Perfect conditions on Day 4 of the West Java Open supported by Quiksilver produced epic levels of intensity in each heat of the man-on-man Round 4 that was run today at the cobblestone point break on the west coast of Java.
The 4-6 foot glassy waves provided an excellent forum in which the remaining 16 Coca-Cola ISC Tour surfers put on an amazing display of competitive surfing for the crowd on the beach. Replay’s of each high scoring wave on the ISC media monitors in the Coca-Cola tents allowed the fans on the beach to enjoy the action close up and personal.
Round 4 started at 7:30 am with Pepen Hendrik leading things off in Heat 1, challenged at each stop by charging Ketut Suarta but just managing to hold on, winning with a two wave combined score of 9.85 to Suarta’s 9.25
Wayan “Betet” Merta continued to lead a charmed life in Heat 2, nabbing a couple of nice barrels to win his heat over Tipi Jabrik who came in to the beach to make a board change early in his heat, giving Merta some time alone in the lineup. Had Jabrik found the exit door on a couple barrel attempts it would have been a much closer heat.
Dedi Santoso looked extremely strong in Heat 3, very comfortable and in form but still having to work to put away Simarai, who has a powerful backhand attack. Santoso was runner up to Lee Wilson in last years Billabong event here in Cimaja.
Heat 4 was a hotly contested heat between two junior surfers, Agus Frimanto and local Sandi Slamet. Frimanto took the lead early but in the final minutes Slamet almost took the heat win with a scorching performance, just coming up short. Frimanto 12.75 to Slamet’s 12.00.
2009 Coca-Cola ISC Champion Lee Wilson had a shaky start with which Kadek Murtika took full advantage of in Heat 5, putting Wilson on the ropes early and forcing him to put his championship skills to the test to end the heat with a win. Wilson 11.65 – Murtika 11.50.
Mega Semadhi put up an excellent challenge to local ace and WQS Tour pro Dede Suryana in Heat 6, forcing him to pull out all the stops to get his heat win. With Suryana’s family and fans on the beach, he went into overdrive and ended the heat with 14.55 point to Semadhi’s 13.50.
Heat 7 saw two goofyfooters who are also team mates battling it in another tightly contested heat. It was Anwar’s first ever appearance in a man-on-man Round 4 heat, and he did himself proud, but couldn’t overcome the more experienced Komang Sanjaya’s combination of wave selection and big maneuvers. Sanjaya 10.65, Anwar 10:15.
The final heat of the day also had two goofyfooters, Raditya Rondi and Mickey Sudena, competing for the remaining quarterfinal slot. Mickey put up a strong challenge but lost a fin after getting only two waves and had no backup board, and with Rondi’s bag of tricks combined with some big maneuvers had him coming back to the beach with the heat win, 12.0 points to Sudena’s 7.40.
After a 15-minute break the action resumed with the Masters Division taking to the water in three heats and two semifinals. Three of Dede Suryana’s older brothers, Sujary, Edin, and Sunarya were competing, with the whole family on the beach cheering them on.
These men still surf at a very high level, and as MC Tai Graham observed “They could go out in the pro division and show most of the competitors and thing or two on any given day”. They proved it today by getting barreled, gouging big turns and pulling of huge floaters to the delight of the crowd on the beach
At the end of the last semifinal, the four Masters who will be competing in the final tomorrow are Sujari, Ketut Wirtawan, Ketut Juliarta, and Wayan Widiarta.
So everything is set up for an terrific ending to the four day competition tomorrow, starting with the Quarterfinals in the Open Division and on into the finals in the Open, Masters, and Women’s Divisions. The awards presentation is to take place immediately after the last final on the beach, where the Open winner will receive Rp 12.5 million, the Masters winner Rp 2.5 million, and the Women’s winner Rp 2.5 million.
Tomorrows Open Division Match ups:
Quarterfinal 1: Pepen Hendrik vs Wayan Merta
Quarterfinal 2: Dedi Santoso vs Agus Frimanto
Quarterfinal 3: Lee Wilson vs Dede Suryana
Quarterfinal 4: Radiya Rondi vs Komang Sujaya
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