Surfers from around the region roughed it out in the seventh annual Monsoon Mayhem International Surf Challenge 2013 that took place at the Desaru beach in Malaysia from 4 to 6 January 2013. As part of the Asian Surfing Championship Tour, the surf competition included the Men’s Open Division, Women’s Division, Master’s Division (over 35 years of age) and Bodyboard Division, with over 60 participants from countries such as Australia, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Holland, South Africa, the USA, the Maldives, Singapore and of course Malaysia.
23-year-old Mohd Haikal from Johor Bahru posted his first ever surfing contest victory at his home break, winning the highly competitive Men’s Open Division. Battling it out in a 25 minutes challenge against the unpredictable surf elements, he overcame stiff competition from fellow Malaysian surfers Mohd ‘Mamat’ Daud and Mohd Didaqt from Cherating, as well as his younger brother Mohd Helmi.
Winner of the ‘Best Johor Local Surfer Award’ in 2011 and 2012, Haikal exclaimed, “I’m so happy to be the winner here at my home break. It’s my dream to be a pro surfer, so this is really a big moment for me to win my first contest. I don’t have any sponsors so I want to thank my family and friends who have been supporting me.”
Taking home the trophy for the second place in the Men’s Open Division was Mohd ‘Mamat’ Daud from Cherating. A seasoned competitor who has won several Malaysian competitions, Mamat has also surfed in places like Bali and the Mentawai Islands of Indonesia.
“This is always a really fun event,” said Mamat. “It was definitely a challenge out there to find a good open face in these conditions. It’s a lot different from my home break of Cherating, which is a long left hand point break. I won both my heats to get into the final, but just couldn’t find the one good wave I needed to post a big score. I’m stoked for Haikal, getting his first win at his home break. Good on him and congratulations!”
According to organizer Nazir ‘Ajill’ Salleh from BigFoot Industries, the final day of the event experienced the rarest day of epic conditions ever in the 7 years of Monsoon Mayhem. The event certainly lived up to its ‘mayhem’ moniker, with sizeable 4-5 foot waves breaking all over the beach break, making it a true surfing challenge and creating a thrilling finale to the three-day surf competition.
In the Women’s Division, five-time Indonesian women’s surfing champion Yasnyiar ‘Bonne’ Gea dominated the final. She wasted no time getting to work and attacking the often closing out waves, managing to ferret out a few open faces and posting the highest women’s single wave scores in the final.
“This is my third time competing here in Desaru,” said Gea. “The first year I came here I won, but last year I didn’t even make it into the final, so this year I was determined to win it again. I knew I had to be aggressive in this type of wave condition, so I’m lucky I found a couple of good waves so I could post the best scores and get the win.”
The Master’s Division was won by last year’s winner Kaz Tushikazu of Japan and second place went to Erwin Van Putten, a Dutch expat who lives in Thailand. This Division also had the distinction of having the most variety of international competitors from Malaysia, Holland, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, Australia, and the USA.
In addition to the surfing action, a Slide Jam Skating Competition and a Saturday night beach party with DJ KBNL from Johor Bahru were also held.
Monsoon Mayhem International Surf Challenge 2013 Contest Results:
Men’s Open Division
1. Mohd Haikal (Malaysia)
2. Mohd “Mamat” Daud (Malaysia)
3. Mohd Didaqt (Malaysia)
4. Mohd Helmi (Malaysia)
Women’s Open Division
1. Yasnyiar “Bonne” Gea (Indonesia)
2. Diah Rayahu Dewi (Indonesia)
3. Jessie Hong (Taiwan)
4. Michaela Partin (USA)
Master’s Division
1. Toshikazu Kirusji (Japan)
2. Erwin Van Putten (Holland)
3. James Coetcee (South Africa)
4. Wann Hassan (Singapore)
Bodyboard Division
1. Syed El Hussien (Malaysia)
2. Ali Khusruwan (Maldives)
3. Ali Javeed (Maldives)
4. Ibrahim Shiman (Maldives)
Best Local Johor Surfer – Helmi (Tanjung Balu, Malaysia)
