9 January 2012, Desaru – Malaysia: Current Asian Surfing Champion Raditya Rondi from Indonesia took the Men’s Open victory yesterday in the 6th annual Monsoon Mayhem International Surf Challenge at Desaru Beach in Malaysia, battling it out in a 25 minute challenge against Mohd Nazrin “Super Yen” from Malaysia, Abdullah Areef from the Maldives, and Gilang from Indonesia.

The surfing conditions on the final day lived up to the moniker of “mayhem” for the most part, with 3-4 foot waves closing out on the inside sandbars and rain squalls blowing in and out, but for the Men’s Open finals the conditions cleaned up and allowed thrilling finale to the three-day Monsoon Mayhem competition.

Rondi was all smiles back on the beach after the final, pleased to be starting the 2012 ASC tour season with a win. “This is my first time coming here to Desaru and it’s been lots of fun, so to take the win today just caps it off. It’s a great way to start off the year. We were really lucky that conditions got better in the finals, with the wind all but stopping so it got pretty good, which made it easier to find a couple of nice waves. It was also cool to see all the Malaysian crew again, as I really enjoy surfing with these guys here and the whole experience,” he said.

When asked about the significance of his win today Rondi replied, “Yes it’s great to win the first event of the season, but there are a lot of good surfers on the ASC tour now and there will be lots more events, so I’ll have to work hard and travel if I want to retain my title in 2012. But I’m going to do my best, and this is a great start!”

Abdullah Areef from the Maldives was satisfied with his third place finish, saying “I’m glad I got into the finals, so I can go back home with a trophy. The waves got much cleaner for the final, which made for a great ending. I’ve really enjoyed the event, and I want to do a lot more ASC events this year for sure, that’s my plan for 2012.”

The Asian Surfing Championship tour is just starting its second season, after having sanctioned a total of 9 events held in four countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Thailand in 2011. The Monsoon Mayhem is the first event of 2012 season.

The Monsoon Mayhem International Surf Challenge took place on the golden sands of Desaru Beach, located an hours drive east of Johor Baru and approximately 1.5 hours by car from Singapore.

During the three days of the event, the surfing action included the Men’s Open Division, Women’s Division, Masters (over 35 years of age) Division, and a Bodyboard Division, with over 80 participants coming from Australia, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, the Maldives, Singapore, and of course Malaysia.

In addition to the surfing, there was also a skateboarding Slide Jam competition held on a hill just behind the Lotus Desaru Beach Resort followed by a DJ party at the hotel, giving the attendees a full weekend of fun activities.

To close the event at the awards presentation on the beach on Sunday afternoon, the Director of the Malaysia Tourism Ministry in Johor, Mr. Mohamad Isa Bin Abdul Halim took to the podium and said, “I first want to thank all the surfers from around the world that came to participate in the event, and all the governmental agencies that came together to support it to make it happen. We really hope that next year you all will come back again, as we hope to make an even bigger and better event for you. So thanks again everyone, and have a safe journey back to your home countries. See you again next year!”

Nazir “Ajill” Salleh from Bigfoot Industries was very pleased with how the event all came together, saying, “We’re very happy with the great turnout this year, and next year we plan to make it even bigger and better, hopefully with more prize money for the contestants. It’s been gratifying to see the event grow from just a couple of small tents on the beach and a dozen surfers, to having the ASC come and help us run the event and draw dozens of surfers from other countries. We had over 80 contestants from 7 countries here this year, and I’m sure next year we’ll top that. We feel honored that they all came to our event, as this isn’t exactly a dream wave that everybody is frothing to surf, so it’s the spirit and stoke of surfing and competing that is so good to see. So I thank all the surfers, my Bigfoot team, the government and the sponsors, and the ASC for making it such a great event.”

To see more photos and results from the Monsoon Mayhem, see www.asiansurfingtour.com and look up the Asian Surfing Championship (ASC) and Bigfoot Industries on Facebook.

The Monsoon Mayhem event is supported by the Malaysian state of Johor as both a tourism promotion activity and in support of the growth of surfing in Malaysia.

Monsoon Mayhem 2012 was organized by Bigfoot Industries, sanctioned by the Asian Surfing Championships with official event partners Tourism Malaysia, Tourism Johor, Pejabat Memeterian Pelancongan Negeri Johor, sponsored by UNKL347, Wavehouse Sentosa, Satu Suku Surf, Fatimah Mohsin The Wedding Gallery, SaltySkin Dive & Surf, JOHO and Journey, and supported by the Surfing Association of Singapore, Johor Surfing Association, and MRB. The official accommodation for the event was the Lotus Desaru Beach Resort.

Monsoon Mayhem International Surf Challenge 2012 Contest Results:

Men’s Open Division

1. Raditya Rondi (Indonesia)
2. Mohd Nazrin “Super Yen” (Malaysia)
3. Abdullah Areef (Maldives)
4. Gilang (Indonesia)

Women’s Open Division

1. Annissa Flynn (Thailand)
2. Nur Hawani (Malaysia)
3. Michaela Partin (USA)
4. Brenda Lee (Malaysia)

Master’s Division

1. Toshikazu Kirusji (Japan)
2. Sean Gilhooley (Australia)
3. Decha Sithidej (Thailand)
4. Hideyuki (Japan)

Bodyboard Division

1. Ali Khusruwan (Maldives)
2. Ibrahim Shiman (Maldives)
3. Ali Javeed (Maldives)
4. Mohamed Luhushan (Maldives)

Best Local Johor Surfer – Haikal (Tanjung Balu, Malaysia)

Best Malaysian Surfer – Mohd Nazrin “Super Yen” (Cherating, Malaysia)

Best Wipeout – Ismail Miglal (Maldives)

Media Contacts

Bigfoot Industries
Nazir “Ajill” Saleh
Event Coordinator
Mobile: +6581484900
Email: bfinternational@gmail.com

Asian Surfing Championships
Tim Hain
Media Director
Office: +62361768293
Mobile: +628123606674
Email: tim@asiansurfingtour.com, tim@isctour.com

About Bigfoot Industries

Bigfoot Industries was founded in 2006 by enthusiasts of extreme sports such as skateboarding, surfing and dirt biking. The company focuses on promoting the future development of board riding sports in Singapore, Malaysia, and throughout Asia. Bigfoot Industries holds a number of events in the board riding categories yearly and sponsors diverse individual athletes in various disciplines. See more at www.bigfoot-industries.com

About the Asian Surfing Championships

The goal of the Asian Surfing Championships is to grow the sport of surfing in Asia from the grassroots level by assisting each country in creating organized and sanctioned events that will develop the skills of their surfers in healthy competition as well as to draw attention to their area for the progression of surfing locally, nationally, and throughout the Asian region.

Organized surfing competitions have historically been the best medium for the development of surfers and for the sport of surfing. Learning how to compete fairly and to being disciplined in training and competition key assets needed not only for surfing but also for life.

The ASC works with the local, national and multinational event sponsors and organizers to maximize the results of these competitive surfing events towards accomplishing the goals of sharing the sport of surfing and bringing positive economic, social, and environmental benefits to the people in these Asian countries.

With a multi-stop and multi-national surfing tour, Asian Surfing Champions will be crowned each year in multiple divisions including Open, Women, Longboard, Junior, and Master. For more see www.asiansurfingtour.com

Photos and Text: Tim Hain