27 June, 2014 – Kuta-Bali: In absolutely pumping 6 foot plus Padang-Padang this afternoon, Rathu Suargita, Mustofa Jeksen, Koki Hendrawan and Koko Mitsua had 40 coveted minutes to battle it out for the two wildcard spots up for grabs in the prestigious Rip Curl Cup Padang-Padang, which will see 12 of the world’s best and 12 of Indonesia’s best tuberiders take on Bali’s most spectacular wave in a one-day barrel extravaganza sometime during the 6 week waiting period that runs from July 5 to August 17.
After working their way through the field of 24 surfers that started out the day with dreams of big hollow pits and a ticket into the main event, the four finalists took to the water for the last time as the sun was falling into the silvery green Indian Ocean.
The final was a pitched battle between the two boys from Kuta, with Mustofa Jeksen drawing first blood with a respectable barrel that earned him 7.17 points (out of a possible 10) from the judges. But last year’s Trials winner Rahtu Suargita posted the highest wave score of the final with his very first wave, a clean and deep double barrel that netted him an almost perfect score of 9.83, leaving no question that he wanted into the main event and the chance to hoist The Cup this year.
From then on it was about as good as it gets in a final, with the two surfers trading blows wave after wave, with the occasional challenge from Bukit local Koki Hendrawan. Koko Mitsua unfortunately existed the final early after a closeout washed him inside and onto the almost exposed reef, rolling him around and injuring his back, though not too seriously.
But it all came down to wave selection, with Rahtu showing heaps of patience and savvy, ultimately finding another 9-point wave to add to his 9.83 for an 18.83 point total. And although Mustofa nailed a couple of beauties of his own to score a 9.5 and an 8.33, he never found that magic wave that would propel him into the lead, needing a 9.43.
So when the horn sounded and the points were tallied, it was Rahtu Suargita claiming his second Indonesian Rip Curl Cup wildcard and Koki Hendrawan the Bukit local wildcard into the 2014 Rip Curl Cup Padang-Padang.
After receiving his award on the podium, Rahtu was asked how he managed to best the highly competitive field and nab his second wild card in as many years. “I don’t know, I was just pretty much having fun out there. If I just let myself had fun and don’t think about results, I surf a lot better. So I just kept thinking about how I could have more by getting deeper in the barrel and staying in longer,” said Rahtu laughing. “But I knew in a final with Mustofa, he could easily get a 10, and there were so many waves, so I knew if it was my day it was my day…and it was. Thank you Padang-Padang!”
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