Arrival of Tour Trophy in Malaysia Sharpens Team Focus

KUALA TERENGGANU, MALAYSIA--(Korea Newswire)--The Alpari World Match Racing Tour Trophy arrived in Malaysia today in front of a legion of sailing fans who have already started to arrive in Kuala Terengganu for the season finale, the Monsoon Cup. If any of the 12 competing teams undergoing final preparations on the water today still needed something to focus the mind, the arrival of the coveted trophy, was it.

The trophy, made by Garrard - the world's oldest jewellers - was first awarded in 2011 to Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar. No less than eight teams can still mathematically win it this week and each of them will have made their pre-event computations of the leader board. They know each race is a potential Championship game-changer.

Tomorrow will conclude all the pre-event ceremonial duties with racing due to get underway on Tuesday. Speaking about the pressure the teams will need to handle, AWMRT Tour Director, Craig Mitchell, said: "Every match is a battle in this sport but at the Monsoon Cup, things are ramped up to another level. You only have to look back over the last couple of year when Mathieu Richard and then Torvar Mirsky were eliminated in the qualifying stage, despite having expectations to challenge for the overall Tour title.
 
“It will be close. The likelihood is that we‘ll have a big multiway tie after Qualifying and there will be a count back to determine some of the teams progressing to the Quarter Final. Once the teams manage to book their slot in the knockout rounds, it is a very different beast. All of the teams will leave the dock, aiming for that 6 point score line that should see them through to the knockout rounds, that’ll be the key focus.”
 
Referring to the battle for overall Tour victory, Mitchell continued: "Bjorn [Hansen] got his points on the board early this year and he‘s never had a better chance to take his first title. Having said that, there isn’t such a breakaway group this season and all of the other guys, right down to Johnie Berntsson in eighth can win it mathematically if the stars align.
 
“For the fans that have followed the battle between the top two all season, the dream final would be Hansen vs. Williams and that would be an amazing match, with the highest possible stakes. Either way, the standard of sailing on show will be unparalleled here in Malaysia.”
 
Looking forward to the first Qualifying Session on Tuesday 4th December, Mitchell said: “I think the early story of the event will be the big casualties that don‘t progress to the Quarter Final. There aren’t any weak teams.”
 
The Monsoon Cup, Malaysia's second biggest sports event of the year, will take place on 3-8 December at the Ri-Yaz Heritage Marina Resort & Spa, Pulau Duyong, Kuala Terengganu.
 
For a taster of the upcoming action, visit: http://www.youtube.com/worldmrt

Monsoon Cup action will be broadcast live on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th December at 1500-1700 local time.
Racing will also be available online from 4th to 8th December throughout the day. Follow it live at http://www.wmrt.com/live.html .
 
Tour regular Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/wmrt
Live event Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/wmrt_liverace

Current standings: http://www.wmrt.com/result/leaderboard.html

Monsoon Cup - Competing Teams:
Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Mekonomen Sailing Team
Ian Williams (GBR) GAC Pindar
Keith Swinton (AUS) Black Swan Racing
Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing
Pierre-Antoine Morvan (FRA) Vannes Agglo Sailing Team
Laurie Jury (NZL) Kiwi Match
Phil Robertson (NZL) WAKA Racing
Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Berntsson Sailing Team
Adam Minoprio (NZL) Alpari Racing Team
Taylor Canfield (USVI) USone
David Gilmour (AUS) Team Gilmour
Jeremy Koo (MYS) KFC Malaysia/KRT

The Alpari World Match Racing Tour (AWMRT) is the leading professional sailing series featuring eight World Championship events across the globe, sanctioned by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) with “Special Event” status. The World Tour awards over US$1.75million in prize money with points awarded at each event culminating in the crowning of the “ISAF Match Racing World Champion”. The prize fund includes a US$500,000 overall prize pool for the top nine teams in the Championship. Events take place in identically supplied racing yachts to place the focus on team work and skill. Racing takes place close to the shore so that spectators and fans can follow the racing in a virtual on the-water stadium. Media and television highlights coverage reaches in excess of 183 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.wmrt.com .

About Alpari

With a history dating back to 1998, the Alpari companies are among the world's fastest growing providers of online Forex trading services. The companies provide cutting edge technology, low-cost trading, comprehensive market research tools, advanced educational programmes and world-class customer service. The association of Alpari companies has offices in over 20 countries. Locations include London, New York, Tokyo, Shanghai, Dubai, Moscow, Mumbai and Frankfurt. Combined, the companies look after over 170,000 active trading accounts, generating monthly trading volumes in excess of USD210 billion and employ over 630 people worldwide (as of May 2011).

Website: http://www.wmrt.com

This is a news release distributed by Korea Newswire on behalf of this company.