8 December 2013, Kuta-Bali: Asia’s best pro surfers were awarded their championship trophies on Saturday night December 7th at the 3rd annual Asian Surfing Championship Awards presented by Indo Inc and Mantra Kitchen and Bar in a fun and relaxed evening of drinks, food, sharing stories and a year-end wrap up movie by Indo Inc, attended by a full crowd of surfers, local media and members of the surf industry along with ASC staff and friends all at ASC President Tipi Jabrik’s Mantra Kitchen and Bar.
The evening started out with the bar opening at 7 pm and generously handing out the free San Miguel Lights, Coca-Cola and Sprite to the arriving crew, who also picked up the latest issue of Surftime magazine at the front door so they could show off any shots of themselves they had inside. After an hour of drinks, chatting and catching up, MC Tai “Buddha” Graham called on everyone to sit down for the tasty dinner that had been prepared, along with more drinks of course.
After dinner wrapped up about an hour later it was time to treat the crowd to Indo Inc’s 2013 ASC Tour wrap up video, a 15 minute trip down memory lane highlighting the great surfing and epic events that made up one of the best tour seasons to date.
Afterwards, Indo Inc’s Sean Gilhooley, a long time supporter of both the ASC and ISC tours and a sponsor of the nights activity, was called up to the microphone to give a speech about the tour and how he formed Indo Inc this year.
“The idea to start my own production company came after getting the news last January that Coca-Cola wasn’t renewing their sponsorship contract with the ISC,” Gilhooley explained. “At the time it was really bad news, especially because in a meeting shortly after Tipi explained to the crew in the office that the ISC would have to cut back, sell stuff, lay off staff, and that there wouldn’t be a contract for me in 2013, only work on an event-by-event basis. It was heavy. But looking back it turned out to be the best thing, as it motivated me to start Indo Inc because I had knew I had to make money, having a wife and a new baby to take care of. So I made my first movie, set up Indo Inc, and I’ve gotten to work at every ASC event this year, and there have been some really good ones, so it’s been a great year after all. A big thanks to Tipi and Tim and all the ASC supporters and sponsors here tonight, and I’m looking forward to a great 2014,” he concluded.
Next up was the ASC’s President Tipi Jabrik, the owner of Mantra Kitchen and Bar and also the man who formed the Indonesian Surfing Championships in 2004, which then spawned the Asian Surfing Championships in 2010.
Referencing last year’s awarding event, which was held at the posh W Resort and Spa, Jabrik began by saying “Even though this year’s awards night is a big difference from last year’s at the W, at the end of the day it’s all about surfing, so we’re here eating, drinking and celebrating our champions tonight so that’s what is most important, right?” A huge round of applause followed to confirm that indeed, he was correct. Jabrik went on to say, “We started this thing here in Indonesia 10 years ago, with media support from pioneer magazines like Surftime, who was really the original, then adding Magic Wave and now Lines, now we have web sites like Surfersvillage, BaliBelly, and Baliwaves and of course all the surf brands like Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Billabong, Rusty and Oakley that have really supported us with events. That together with guys like Wayan Pica, Ketut Menda, Pak Leon helping out, and guys like Tim and Sean and our ISC and ASC staff, everybody has worked hard to get us where we are today. So tonight it’s about coming together to celebrate the champions, watch a great video, and to thank everybody for all their contributions throughout the year. And now the future is for the young groms like Rio and Varun, this is for you, we’ve done this for you. Thanks everybody!”
With that it was into the presentation of the trophies, with the winners of the ASC and ISC divisions as follows:
ASC/ISC OPEN DIVISION – RADITYA RONDI (INA)
ASC WOMEN’S DIVISION – RINA KITAZAWA (JPN)
ISC WOMEN’S DIVISION – YASNYIAR GEA (INA)
ASC /ISC MASTER’S DIVISION – WAYAN WIRTAMA (INA)
ASC/ISC JUNIOR DIVISION – RAJU SENA (INA)
ASC/ISC LONGBOARD DIVISION – ARIP “MENCOS” NURHIDAYAT (INA)
Of special mention is that Raditya Rondi has now claimed his 3rd consecutive ASC Open championship title as well as his 2nd consecutive ISC Open title, Yasnyiar “Bonne” Gea has now won her 6th consecutive ISC Women’s title, Arip “Mencos” Nurhidayat is the ASC and ISC Longboard Champion for the 3nd year running, and Raju Sena takes his second consecutive ISC Junior and the first ever ASC Junior title.
In his speech Raditya Rondi said, “First I want to say thanks to the ASC, as we’re very lucky to get to travel and compete around Asia. We got to go to a couple of new places this year like the Philippines and Aceh, which was really fun. Then next, thanks to my sponsor Billabong, to my family, my friends, to God and to everyone here for coming out…have a great night!”
Japan’s Rina Kitazawa was the newest champion on the ASC tour, having competed in all of the ASC Women’s events in her first year and having won 3 of the 4. She traveled all the way from Japan to attend the Awards night with her father and mother and was clearly delighted with her championship trophy. “Thanks everybody,” she said. “I was glad I got to compete in all the events this year, I’m so happy that I won. Terima kasih banyak!”
In addition to receiving trophies and recognition for their achievements this year, the lucky champions will all be going on an all expense paid trip to G-land next year, courtesy Bobby’s G-Land Surf Camp! They will be accompanied by Tipi Jabrik, Tim Hain and Sean Gilhooley for 3 days and 3 nights of surfing and fun, each coming back with their own personal portfolio of photos and video clips.
Channel Islands has also generously donated at custom made surfboard for ASC/ISC Junior Champion Raju Sena.
Last but certainly not least was the Best Event of the Year award, won by Rip Curl and the Mentawai government for the Mentawai Pro at Lances Left, the award being accepted by Dhanny from Rip Curl Bali.
With the formalities concluded, it was more San Miguel Light, Smirnoff ICE and other drinks for the crew until Tipi started turning out the lights at just after 1 pm.
Stay tuned to www.asiansurfingtour.com as next year’s schedule is currently in the works and we hope to have most of the events published by mid-January at the latest.
Thanks again to everyone for their support!!!!
The Asian Surfing Championship Awards Presentation was presented by Indo Inc Productions and Mantra Kitchen and Bar, supported by San Miguel Light and Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia, with sponsors Bobby’s G-Land Surf Camp, Channel Island Surfboards and Smirnoff Ice, with media partners Alam TV Bali, Bali & Beyond, Baliwaves.com, Balibelly.tv, The Beat, IMag, Lines Magazine, Magic Wave, My Life On Board, NowBali, Outdoor Channel, Pro Motion Events, RVM, Surfersvillage.com, SurfTime, and We-Like.org.
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