More than 40 young surfers from Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the UK gathered for the event, enjoying everything from clean, playful surf on the opening day to far more challenging conditions during Sunday’s finals. Despite the changing weather and inconsistent waves, the young competitors displayed determination, sportsmanship and impressive performances before celebrating together during the awards presentation.
The event also marked an important milestone for junior surfing in Thailand as it became the country’s first Asian Surfing Championships (ASC)-sanctioned junior competition to be included in the newly launched Asian Ranking System (ARS). Beyond competing for trophies and prizes, the athletes were also earning valuable ranking points that will help establish a competitive pathway linking Thailand’s junior surfers with all ASC events across Asia.
Taking home the biggest haul of the weekend was 14-year-old Bunyarit Khansiri from the small island of Koh Phayam, who completed a remarkable double by winning both the Under 14 Boys Shortboard Division and the U-18 Boys Longboard Division.
Having surfed for only six years, Bunyarit’s talent and energy were on full display and he never let up despite competing in two finals.
“I’m so happy to win both shortboard and longboard today,” he said with a smile. “Shortboard is my favourite, but I always join longboard and shortboard when I can because longboards are fun too. The wave conditions were difficult today in the finals, but I like it here in Phuket so I had fun.”
Another competitor pulling double duty throughout the event was Aonnarin Engsrisawang, who reached the finals in both girls divisions. After narrowly finishing runner-up to Jirapat Chulasukontha in the U-14 Girls Shortboard final, she bounced back to reverse the result and capture the U-18 Girls Shortboard title later in the day.
“I’m really happy to get the win, especially because it was hard to find the good waves,” said Engsrisawang. “I knew I had to be patient and wait for the sets because they weren’t easy to read. I just focused on doing my best, and today it was enough to win. I’m super happy!”