17 August, Kuta-Bali: Garut Widiarta, at his home break of Kuta Beach, blitzed his way to an Indonesian Independence Day victory in the 6-star Coca-Cola ISC Tour Oakley O ROKR Pro over 2007 ISC Champion Lee Wilson in difficult 1-2 foot low tide conditions.
Widiarta, a lightning fast goofyfooter, knows this stretch of beach like the back of his hand, so chose his waves carefully needing only two to take the win over Lee Wilson. “Garut is such a good and fast surfer, and this is his home break, so it was really hard to get one up on him,” said Wilson after the final. “He is very light and can work wonders on small surf like this. I did good and I’m stoked to have gotten this far given this type of surf,” he added.
After besting his cousin Made “Bol” Adi Putra in Semifinal One, he was watching Semifinal Two between Wilson and Wayan “Gobleg” Suyadnya very intently. MC Tai Graham went over and asked him whom he would take on in the final. He replied “I would rather meet up with Gobleg, coz I won against him before so maybe I could do it again. I surf with Lee a lot, and know he is very hard to beat!” Widiarta took on Suyadnya in an exciting final at the Quiksilver Open Lakey’s presented by the Coca-Cola ISC Tour in Sumbawa last month and came out on top for his first ISC Pro Tour win in over 2 years.
Although he didn’t get his wish, turns out it didn’t matter because he needed only two waves, a 6.5 and an 8.5 to get the lead and the win over Wilson, who put up several good scores including a 6.15 and 7.00 in a hard fought battle for the Rp. 10 million in prize money, a beautiful trophy, and 3,000 championship points.
The days surfing began at 7 am in much better conditions than the previous day, with consistent 2-3 foot surf on a rising tide.
Adi Putra was the first surfer out in the water in the early morning hours, getting a few in before the competition started and looked to be the favorite to win the event, consistently getting the biggest scores. In his Round 3 heat he finished with a two-wave total of 17.75 (a 9.25 and an 8.50), an almost impossible score given the 2-3 foot conditions. “It’s a very good morning for me, I feel good. But I almost can’t believe the judges gave me a 9 for that wave. That’s so great,” he said with a big smile, shivering slightly from the coolish water. He later post the events highest score, a 9.75 in Quarterfinal Two against Wayan “Betet” Merta to advance to the semifinals, where his charge was halted by Widiarta.
Another standout and winner of the Coca-Cola ISC Tour Best Maneuver Award was Mustofa Jeksen, who ended up surfing against his brother, MC Ribut Wayudi, in Round 4. “The waves are small, but really fun, so I can do some airs. So I’m happy about that and hope I can make it past my brother and into the quarters,” said Mustofa. He did advance into the quarterfinals but met up with Wayan “Gobleg” Suyadnya, who halted his run. “I’ve been out here practicing at Halfways almost everyday for a couple of months now, because being a bigger guy I usually only surf in bigger waves,” said the Uluwatu local. “But I know I need to practice in smaller conditions so I can win even if the waves are small,” he added. And his practice paid off with a win against the smaller and lighter Jeksen, and although Suyadnya couldn’t make it past the charging Lee Wilson, he was satisfied with his equal third for the event.
In addition to the Men’s Pro Division, the Women’s Division Final and the Masters Divisions were also run in the late afternoon. Yesco from Japan took first place in the Women’s and Made Artha was the winner of the Masters.
Being also Indonesia’s Independence Day, Kuta Beach was packed with people watching the finals in the late afternoon as the sun went down, while at the same time there were live bands playing, a BMX competition, and the traditional “Panjat Pinang” pole climbing competition.
It was an epic day at the beach, and after the trophy presentation and the sun went down there was food, beer, spirits, and a whole lot of partying going on while Bali’s own supergroup Superman is Dead rocked the beach, followed by St. Loco from Jakarta. Later there was the final of the Bikini Competition at Hard Rock’s Centerstage to complete the event. What a weekend!!!!
ISC Pro Men’s Results:
Garut Widiarta
Lee Wilson
Wayan Suyadnya and Made Adi Putra
ISC Master’s Division Results
Made Artha
Wayan “Cupak”
Made “Sachang” Sadiartha
Ketut Menda
ISC Women’s Division Results
Yesco
Sena
Nyoman Satria
Yulie
Many thanks to event sponsors the Hard Rock Hotel Bali, Optik Seis, Extreme Toys, Greensand Recharge, Fiesta Condom, and Garuda Indonesia.
The event is supported by the Hard Rock Café Jakarta, Hard Rock Café Bali, Heineken, Odysseys Surf School, AJ Hackett, Waterbom, Reef, and Point Break.
Media partners are Astro Expresi, Trans 7, TV One, Metro TV, Global TV. KIS FM Jakarta, Hard Rock FM Bali, OZ FM Bali, FHM, Cosmopolitan, Trax, Esquire, Area, Juice, Garuda Inflight, Maxim, and SurfTime.
The Oakley O ROKR Pro is sanctioned by the Coca Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour. The ISC was officially formed under the direction of Tipi Jabrik as CEO, whose experience with competitive surfing paved the way for this new venture in the Indonesian surfing circuit. Tipi Jabrik has been a head to toe Oakley rider for the past 2 years. This event’s main objective is to grow the awareness of surfing itself in Indonesia and to raise the local surfers competitive skills and to bring them to the next level, which is worldwide exposure.
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