W’board big guns open up

DETERMINED to put up a credible showing, Southeast Asian Games double bronze medalist Samantha Bermudez opens her campaign in the 2012 World Cable Wakeboard Championships today at the Deca Cable Wakeboard Park in Angeles City, Pampanga.

The 25-year-old Bermudez, coming off a seventh-place finish in the recent World Cup in Japan, heads the 22-man PH delegation competing in the event that drew 170 foreign wakeboarders from 32 countries.

“With the worlds being held here, the whole team will be more motivated to ride hard, represent the country well, do our best and you know, have fun,” said Bermudez, who will compete in the Open women’s qualifiers.

The Int. 6 Star Event that stakes 1,000 points kicked off yesterday with the qualifications in the girls’, boys’, junior ladies, junior men, veteran men, master men and master ladies categories.

National skipper Carlo dela Torre said the staging of the event “will go a long way in the development of the sport.”

The International Waterski and Wakeboard Federation is hoping that a successful staging of the tournament will help boost its bid for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics. Cedelf P. Tupas