The 2nd FAI Asian-Oceanic Paragliding Championships concluded on 15 June after an incredible seven tasks in Mungyeong, Korea.
Chigwon Won (KOR) won the competition overall after winning six out of the seven tasks. “I never expected to win so many tasks,” he said. He hoped to win, but he never let his ambition push him into poor decisions. “I try to control my mind,” he said. “Keep high, go with the group, stay safe and make good decisions.”
Australia’s Gareth Carter and Peter Slade took second and third place, separated by just 0.4 points after 430km of task. During task seven, Peter missed a turnpoint and was forced to go back. At the time he was in second place overall and feared he had lost the podium. “It was a poor mistake to make,” he said. “Sometimes you have to learn the hard way.”
Keiko Hiraki (JPN) won the competition in the women’s category after winning four tasks. Keiko has been flying for over 25 years, competing since the 2004 Paragliding World Cup. “I still enjoy it,” she said. Australia’s Kari Ellis took second place after two task wins and making great gains in the final task, with Korea’s Hyunhee Kim coming in third.
During task seven, Kari overtook Korea’s Hyunhee Kim for second place on the women’s podium. “The first part was deceptively easy,” Kari said. “Then the high cloud came over and shaded everything out.” Pilots became stuck at the farthest turnpoint and were left scratching in zeroes for what felt like hours.
Keiko also had difficulties at the southern turnpoint. “I attacked because I wanted to be in the top ten,” she said. “But I made mistakes and had to scratch for 10-15 minutes.” During that time, pilots passed her, including Kari.
In the team category, Korea won the competition overall with Australia and China in second and third.
The weather was hot and humid throughout and allowed for seven task days. The variety of tasks made pilot happy: some down-wind runs with slow climbs and circuits, but also task five’s Korean Star – a 54km cat’s cradle. Had task eight not been cancelled due to thunderstorms, we would have seen the Butterfly task that organisers had prepared.
Meet director, Goran Dimiskovski said there are usually some disputes about who won and why with pilots blaming luck or local knowledge. “What I liked the most about this event,” he said, “is I didn’t receive a single comment like this. I believe no one has any doubts that the people winning truly deserved it.”
He highlighted the challenging conditions and different task styles and said: “It was a proper fight over seven tasks. There were plenty of options to demonstrate how good [these pilots] are.”
Competition results are at Civlcomps.org
