Malaysian Match Racing Championship

Brother and sister, and also rival skippers, Jeremy and Tiffany Koo © Subzero Images / Monsoon Cup

The curtain came down on the Malaysian Match Racing Championship (MMRC) after a dramatic Finals day in which Jeremy Koo (Koo Racing Team-Evernew) defeated his sister and the two-time champion Tiffany Koo (Koo Racing Team) to claim the title and duly earn his team a coveted place in next month’s World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) finale, the Monsoon Cup.

Both sailors had battled hard in their respective Semi-Finals to claim a place in the Final, with Tiffany Koo defeating defending champion Hazwan Hazim Dermawan (Team Pulse-AC Law) 3-1, thus keeping up the MMRC tradition of always having a female sailor in the Final.

The lighter winds which had been dictating the style of sailing all week gave way to stronger winds in the Final, a change which Jeremy felt favoured him in his 3-0 victory having been knocked out in the 2009 Semi Final:

“I finally did it – the crew were just tremendous today and I’m delighted to finally win the MMRC but a little sad as I beat my lovely sister. She was a little unlucky as the strong wind helped me.”

Meanwhile, Tiffany took defeat in her stride:

“I actually took pity on my big brother and let him win,” she said with a smile. “Honestly, he was too good today and I have no complaints. Hopefully this result will help me find some sponsors as I want to do more match racing next year.”

The level of skill and ability displayed by Malaysia’s finest sailors this week at the MMRC has been notably higher than ever before. This is very much the result of the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports’ efforts to nurture new talent and professionalism via their much celebrated Monsoon Sailing School initiative. It is here that these sailors are able to develop and fine tune their match racing skills and to ultimately realise their ambitions to compete at the MMRC and then the Monsoon Cup.

As the professionalism of the sport increases in Malaysia, so too has the interest from commercial partners with three teams sponsored here at the MMRC, including defending champion Hazwan Hazim Dermawan whose team were boosted by a major sponsorship deal with Pulse Group PLC and AC Law, a leading corporate law firm. This new commercial interest has also engendered a greater level of competitive spirit amongst the teams as they start to realise the rewards for success on the water.

With one of the qualifying places for the Monsoon Cup now filled, that leaves the competition at the Asian Match Racing Championship (AMRC) and the Sunseeker Australia Cup to fight it out for the remaining two. For Jeremy, he knows that with the World Match Racing Tour’s top eight teams lining up against him in Malaysia from the 30th November to 5th December at the Monsoon Cup, he needs to prepare well:

“I’m flying off to Hong Kong to prepare for the China Cup. I will then have a training stint with the South Korean Asian Games squad. The rest of my crew will spend lots of time in the gym as we need to be stronger and fitter for the Monsoon Cup.”

The Monsoon Cup is the season ending race on the World Match Racing Tour. The world’s top sailors will all be in Terengganu with five skippers still in the race to be crowned World Champion.

Malaysian Match Racing Championships Final Standings

1. Jeremy Koo (Koo Racing Team-Evernew)
2. Tiffany Koo (Koo Racing Team)
3. Hazwan Hazim Dermawan (Team Pulse AC_Law)
4. Nik Ashraf Qaedi (Team Malaysia One)
5. Rizal Mahadi Sazli (RSYC)
6. Nurul Elia Anuar (Sail Putrajaya)
7. Mohd Razali Mansor (MAF 1)
8. Mohd Masyuri Rahmat (MYA)
9. Jerome Welch (Putrajaya 5 O)

Match Results

Final (Best of five)
Jeremy Koo (Koo Racing Team-Evernew) beat Tiffany Koo (Koo Racing Team) 3-0

Petit Final (Best of three)
Hazwan Hazim Dermawan (Team Pulse-AC Law) beat Nik Ashraf Qaedi (Team Malaysia One) 2-0

Semi-finals (Best of five)
Tiffany Koo (Koo Racing Team) beat Hazwan Hazim Dermawan (Team Pulse-AC Law) 3-1
Jeremy Koo (Koo Racing Team-Evernew) beat Nik Ashraf Qaedi (Team Malaysia One) 3-0

5th-6th (First to one)
Rizal Mahadi Sazli (RSYC) beat Nurul Elia Anuar (Sail Putrajaya) 1-0

7th-8th (First to one)
Mohd Razali Mansor (MAF 1) beat Mohd Masyuri Rahmat (MYA) 1-0