1) Didaqt vs Masya Tsukamoto 2) Dean Permana vs Taka Inoue Women’s Shortboard Semifinalists 1) Dhea Natasya vs Diah Rahayu Dewi 2) Ketut Tia vs Hayanna Iguchi Women’s Longboard Semifinalists 1) Mahina Akaka vs Ami Kumazoe 2) Natsumi Taoka vs Dhea Natasya The event is not webcast but you can follow the event on Live Heats at https://www.liveheats.com/events/2728 to see heat draws, live scoring, and ranking information. The competition will resume tomorrow morning starting at 8:00 am, and there will be an awarding presentation and party to follow. Don’t miss the action on the beach at Cherating tomorrow! _________________________________________________________________________________________________ About the REnextop Asian Surfing Tour Through this series of competitions, REnextop will strengthen the integration of China’s surfing community with the international surfing world to provide more opportunities, communication avenues and interactions. Surfers from various countries in the Asia-Pacific region including Japan, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan are invited to compete in these events. REnextop is Asia’s first platform dedicated to helping extreme sportsmen and independent athletes to realize their dreams, and surfing is one of the most important extreme sports in REnextop. Find out more about REnextop at: www.renextop.com https://www.instagram.com/rast_asia/ https://www.facebook.com/REnextopRAST/ About the Asian Surf Cooperative The Asian Surf Cooperative is a professional surfing organization with over 15 years of experience in the organizing, managing and supporting surfing events around the Asian region, from local boardriders club competitions to WSL World Championship Tour events. The Asian Surf Cooperative provides event management, live scoring, ISA certified judges, contest directors, digital photography and videography, event media packages, rankings, media coverage and distribution, and also assists the ISA in organizing Surf and SUP Instructor and International Judging courses. From local grassroots boardriders and junior events to specialty and WCT events, the ASC’s purpose and goal remains is grow the sport of surfing in the Asian region by offering reliable and consistent resources and assistance to both small and large organizations who are helping to make Asia’s surfing athlete’s dreams come true. https://asiansurf.co https://www.facebook.com/asiansurfco/ https://www.instagram.com/asiansurfco/