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Dockside after winning the Malaysian title Jeremy Koo was smiling. 'We have just sailed 22 matches and while I am feeling great, my crew is very tired.

'We learned a lot from sailing this event last year. We started very well then faded to third. This year we really focussed on our recovery after a mistake, that became the challenge. Today we were on fire - in combination we have a lot of bigger boat experience with spinnakers in heavier conditions. We knew it would be tough for those teams with primarily dinghy experience so we just kept pushing and pushing and that effort paid rewards.

'I said to the guys tonight - now it's back to the gym, everyone is feeling the pain, so more physical work - but when the monsoon kicks in and it does in a month (that's why it's called the Monsoon Cup) conditions can get much tougher and we need to be in really good shape for the challenge.'

Tiffany was as effervescent as always. 'We really had a good day overall, we did not even expect to get into the semis. My crew has not had much match racing experience and as the wind built, the rapid manoeuvres made it tough for them.

'Match Racing for me is very important. If I can get sponsorship and crew, I am keen to toss my hat into the ring for the 2012 Olympic Games in Women's Match Racing, so there is a lot to do in the year ahead.'

Third placed in the Malaysian Championship, defending champion Hazwan Hazim, was obviously disappointed.

He had led through the round robins and was well placed to win, being 1-0 against Tiffany in the semi-final, and was the favourite for this event.

Hazwan commented 'Defending the title was hard. Our teamwork was good but today luck was not on our side and the feeling on the boat was a little down. We prefer light conditions, we are 100kg under the weight limit for these boats and as conditions strengthened it became harder for us.

'We wish Jeremy well in the Monsoon Cup and we are sure he will make Malaysia proud. Our focus will be on the Korea Match Cup for 2011, where we are planning to race in the Qualifiers.'

Semin Final
The first semi-final match was won on Friday by Jeremy Koo over Nik Ashraf. Nik received a second penalty in the first match of the day, did not immediately take it and was black flagged. In the third match of the semi-finals, Jeremy Koo managed to wash off a penalty and cross five metres ahead to take the semi-final 3-0.

Tiffany Koo was down 0-1 after her first semi-final match against Hazwan Hazim but came out fighting, pushing Hazwan Hazim to the pin end and early, allowing her to start on the hip with full speed. Tiffany was never headed and finished 22 seconds ahead to level the score at 1-1.

In the remaining semi final, Tiffany was astern of Hazwan who was leading at the first mark but she made up ground on the second lap and won a drag race to the finish to set up a Koo-Koo final.

The wind was lifting as the Finals began with white caps briefly appearing. It was close racing in all three matches. Jeremy beat his sister by two lengths in the first final, three lengths in the second and four in the last match.

The Monsoon Cup promises to be an exciting climax to the season as five skippers - Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team, Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing, Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN, Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team and Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar all have a chance to be crowned World Champion.

Malaysian Match Racing Championship Participants List
Hazwan Hazim Dermawan /Perak -Team Pulse - AC Law
Jeremy Koo /Royal Selangor Yacht Club - Koo Racing Team - Evernew
Tiffany Koo /Royal Selangor Yacht Club - Koo Racing Team
Mohd Razali Mansor /Malaysian Armed Forces - MAF1
Rizal Mahadi /Royal Selangor Yacht Club - RSYC
Mohd Masyuri /Malaysian Yachting Association - MYA
Nurul Elia Anuar /Sail Putrajaya - Sail Putrajaya
Nik Ashraf Nik Qaedi /Malaysian Yachting Association - Malaysia One
Jerome Welch /Sail Putrajaya - Putrajaya 5 O

2010 ISAF World Match Racing Tour Standings
(After Stage 8 of 9)
1. Mathieu Richard (FRA) French Match Racing Team 105 Points
2. Adam Minoprio (NZL) ETNZ/BlackMatch Racing 90 Points
3. Ben Ainslie (GBR) TEAMORIGIN 88 Points
5. Torvar Mirsky (AUS) Mirsky Racing Team 76 Points
5. Ian Williams (GBR) Team GAC Pindar sponsored by Argo Group 72 Points
6. Jesper Radich (DEN) Radich Racing Team 60 Points
7. Francesco Bruni (ITA) Azzurra 53 Points
8. Peter Gilmour (AUS) YANMAR Racing 51 Points
9. Bjorn Hansen (SWE) Hansen Global Team 33 Points
10. Magnus Holmberg(SWE) Sigma Racing Team 29 Points

The top six skippers earn an automatic invitation to the Monsoon Cup, the last event of the season at which the ISAF Match Racing World Championship will be decided.

For more information on WMRT, please visit: www.wmrt.com

ISAF Match Racing World Championship - www.sailing.org/matchworlds