The ISA and China to host groundbreaking Surfing Festival

02/01/2012

From January 6 to 14, China will become the international surfing capital with the world’s top surfers competing on their National Teams in the ISA China Cup followed by a second surfing competition, the Hainan Classic, an ASP Men’s 4-Star contest. It will be the first time ever in the history of the country that surfing events of this magnitude take place.

ISA China Cup will be invitation-only
As the opening event in the Festival, from January 6 to 9, the ISA China Cup will be invitation-only featuring the top eight surfing nations in the world based on the National Team results from the recent 2011 ISA World Surfing Games in Panama. All eight invited National Teams have accepted, including: Australia, Brazil, France, Argentina, South Africa, Peru, Venezuela and the USA. Each National Team will include their country’s best four men and two women shortboarders, who will compete for Team and Individual Gold Medals and the honor of representing their nations.

Historic competition
Following the completion of the ISA China Cup, the festival will continue with the Hainan Classic, January 11-14, which the ISA has confirmed will have a total prize purse of $ 95,000 USD. This historic competition will be the first ASP event ever in China that will count towards the ASP Men’s World Ranking. “This is not just the first ISA event and the top eight surfing nations in the world competing in an international surfing event in China,” stated ISA President Fernando Aguerre, who has been leading the ISA’s initiative into China for the past 18 months. “This is a demonstration of the growth of surfing across the world. China, the most populated country on the planet with 1.3 billion people, wants their youth to surf and eventually compete with the world’s top surfers. This event will mark a ‘before and after’ in the history of the country and of Chinese surfing. I can’t wait to surf some waves over there.”

ISA to help China become a surfing powerhouse
The ISA selected the left point break at Riyue Bay on Hainan Island off the coast of southeast China after consulting with Sean Collins, founder and President of Surfline (www.surfline.com). Collins is generally considered the world’s foremost surf forecaster. He conducted a historical analysis of the surf along the east coast of Hainan and, after visiting the Island in March, he reported that Riyue Bay held the best opportunity for world class waves. With a coastline of 9,000 miles, a lot of unexplored surfing breaks, strong support from the highest levels of Government for surfing, the opportunity is ripe for the ISA to help China become a surfing powerhouse in the years to come.

Source: isasurf.org & aspworldtour.com


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