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Judy Ngao

Some of Asia's best and brightest wakeboarding stars will gather at the Tai Po Waterfront Park today.

They are here to take part in one of the SAR's most prominent wakeboarding tournaments, the Billabong Asian Wakeboarding Championships Hong Kong, which  offers generous prizes  to the top three riders.

Asia's number one wakeboarder  is also in the city. Padiwat Jaemjan, better known by his nickname Bomb, was recently crowned the king of wakeboarding in Asia after becoming the overall champion of the prestigious 2006 Asian Wakeboard Pro Tour.

Bomb was in Singapore last month for the Singapore Rail Jam, in which he won first place. Before that was the Japan Tour WakeSeries, where he also won first place.

If he wins today, he will  receive HK$30,000 in prize money and a HK$3,000 Billabong product coupon.

Bomb has been regularly winning wakeboarding championships since 2002, when he first started competing professionally.

For the past 10 years, the 18-year-old has been honing his wakeboarding talents  in Thailand, where he was born and raised.

His most memorable competition so far was the Hungary World Cable Championship in Hungary in 2005.

'I tried a very difficult trick, but I failed. I ended up breaking a tooth on my board. I could only make it to the top 10,' he said.

Bomb's sporting career also included a two-year stint  on a professional jet ski team.

'I didn't like it. You need money and the engine to  win. And I thought the people were not as nice as wakeboarders,' he said.

'With wakeboarding, it's all skill. It's your own board, your own skills, your own style.'

Bomb achieved his main goal for 2007 - to become the number one wakeboarder in Asia - last month. Now, he wants to  compete in the US with the real pros.

'Wakeboarding in Asia is getting bigger. Japan is leading the game at the moment. After that, it's Singapore and then Thailand.

'My next goal is to go to the US. All the best riders are there. I want to let them know that Asian wakeboarders are very good too,' he said.

Did he get his nickname because of his wakeboarding prowess?

'No, actually. Before I was born, when my mother was pregnant with me, my parents were fighting a lot and eventually separated,' Bomb  said. 'Then I was born and they got back together. So they gave me the nickname.' And it stuck.

Bomb exudes a quiet confidence about his wakeboarding talents.

'I'm not really nervous [about today's tournament], but it is a big competition,' Bomb said.

'Am I going to win? I think so. The tricks are all in my head. When I get to the water, it'll come naturally.'



Board idol