Our international “Skate Asia” competition event has grown into a premier annual highlight event for all Asian skaters. We also invite and welcome participants from the USA & the Middle East to enjoy this festive and very unique ice skating event which is hosted in a different country each year.

The first ISI “Skate Asia” competition was held in 1989 in Hong Kong as an international event to feature Asian skaters. Skaters from Asia, the Middle East, Australia, and the USA participated in the week-long event.

This competition was not held again for 10 years due to a lack of adequate ice rink development and numbers of skaters in Asia. With the rapid growth of ice rinks throughout the region in the mid-1990's, the event was held again in 1999.

The 1999 & 2000 competition events were both held at Pyramid Ice in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia . Over 385 skaters from 17 ice rinks in 9 countries participated and there were over 1,700 entries that took more than 65 hours of competition running time to complete.

In 2001 , the competition returned to Hong Kong and was our most successful event to date. There were 963 skaters from 20 ice rinks participating in more than 3,588 event entries. The events were held at Cityplaza Ice Palace and the new Festival Walk Glacier rink on the Kowloon side.

In 2002 , the event moved to Bangkok, Thailand for the first time. It was also the first time we used an Olympic-size ice surface to stage our event. The World Ice Skating Center rink on the 7 th floor was a spectacular setting for this historical Thai skating event.

While previous “Skate Asia” events had always counted on huge local skater participation to make the competition successful, this event in Bangkok was the first time that more than 400 overseas skaters participated in any international ice skating competition event!

With 522 skaters from 25 ice rinks and 12 countries (the most countries ever) this was the most widely attended competition in Asia! There were a total of 3,000 entries (only 588 less entries than the previous Hong Kong with about 441 less skaters), which also made this the highest average number of events per skater for any ISI competition event worldwide .

This fact is very significant as it proves that fewer skaters in more events can also create a very successful and profitable event.

Our “Skate Asia” event was canceled in 2003 due to the Asian SARS epidemic and the Iraq War.

In 2004 , our event moved to Taipei, Taiwan as the largest international ice skating event ever staged in that country. There were some 560 skaters from 11 ice rinks in six countries represented. Taiwan boasted the largest-ever ISI skating team with a strong 235 skaters – quite an amazing feat since the Taiwan Ice Sports Arena rink had only been open since January of that year.

There were more than 2,150 entries in the 7-day event and we had to deal with Typhoon Aere to keep our events running in the middle of the competition week.

We had participation from the Taiwan ISU Short Track Speed Skating Team in our ISI Speedracing events and they also participated in Surprise and Team Surprise events as well.

For 2005 , we went back to Bangkok, Thailand again – but to yet another brand new Olympic-size skating facility. Imperial World Ice Skating in the suburb of Samrong was the site for our 2005 event.

The competition was yet another huge success and we welcomed 450 skaters from 19 ice rinks in 10 countries. A special highlight of this event was the wonderful “Thai Cultural Night” arranged by our hosts.

In 2006 , we made history again with our first international event staged in the brand-new Olympic size World Ice Arena in Shenzhen, China . This was our biggest “Skate Asia” event to date with 1,082 skaters from 25 ice rinks participating in more than 4,692 entries for our 8-day event.

The fabulous Opening Ceremony showcased great skating along with huge drums, a spectacular Chinese gymnastic exhibition and a 100-foot long Chinese dragon on ice!

For 2007 , the fabulous SM Mall of Asia in Manila, Philippines was the venue for our event. This event was the largest international ice skating competition ever staged in the Philippines. With sponsorship support from the Dept. of Tourism and Philippine Airlines, the management staff of Shoemart pulled out all the stops for our event at two rinks for 7 days.

MAKE YOUR PLANS NOW to be a part of this year's historic and colorful “Skate Asia 2008” competition as we return to Sunway Pyramid Ice in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This is the only venue that will have hosted our “Skate Asia” event for the third time!

Come and experience the wonderful Malaysian culture and hospitality as you enjoy a wonderful holiday and participate in the largest – and truly “international” – recreational skating competition event in Asia!