By RAMON BONILLA
CHENGDU, China — A fourth place finish in a competition that gathered only the top 15 players in the world is enough to convince Raph Trinidad of preparing better for the 2025 Southeast Asian Games happening in December in Thailand.
With wakeboarding returning to the SEAG program this year, Trinidad, who actually won silver in the 2019 edition at the Deca Wakeboard Park in Pampanga, vowed to make himself a title contender after narrowly missing the podium in the World Games at the Sancha Lake Taohuadao Arena Sunday, Aug. 10.
“Definitely I will come back stronger,” said Trinidad, who was just 17 when he shocked the field and plucked silver in the biennial meet.
“This is a good lesson for me when it comes to managing pressure and competing against the best in the world,” he added.
The only Southeast Asian wakeboarder in Chengdu and the only Asian in the finals, Trinidad came so close at winning a bronze medal after scoring 56.60 in his second run.
Unfortunately, he had a minor slip in his last stunt which cost him precious points.
Frenchman Loic Deschaux ruled the competition with a big performance of 95.00 points, while Germans Max Milde (92.80) and Florian Weiherer (65.00) got the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
