Japanese phenom Hirata Otono takes bullet wins across both Sprint and Distance disciplines to take overall victory in Seoul

After making her presence felt at the 2024 edition of the Busan SUP Open with an impressive 3rd place finish, Hirata Otono from Japan returned to Korea on a mission.

After winning the sprints on day 1, she kept focused and secured a comfortable win in the distance race on day 2 to take overall victory at the Seoul SUP Open. This is especially impressive given that she is still on 13 years old and clearly has an incredibly bright future ahead of her.

In 2nd place was local favorite Sujeong Lim from right here in Seoul, who was equally consistent across sprint and distance taking 2nd place in both disciplines to secure 2nd overall for the event.

Meanwhile, rounding out the top 3 was Japanese talent Rinka Mizutani, who also took 3rd across sprint and distance disciplines, putting on another impressive performance here in Korea and improving on her 4th place from last year’s Busan SUP Open.

Shuri ‘Shrimpy’ Araki continues his dominant form to take overall victory  in Seoul, with sprint and distance wins

There is no doubt that Shuri Araki from Japan came into the Seoul SUP Open a favorite, and he did not disappoint. In the sprints, he approached each heat in a calculated and dominant fashion, with impressive acceleration off the start and out of buoy turns, and board control around buoys like no other.

A victory here led to another strong performance in the distance race, where he once again secured victory and the overall event title, but it was not without its challenges. Indeed he was pushed for the entirety of the 6 lap distance course by the Greek powerhouse Anastasios Tsouris.

After a disappointing opening round that saw him bow out of the running early on in the elimination as a result of an interference, Anastasios was able to regain his composure and focus on the job at hand on day 2 of the Seoul SUP Open. This enabled him to finish in an impressive 4th place overall.

Another emerging Greek talent Nikolaos Malekakis put on a stunning performance at this year’s Seoul SUP Open, with a 2nd place finish in the Sprints and backing it up with a 3rd place finish in the distance. At just 19 years old, it is clear that Nikolaos has a bright future ahead of him and he clearly showcased his well rounded ability this year in Korea.

In 3rd place overall was the Spanish talent, Ivan de Frutos Ruiz, who put on a consistently strong performance across both sprint and distance races, posting a podium finish (3rd) in the sprints and a 4th place in the distance. Ivan continues to go from strength to strength and represents the impressive melting pot of talent that can be found in Santa Polla, Spain under the tutelage of Parres Watersports (Daniel Parres).