April 23, Keramas-Bali: Late entry Dede Suryana from West Java was tapping into his reserves when he was asked to climb atop the podium to stand and hold his board up high to claim his win at the Quiksilver Open Keramas 2008. But his smile said it all, and his comment to Quiksilver Contest Director May Hoy was, “ Ya, I was feeling a bit tired going into the final, as I have surfed this contest every round since the trial heats four days ago, but somehow got powered up again partway through the final when I got a couple of good waves. I’m just so stoked to finally win here. Last year I got second to Lee (Wilson) and I knew if I got good waves I had a chance to win this time.”
In last year’s equally exciting final in even better wave conditions, Lee pulled off a last minute high score to best Dede. First thing this morning, both of them paddled out together to catch a few warm up waves, and on the beach before they got in the water they were asked about the chances of another final together, and both agreed that it was really a matter of who got lucky and snagged the best waves. At that moment there were 2-3 foot sets coming through, forming some nice little barrels on the low tide glassy waves, so it was looking good for another great day of surfing at Keramas.
The first quarterfinal got underway at 8 am sharp, with Lee somewhat prophetically needing one high scoring wave in the last few minutes to beat Tipi Jabrik after Lee had been leading the entire heat. Tipi had needed only a 3-point wave and got a 4 pointer with 30 seconds left in the heat. There were very few waves coming in for this first heat, so opportunities were very limited.
The waves got a bit more consistent in for the second quarterfinal, which saw dark horse goofyfooter Raditya Rondi take on fellow goofyfooter Made “Bol” Adi Putra and come out on top. Bol as the seasoned veteran exercised patience at first, but then Rondi seemed to match him wave for wave until he took over the lead, and in the end it left Bol needing what he couldn’t get…a high scoring set wave.
For quarterfinal three it was Rizal Tanjung against his Hurley teammate Dede Suryana. In his usually style, Rizal sat out the back waiting patiently for a good set wave opportunity. Dede on the other hand went right to work to get some points on the board, getting first a 7 pointer and then an 8 pointer. Riz soon answered with a 7 of his own, then got into a barrel that got him almost 8 points. But Dede had all the answers, getting a tube of his own a bit deeper to get a rare 9, leaving Riz searching for a 9 to respond with. The horn blew to end the heat before that happened, and Dede was in the semifinals.
Quarterfinal four was another natural footer heat with young Putra Hermawan taking on veteran Pepen Hendrik. Putra put on a good show, slashing and hacking and floating at every opportunity, but Pepen has the power, experience and knowledge that got him into the lead and eventually Putra needing a 5 plus point wave to go ahead. It was basically flat for the remaining 8 minutes or so of the heat, so that was it for Putra and Pepen was into the semi’s.
In semifinal one it was young Raditya Rondi taking on ISC CEO Tipi Jabrik. It seemed that Rondi was destined to get into the final, one way or another, as he got off to a good start on his first wave, hacking the lip time and time again, all the wave to the beach. Tipi fell on his first wave, got into a barrel and didn’t make it out on the second, then finally got a barrel but lost a fin and had to come to the beach to change boards on his thirds. Meanwhile Rondi was racking up points and soon Tipi needed an 8-point plus wave to get to the final. Try as he might he couldn’t get that wave with a big open tube that would get him those kind of points, so ended his run for the final.
In arguably the best heat of the day, semifinal two saw a pitched battle between Pepen Hendrik and Dede Suryana. Dede in his usual style drew first blood, ripping the top of his first wave to get a 5 and the lead. Pepen answered back and it was even again. But then Dede got a 6 and Pepen’s next wave didn’t give him much to work with. Then Dede pulled out the stops and gets a 9, throwing the tail up and spinning around backwards while sliding down the face to jet down the line for a couple more turns. Pepen continued to look for his best scoring opportunity but nothing exceptional came to him, and the horn blew with him still looking.
During the break the Masters Division finalists paddled out to see who was still in the best surfing shape. They were treated to excellent wave conditions, with set after set coming through in the 3-foot range. At the start it was anybody’s comp to win, as they all were catching great waves and ripping them apart. But Made Artha soon charged into the lead with his powerful and aggressive frontside attack, just blasting the tops off every wave he took. Wayan Pica got a slow start but picked up steam as the heat progressed to take over second from the only goofyfooter in the final, Wayan “Cupak”Widiarta. Head Judge “Sachang” had some good waves to work with, but maybe couldn’t get his mind off judging the final and his points total relegated him to fourth spot on the podium.
Raditya Rondi wasted no time in opening up his first ISC pro tour final with a series of deep bottom turns, big hacks, and floaters, getting 8 points from the judges to signal that he was nothing but serious. Dede was looking a bit fatigued, as his usual energetic paddling style was notably absent. He ended up falling on his first wave during a cutback, then paddled slowly back to the lineup. Meanwhile Rondi got another wave for 4 points, leaving Dede in the hole. But not for long, as he came alive for his next wave and took it apart for an 8. Another solid wave got him a 6 and the lead. At just over the halfway mark Rondi needed a 6.3 to jump back into the lead, but Dede unloaded a 7 pointer to put Rondi even further behind, now needing a 7.6. On his next wave he got close with a score of 6.8, but Dede answered back with an 8, getting stronger and stronger as the heat progressed. One more wave by Rondi where he unloaded on the lip a couple times just wasn’t enough, but he paddled in with a smile knowing he had gotten to the next level in his young surfing career.
Dede was all smiles as he reached the beach, even getting down on his knees and kissing the black sand beach in thanks for his victory. A great comp with some excellent surfing and fun all around. Congratulations to Dede Suryana and Raditya Rondi, and a big thanks to Quiksilver, Roxy, DC Shoes, Jim Beam, Hard Rock Hotel, SurfTime, and SurfTravelOnline.
See you at the presentation party at the Hard Rock Hotel in Kuta on Saturday night April 26th starting at 8:00 pm!
Results:
ISC Pro Division
1. Dede Suryana
2. Raditya Rondi
3. Pepen Hendrik – Tipi Jabrik
ISC Masters Division
1. Made Artha
2. Wayan Pica
3. Wayan Widiartha
4 Sachang
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