29 April 2011, Sanur-Bali: On the 11th day of the 21 day waiting period for the Rusty Rumble in Da Jungle at Bangsal Beach in Bali, Sanur Reef roared to life and provided the competitors and spectators on the beach with a full day of exciting action as Rounds 1-3 were completed yesterday. Among the many highlight were 2008 Rusty Rumble winner Made Awan scoring a perfect 10 point wave, Takius Wau from Nias getting a double barrel, and the winner of the last ISC event Marlon Gerber narrowly missing the exit of a super long barrel ride.
The day started off at 7:30 am with a trial heat to fill the two remaining spots in Round 1, then it was right into the main event with non-stop action all the way through Round 3, which was completed at 5:30 pm. In all, 25 heats were completed during the 10-hour day.
Arguably it was the longest day of ISC competition ever held at an East Coast surfing venue, as normally the onshore winds begin to howl by about 11 am. Yesterday however the winds were light and didn’t affect the waves negatively, and the 3-6 foot waves continued to pulse through at regular intervals throughout the day offering up a wide variety of opportunities for Indonesia’s best pro surfers to show off their best competitive surfing skills to the ISC judging team, headed up by Mr. Wayan Pica.
In the early going it was Takius Wau from Nias whose double barrel in Heat 6 of Round 1 posted the first in a long line of highlights. “I’ve never surfed here at Sanur Reef before, it’s such a great right hander! There are so many good waves in Bali, I really enjoyed my heat today,” said Takius, who won the heat and advanced to Round 2.
In Round 2 Dewa Ardika slotted into a nice barrel to come from behind and win his heat, as did Tipi Jabrik who brazenly flirted with the supersharp coral by pulling into an inside section barrel and somehow making it out unscathed, also winning his heat in the final minutes.
Round 3 saw the top seeded surfers take to the water, starting off with veteran Pepen Hendrik, last year’s Rusty Rumble in Da Jungle winner. Hendrik had no problem winning his Round 3 heat, blitzing past his opponents and ending the heat with a total score of 14.25, 5.5 points ahead of second place Wayan “Gobleg” Suyanya who finished with an 8.75. Hendrik is definitely a favorite to win this event again.
The heat of the day came in Round 3 Heat Two, with young Agus Frimanto charging to the lead and racking up big scores by aggressively attacking the lip and taking to the air. But 2008 Rusty Rumble in Da Jungle winner and Rusty team rider Made Awan clearly signaled his intent to be atop the podium again by nailing an incredible 10-point wave, a perfect score, with less than 5 minutes left in heat. Coupled with his earlier wave score of 8.5, his combined two wave score of 18.25 was the highest of the day as well.
“I was so lucky to get that last wave, it was the best one of the heat for sure. I knew I had to attack it and get a big score, so I did my best. The waves were so good today and I’m so stoked,” said Awan back on the beach.
In the very next heat Rusty’s Marlon Gerber put on an exemplary display of competitive surfing, combining a variety of big maneuvers on each wave to clearly dominate the heat. He narrowly missed exiting an incredibly long barrel, which no doubt would have netted him a perfect 10 score as well. “I took off on the wave saw it lining up, so I went for the barrel. I was in there for so long but I just couldn’t make it out! It was so close there at the end, I’m sure it would have been a perfect score, but I’m happy to have won the heat,” said Gerber. He received an 8 point score on that wave and finished the heat with a combined score of 14.25.
At a wave most often dominated by naturalfooters, goofyfooters fared very well on the day with Raditya Rondi, Mega Semadhi, Kadek Murtika, Komang “Gogo” Sujaya, Wayan “Gobleg” Suyadnya, and Wayan Wirtama all advancing to Round 4.
In the last heat of the day with the sun setting in the west, 2010 ISC Open and Pro Junior Champion Putra Hermawan and older brother Agus Purnawan dueled for the first place spot in Heat 8, swapping the lead back and forth a couple of times before Hermawan blasted a 7.5 to regain the lead in the final minutes. Both will advance to Round 4, which is scheduled for Saturday April 30th.
Rusty GM and Contest Director Kane Faint was all smiles at the end of the day saying “This was an amazing day of competition here at Sanur, with the waves pumping all day long and the wind never becoming a factor. We saw everything from the boys today, from barrels and big turns to airs. It was a long day and I really appreciate the judges and the crew’s hard work out there. Hope we get another day like this on Saturday!”
Round 4 competitors and the contest crew should stand by at Bangsal Beach on Saturday morning at 6 am, ready for the conclusion of the 2011 Rusty Rumble in Da Jungle.
The second stop of the 2011 Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour, the Rusty Rumble in Da Jungle is a six-star rated event with a prize pool of Rp 55,000,000, Rp 15,000,000 going to the winner.
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