Team Macao, Westphal top Chagi Cup

Team Macao and Dan Westphal topped their respective categories in the 6th Annual Chagi Cup held last Oct. 19 in the waters off the Susupe Beach Park.

Led by Japanese professional wakeboarder Hatakeyama Yohiyuki, Team Macao accumulated a total of 221 points to win the morning team competition.

Joining Hatakeyama in Team Macao were Inaoka Yoshiro, Yoshida Yukie, and Matsuo Nobuyuki.

Air-LLS came in second with 212 points. The team was made up of Jun Salalila, Jun Blas, Rodney Deleon Guerrero, Judykate Deleon Guerrero, and Onuma Kenji.

Sakura finished with 205 points to settle for third place. Japanese professional wakeboarder Fujimoto Makoto, Ando Kaoru, Takagi Yoshimi, and Mizutani Kenji make up the team.

Coming in fourth with 193 points was the Fry-n team of Westphal, Jay Santos, Taniguchi Tomohiro, and Mieko Kobayashi.

Otsuka Sadayuki, Akayane Sakyo, Sekiguchi Yoshihiro, Muraoka Yukio, and Fujisawa Tamaki of dethroned champion Boku-chan wound up in last pace with 175 points.

In the individual category held after lunch, Westphal led the winners by topping the Gold Star, or expert division, with 85 points. He was followed by Inaoka Yoshiro (63 points), Otsuka Sadayuki (35), and Jun Salalila (30).

Taniguchi Tomohiro, meanwhile, edged Jun Blas in the Silver Star, or pre-expert division, with 46 points. Blas came away with 44 points, while Akahane Sakyo (35), Fujisawa Tamaki (33), and Onuma Kenji (22) made up the rest of the field.

For the Red Star, or intermediate class, Sekiguchi Yoshihiro’s 44 points topped the field, with Yoshida Yukie (37), Mieko Kobayashi (35) coming in second and third, respectively. Muraoka Yukio (20), Matsuo Nobuyuki (18), and Mizutani Kenji (12) also competed in the division.

Last but not the least, Rodney Deleon Guerrero won the Green Star or beginner category with his 34 points, followed by Jay Santos (33), Ando Kaoru (28), Judykate Deleon Guerrero (27), and Takagi Yoshimi (16).

Both competitions in the team and individual categories consisted of a mix of olie jumps and small, medium, and large buoy jumps.

Pros Hatakeyama and Fujimoto used the 2008 Chagi Cup to train for the 2008 DunPanas Cup in Biwako, Japan set for Nov. 16. As many as 100 professional wakeboarders are expected to compete in the event.