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RIDING THE WAVES: Matthew Christian says he knows more moves than sister Sasha, but concedes that her basics are better. They will be in action at Bedok Reservoir this weekend. -- ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM
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HIS sister Sasha may have hogged the headlines since she broke into the wakeboarding scene three years ago.
But Matthew Christian is finally ready to make some waves of his own.
The siblings will compete in the Singapore leg of the US$60,000 (S$90,300) Wakeboard World Cup at Bedok Reservoir this weekend.
Said the 16-year-old: 'I'm the better wakeboarder because I've more tricks than she does, but her basics are better than mine.'
Nicknamed 'Max' since he was three, Matthew picked up water-skiing at an early age together with his sister, who is two years younger than him.
He switched to wakeboarding when he was eight, and teamed up with Sasha to win a gold for Singapore at last year's Asian Wakeboarding Championships.
He also won a bronze in the men's event - his first medal at an international level.
Sasha, on the other hand, won a team silver and an individual bronze at the 2004 edition of the Asian Wakeboarding Championships.
She is also the first wakeboarding student to enrol for the Singapore Sports School last year - an achievement dismissed jokingly by Matthew.
'I was too old to enter the school,' he said.
Nevertheless, he insisted that there is no sibling rivalry.
'We just irritate each other, the way most siblings do,' he said with a laugh.
Matthew, who is pursuing a diploma in product design, said: 'My goal now is to get a stand-up pass, which means not falling off my board during my runs.'
In last year's tournament, he failed to get past the preliminary rounds.
This time, in a bid to impress the judges, he will attempt a 'stalefish tantrum' - a difficult stunt that involves doing a back-flip and grabbing the board at the same time.
Spectators may also get to witness another rare stunt: a 1080.
Known as the sport's hardest trick, it requires a wakeboarder to do a 1,080-degree rotation (a minimum of four handle passes, two in front and two at the back) while in the air.
Organisers are offering a cash prize of US$10,800 for any athlete who can pull off the stunt this weekend.
A similar reward was offered here two yea rs ago, but was unclaimed. The stunt has never been performed in a competition.
The two men who have achieved it in training are multiple X-Games champion Danny Harf and Canadian Rusty Malinoski.
The pair are likely to attempt the trick when they compete in the men's event, along with defending champion Philip Soven of the United States.
tvoon@sph.com.sg
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