In an exciting come-from-behind win in Heat 6 of Round 3 today at the West Java Open 2010 supported by Quiksilver, Wayan “Betet” Merta dropped in to a perfectly lined up wave that proceeded to swallow him up and then spit him out for the first perfect 10 point score of the competition.
Merta (Bali) had been sitting in third place in a gripping heat between Dede Suryana (Cimaja), Made Awan (Bali) and Didin Hendriyana (Pangandaran) after making a poor maneuver selection on a great wave and falling off on a floater when he should have ducked into the barrel. Then with Awan seemingly locked in second place with the previous high score of the day at 8 points and Suryana firmly in first place with a 7.0 and a 5.1, Betet got a second chance and was presented with one of the best waves of the morning in the final seconds of the heat and surfed it to perfection, winning the heat.
In an interview after Betet admitted to being very lucky. “Man, I’m so happy right now. I got so lucky out there. When I blew that other wave I thought it was all over, but then I saw that other one coming couldn’t believe it. I was so lucky. That was the first and only 10 point wave I’ve ever gotten. Thanks to the judges, thanks God , thanks everybody. I love this place,” he shouted to the crowd that had gathered to congratulate him.
The swell size had dropped somewhat from the previous day but there were still some 4-5 foot bombs rolling through with many perfectly shaped 3-4 footers giving the competitors excellent conditions for Round 3.
During the morning’s competition, with the exception of Dede Suryana and Sandi Slamet who are from Cimaja, the remaining competitors that will be competing in Round 4 tomorrow are from Bali.
Check out the heat draw attached for the lineup of tomorrow competitors, and you will see the best of Indonesia’s surfers going all out tomorrow in the race for the Rp 12.5 million first place prize purse and 3,000 Coca-Cola ISC championship points.
After Round 3 was completed, the Coca-Cola ISC Women’s Division competitors took to the water for their two semifinal heats, cheered on by the locals who rarely see women surfers in the water, let alone competing.
Jasmine from Bali and Iis from Pangandaran were the standouts, both winning their heats by bravely taking on the larger 3-4 foot sets and carving nice combinations of turns.
The Women’s final is scheduled to take place on Sunday, which will see Jasmine and Iis joined by Febrie Rahmaningsih (Sumatra) and last year’s Coca-Cola ISC Women’s Champion Yasnyiar Gea (Nias).
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