BALI
22nd June 2015
Quiksilver Canggu Challenge Final Day
Hi folks and thanks again for dropping into the baliwaves (keeping you amped up for your next Indo surf mission since back in 1999) for the latest news and the best views on surfing and weather conditions from right here on the only sane choice for your next tropical surfing holiday, Bali Indonesia.
Ok so as you all know Quiksilver have been running another first class surfing contest here at Canggu over the weekend and they really lucked into some great waves and weather for this event. Ketut and I have shot 1000’s of photos over the event and here’s 200 that I shot yesterday through the finals of the boys and girls and the main event of the mens open finals. I have to say there was some shit hot surfing going down at Canggu and it must have been so hard for the judges to separate scores.. We had a fantastic day on the scene yesterday and it turned into also very social day as well by the end of the event thanks to some of the local boys.
Anyway well done Quiksilver and all the spono’s involved, and a big wrap to all the contestants that were doing there thing in the near perfect waves of Canggu. Here’s the latest Press Release we received this morning from Quiksilver and the ASC, read on.
Dede Suryana, Nilbie Blancada, Samuel Pupo, and Sophie Fletcher Take Wins at Quiksilver Canggu Challenge in Bali
22 June 2015, Kuta-Bali: Capping off a non-stop action-packed two days of competition at the Quiksilver Canggu Challenge at Bali’s favorite wave playground of Canggu yesterday, 2014 ASC Champion Dede Suryana claimed the Men’s Open victory in an exciting battle of Asia’s best surfing champions, while the Philippines Nilbie Blancada dominated the Women’s Open, Brazil’s Samuel Pupo wowed the crowd to win the Junior Boys, and Australia’s Sophie Fletcher nabbed the top podium spot in the Junior Girls.
Wave conditions throughout the event were stellar, ranging from two-foot runners to 5-foot washthroughs with virtually perfect 3-4 footers most abundant for the 120 plus competitors from Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, and Taiwan that signed up for the first ever ASC/ISC sanctioned Quiksilver Challenge Canggu, allowing for virtually every type of surfing maneuver possible to be performed by the contestants.
The huge number of competitors necessitated using two sets of judges and the running of concurrent divisions at two breaks, the Sand Bar and the Rivermouth on Day 1, with a total of 44 heats on the first day and the remaining 26 with just one set of judges on Day 2, two very full days of surfing!
Men’s Open winner and two time ASC/ISC (2014, 2008) champion Dede Suryana was delighted with his win, having consistently posted excellent wave scores throughout the event, but saving his best air game for the final. “The waves were so good out there for both days, and I knew the judges giving high scores for big turns and combinations, so during the final I focused on my turns to start. I got into the lead with two good waves, but then Marlon got that big air for 9 points and then Raditya did a couple big turns with a backside air reverse to take the lead from me, so I knew I had to not only do on air but an air and some turns to retake the lead,” explained Dede.
“So after getting one air for a 7.3 which wasn’t enough, and only a couple minutes left, I was without priority and inside of the other guys who were waiting for the larger sets. I saw them pass up a wave and it looked good so I took off, made a couple turns and saw the ramp so tried the air reverse, made it, and a couple of turns. I was so happy when the judges gave me a 9.3 and I got the lead back…but it was a tense couple of minutes waiting until the horn blew….then I was like ‘yes, yes, yes!!!!’ when I knew I had won. I’m so stoked to win, especially because it’s my sponsor’s event. Thanks to Quiksilver, everybody for coming out and supporting the event, and especially to my wife and daughter who are waiting at home for me,” he added.
During the Men’s Open final Marlon Gerber landed his second spectacular aerial earning him 9.3 points, just .7 points short of another perfect score, after posting a perfect 10 for a massively high air during his semifinal 1 performance, which was arguably the heat of the day with the event’s only two 10 point waves being scored, one by Marlon and one by Nyoman Satria.
In the Women’s Open Division it was the Philippine’s Nilbie Blancada from Cloud 9 running away with the win, prowling the lineup and racking up excellent scores to come to the beach unchallenged, having combo’d the other finalists. “I’m so happy to be here and get this win. To be in the final with my sister Nilde was so great. Thanks to everybody here in Bali,” she said on the podium after receiving her trophy.
The Brazilian storm has arrived in Bali as well, with Samuel Pupo taking to the air with less than 40 seconds to go, to posting a 9.25 score and snatching the win from Bali’s Rio Waida in the Junior Boy’s Division final. Rio put on a solid performance with 6’s and 7’s all over the judges scorecards, but Pupu pipped him at the post with the impressive air reverse.
The Junior Girl’s Division looked to be won by Brazil’s Hayana Iguchi, who started the final very strong with a 7-point wave but couldn’t seem to find a solid backup score. Meanwhile a patient Sophie Fletcher from Australia stayed out the back looking for the bigger set waves, first posting a 5 and little else for most of the final. Then in the dying minutes she locked into the biggest set of the final to nail a 7.5 and come in with the win.
The awards presentation was held just after the finals at the new Quiksilver Boardriders Café in Echo Beach, where copious amounts of San Miguel Light and Sailor Jerry rum was available for consumption for all the attendees, including Quiksilver International team riders Craig Anderson and Matt Hoy. After the presentation everybody stayed around to drink, swap stories, and then listen to the Deep Sea Explorers play a couple of live sets to round out a spectacularly successful event.
From the podium, Quiksilver Marketing Executive Sammy Gosling had this to say: “I want to thank all the competitors, the crew, the sponsors and the ASC for making this event such a success. We had over 120 competitors in the competition, making it a real challenge to squeeze it all into two days, so the judges had to work really hard with the two banks, the Sand bar and Rivermouth, so a big thanks to the judges for their hard work and doing such a great job. Quiksilver was stoked to partner with the Canggu and Perenanan surf clubs on this event, as it wouldn’t have happened without them as well as the support of our sponsors. From the Quiksilver perspective we were stoked to be able to put on another contest, as there hasn’t been as many contests here in Indonesian as we would like, so it was really good to see how the level of surfing has raised, especially in the juniors and women. The men’s competitors were ripping as usual!”said Sammy.
Then he added an exciting announcement; “We’d also like to take the opportunity to announce that we’ll be working with the Uluwatu Boardriders Club to bring another event to Bali, a WSL QS event in August, stay tuned for more information on that. So we’ll see you all in August at Uluwatu!”
Check out the Sean Gilhooley video highlights of the final day:
Men’s Open Final Day 1 Finalists
Men’s Open Final Day non-Finalists
Womens Open Final Day
Junior Boys Final Day
Junior Girls Final Day
Contest Results:
Men’s Open Division
1. Dede Suryana (IDN) 16.80 pts
2. Raditya Rondi (IDN) 15.45 pts
3. Marlon Gerber (IDN) 13.90 pts
4. Mustofa Jeksen (IDN) 13.40 pts
Women’s Open Division
1. Nilbie Blancada (PHL) 16.50 pts
2. Taina Hinckel (BRA) 12.00 pts
3. Kailani Johnson (IDN) 10.15 pts
4. Nildie Rietenbach (PHL) 4.85 pts
Junior Boys Division
1. Samuel Pupo (BRA) 16.55 pts
2. Rio Waida (IDN) 14.75 pts
3. Mega Artana (IDN) 10.50 pts
4. Tommy Sobri (IDN) 5.65 pts
Junior Girls Division
1. Sophie Fletcher (AUS) 12.50 pts
2. Hayana Iguchi (BRA) 9.80 pts
3. Cinta Hansel (IDN) 9.50 pts
4. Taina Hinckel (BRA) 8.45 pts
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