By Sasha Christian/Red Sports
Mark Leong places second in the U-17 Slalom Waterski division. (Photo 1 © Sasha Christian/Red Sports)
Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, September 28, 2013 – At the IWWF Asian Waterski and Wakeboard Championships, Mark Leong of Singapore placed second in the Under-17 Slalom Waterski division with a new personal best of two buoys with a 14-meter line.
Qualifying third during the preliminaries meant that 15-year-old Mark had the advantage of starting fourth off the dock during the final today. This allowed him to watch his competitors’ performances so he knew exactly what he needed to do.
“I wanted to clear my 16-meter pass because I had been falling on it the last two rounds. I wasn’t very nervous because I was used to the boat and the settings,” said Mark.
Although Mark was initially aiming for first place, he wasn’t disappointed with second as he felt that he skied well. Mark will have another chance to beat his personal best at this championship. He, along with teammates Kalya Kee and Sasha Christian qualified for the Slalom Open final that will be held tomorrow morning.
“I’m very happy with my performance today and I’m happy with the silver. For tomorrow, I want to clear my 14m,” said Mark.
Tomorrow will also be an exciting day for Guy Tanaka as he made it into the Wakeboard men’s final which will be held right after the Slalom. His teammate, 16-year-old Samuel Chua, rode well to qualify for the semi-finals but unfortunately failed to advance from there.
Sam said: “I feel very satisfied with my pass today, I did all my tricks and had a clean run. I’m not disappointed that I didn’t make the finals. It’s a learning point for me. My next aim is to improve and learn more tricks.”
Under-17 Slalom Waterski Boys results
1st Indra Hardinata (INA) – 2.50/58/13.00
2nd Mark Leong (SIN) – 2.00/58/14.25
3rd Guruh Dwi Samudra (INA) – 2.50/58/16.00
4th Syahir Nasir (MAS) – 2.50/58/18.25
5th M Rafi Yanuresta (INA) – 3.50/49
6th Gauravdeep Singh (IND) – did not ski
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