Day Two of Hello Pacitan 2016 at Pancer Door Beach See’s Asia’s Top Surfers Competing in Great Conditions
18 August 2016, Pacitan – East Java: After the Hello Pacitan 2016 was officially opened this morning with speeches by government officials including the head of Pacitan’s Tourism Department and the Regent of Pacitan, Asia’s best professional surfers were joined by Pacitan’s best surfers and took to the Pancer Door waves to compete for their share of the Rp 50 million (almost $4,000 USD) and the ASC championship points on offer.
Heat 5 of Round Two started off the day’s competition right at 12 noon in well formed 3-4 foot waves, with occasional larger sets rolling through on the dropping tide.
All the surfers were physically tested as the waves were quite long, often ending up on the sand and having to walk or run back to the point to jump back in and paddle out again to the lineup.
Making it through both his Round 1 and Round 2 heats today and earning a spot in tomorrow’s Quarterfinals was Bali’s Rizal Tandjung, who at 40 years of age is the oldest competitor in the event but hasn’t lost a step, proving that age is just a number especially for a surfer. He did admit to feeling the effects when back on the beach after besting recent Padang-Padang Cup winner Mega Semadhi in the last heat of the day.
“ I need a new set of legs for tomorrow I guess, I can barely stand up! I don’t know if I can even drive home to Watu Karung…my car has a manual transmission and my back leg is cramping up so bad,” he said laughing.
When asked his opinion on the waves here an Pancer Door especially for a competition, he replied, “This wave is very different from the other waves on the ASC tour…its perfect and very long so you need to be much more physically fit, have strong legs and be in great paddling condition. It can also be a hard wave to surf as well, because you have to be very precise the way you surf, as your timing is so critical. The judges are looking for you to hit the lip right away, not play it safe…so right from the takeoff you have to flare right away, do big turns, and then you can do your cutbacks…and finishing is very important. But it’s really hard to finish strong after surfing a wave for what feels like a kilometer, your legs are burning so bad. I’ll be sleeping really good tonight for sure!”
The other competitors making into the Quarterfinals today are Rio Waida, who just returned from American winning the international King of the Groms competition, the “Prince of Padma” Raju Sena, and ASC number one ranked Dede Suryana. The other quarterfinalists will be decided tomorrow.
Rumor has it that tomorrow morning the ex-president of Indonesia Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono will be making an appearance at the beach, so an expression session has been planned to show him how surfing has progressed in Pacitan, which is where he was born and raised.
The remaining 4 heats of Round 2 and the Quarterfinals are scheduled to run tomorrow afternoon when the tide get’s lower, as the swell forecast shows similar conditions as what was on tap today, setting things up for the completion of the event on the 20th of August.
For more information please contact:
Tim Hain – Asian Surfing Championships
Phone: +628123606674
Email: [email protected]
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