The top wakeboarders and wakesurfers from across Asia descended on Gimpo City, South Korea, outside of Seoul, for the 2017 Asia Wake Championships. Athletes from Taiwan, China, Japan, Israel and, of course, South Korea were ready to battle behind the Malibu M235 to see who would be the best in all of Asia.

The team from the local dealer, Malibu Boats Korea, had gone all out to work with the local government in Gimpo City to secure a wonderful site at the Ara Marina. And, Malibu Boats Korea provided the world’s foremost ultrapremium wakeboard and wakesurf towboat, the M235.

Specifically designed to deliver world-class wakes and waves, the Malibu M235 is the industry’s highest performing and most luxurious watersports towboat, delivering the world’s biggest wake.

With flags flying, Saturday started out with the wakesurf divisions getting barreled behind the M235’s massive wave. Taiwan’s Sammy Lee was comfortable behind the boat, blasting frontside airs and big slashes going down. Later in the afternoon, the amateur and open wakeboard divisions got on the water for the first time. Malibu’s Oli Derome and Axis’ Tom Fooshee were on hand to help judge along with the World Wake Association’s Brad Gearhart.

“The level of riding coming out of Asia right now is incredible,” Fooshee commented. “Every year the progression is mind blowing.”

The final rounds had everyone on the edge of their seat and their screens, thanks to Korean broadcaster SpoTV. They had cameras on the water for finals so that spectators around Korea could tune in live. All eyes were on Malibu’s rising star, South Korean Sanghyun “Russell” Yun, who moved into the global pro ranks this summer. Coming off an impressive final run at the Malibu Evolution Pro Lake Biwa, Sanghyun was ready to impress the hometown crowd.

It came down to two stellar runs, and Malibu Japan’s Toshiki Yasui took the top spot by showcasing impressive amplitude and trick difficulty. He barely edged Sanghyun out of the top spot on the podium, resulting in two Malibu athletes proudly sharing the podium while representing the brand across Asia.