Beadsworth, Holmberg enter Malaysia Challenge final

By Lukman Natanagara

LANGKAWI, Malaysia (JP): Andy Beadsworth of England and Sweden's Magnus Holmberg entered on Monday the final of the elimination one races of the Malaysia Challenge sailing championships.

Both Beadsworth, ranked 17th in the world, and Holmberg, number four in the world, did not score any points, but they defeated their competitors in the earlier races. They will compete on Tuesday against each other for the final spot of the elimination one races.

Holmberg earlier beat Sebastien Destrenau of Australia 2-1, but the Australian took fourth place following his victory over German Markus Wieser, world 10th in the world, 2-1 in the earlier races. Holmberg took another victory by defeating qualifier Philippe Presti of France 2-0.

Third place went to Roy Heiner, world number 43, of the Netherlands who surprisingly defeated world second best Sten Mohr of Denmark.

Heiner beat Mohr 2-1 but lost to Beadsworth 1-2. Beadsworth won over Croatian Tomislav Basic, world number 11, 2-0.

All skippers were happy with their victories except qualifier Hamdan Yahya of Malaysia who failed in his attempt to enter the top four.

"For me the race was tough, but I am happy to race with world- ranked skippers," Yahya said.

Beadsworth was the happiest of the all saying: "I am happy with my victory although it was a tough race. I look forward to win Tuesday's races."

The finals of the elimination one races should have finished on Monday but was delayed due to poor visibility until Tuesday.

Tuesday's races will continue for the second elimination where the 10 skippers will again take turns against their other opponents.

The Malaysia Challenge is scheduled to end on Friday with the final round and is preceded on Thursday by the semifinals.

A unique characteristic of the Malaysia Challenge is that there are no quarterfinals.

Championship director Henri van der Aat said that no quarterfinals would be held so as to give the losers the opportunity to race each other for the fifth to 10th placings.

Ten boats, each with one skipper and their three crew, are vying for a total cash prize of US$75,000. The winner will receive $17,400.

The 10 skippers competing for the Malaysia Challenge are Mohr, Holmberg, Wieser, Basic, Beadsworth, Destrenau, Heiner, Presti, Yahya and Tarmov Maxim of Russia.

The Malaysia Challenge is a component of the International Sailing Federation world match race sailing grand prix.