On the fourth day of the Reef Bali Pro at Kuta Beach, Round 4 of the Open Division and all but the final of the Masters Division was completed as well as a 30 minute Expression Session by Reef International pro surfers before the action was stopped for the day at noon.
Tomorrow will be the final day of the event, which will include the remaining quarterfinals through final of the Open Division as well as the finals of the Master’s and Women’s Divisions. In addition, there will be the much-anticipated finals of the Miss Reef Bikini competition, the awards presentation, and live music by RockStars and Superman is Dead to round off a week of spectacular performances at Kuta Beach, Bali.
Under the threat of rain in the early morning hours, Round 4 of the Reef Bali Pro got underway at just after 7 am with a rising tide and glassy 3-foot waves at Halfway, Kuta Beach. Overall wave conditions were quite good for the majority the morning, with the lineup constantly shifting from left to right creating an ongoing-challenge for the competitors, which resulted in a lot of audience participation from the beach with the fans attempting to call their favorite surfers into the best position.
Overall it was those surfers most familiar with the nuances of Halfways and using their priority wisely in the man-on-man format that won their heats and gained spots in tomorrow’s quarterfinals.
Raditya Rondi chalked up the first heat win of the day against yesterday’s top wave scorer Ende Supriatna. Supriatna got the highest score of the competition thus far, a 9.5 out of a possible 10, for a great barrel ride yesterday, but the West Javanese surfer was no match for Rondi as the Kuta Beach local instinctively picked off the best waves and took full advantage to get the win.
In Heat 2, Mega Semadhi may be from the Uluwatu area and most used to surfing big reef breaks, but he is no slouch when it comes to beach breaks either, using his light frame and quick reflexes to get the win against Legian local Dylan Amar.
Heat 3 saw Wayan “Gobleg” Suyadnya (also from Uluwatu) fall victim to Putra Hermawan (Nusa Lembongan) in the smallish conditions, and Heat 4 had Marlon Gerber wisely using both the right and left sand banks to get the win over Darmayasa Tonjo, who put up a great effort as well.
Pepen Hendrik, the oldest of the remaining Open Division competitors at age 33, showed no signs of slowing down and took to the air a couple of times to trump Wayan Susiana in Heat 5, and in Heat 6 it was a pitched battle of Halfways locals Mustofa Jeksen and Komang “Gogo” Sanjaya with Gogo coming out on top.
Heat 7 was a see-saw lead-swapping affair between young Agus Frimanto from Nusa Lembongan and Bali’s “50 Rupiah Gangsta” Wayan “Betet” Merta, where in the final minute Betet had almost given up when with seconds to go he was presented a perfect lefthander to blast apart for a come-from-behind heat win.
2009 Coca-Cola ISC Champion Lee Wilson was up against Lakey Peak’s Gazali Hamzah, who was the sole remaining competitor that had begun surfing the event all the way from Round 1. Lee’s contest experience as well as familiarity with the Halfways set-up saw him through to the win, but back on the beach he said, “I never take anything for granted out in the water. I got nervous out there because I saw Gazali get a couple of waves and they looked good from the back, so I wasn’t going to assume anything. I knew that when I got a decent wave I had to take full advantage of it, and though never did find the wave I was looking for, I got couple that were good enough.” Through the last few minutes of the heat it was obvious that Wilson wanted a lined-up righthander to take off on and attempt a big air, but unfortunately time ran out on him. “I’m just happy to have made it through to the quarters,” he added, “and I’m so looking forward to getting in that final tomorrow!”
Tomorrow’s action will commence at approximately 6:30 am, so grab your sunscreen and beach towel and come on down to see all the action on the final day of the Reef Bali Pro at Kuta Beach on the beautiful island of Bali. See attached heat draws for tomorrow’s lineup of finals.
And don’t forget to show up tonight at the Hard Rock Centerstage for the Cancer to Capricorn movie premiere and afterwards move over to the Reef Girl Bikini semifinals at the Hard Rock Café!
Recent Comments