KERAMAS, Bali/Indonesia (Thursday, October 6, 2011) –The Oakley World Pro Junior Bali returned to Keramas river mouth for Day 4 of competition. The surf was crisp, clean and 3 – 4 foot (1.5 – 2 meter), the ideal canvass for the world’s best junior surfers to display their full repertoire with tubes, walls and air sections on offer.
Garrett Parkes (AUS) won an early morning all Australian battle against Oakley’s Matt Banting (AUS) thanks to a couple of clean tube rides and fin throws. Banting put up a strong fight, but Parkes put his experience to good useselecting the best waves of the heat to advance through to the next round.
“It doesn’t feel like an international competition yet, I’ve only surfed against Aussies,” Parkes said. “It’s a bit of a bummer that we came up against each other, but that’s competing. We just tried to go out there and have a good heat. I was kind of freaking at the end, he only needed a 7 (out of a possible 10) when a nice wave came through.He didn’t catch it, which was lucky because he could have gotten the score on that for sure.”
Brazilian Ian Gouveia also had to battle one of his fellow countrymen, Gustavo Machado. Both surfers struggled to find the best take off position, but Gouveia claimed the heat after scoring a deep barrel, muscling is way out after the wave closed out.
“The waves were pretty slow and it was hard to find a good one,” Gouveia said. “The sets were fun though, this is my first time to Bali and I’m loving it.”
Medi Veminardi from Reunion Island bounced back from his Round 1 loss yesterday where he suffered the biggest wipeout of the day, going over the falls on a solid 6 foot wave. Veminardi scored a nice tube ride to advance to Round 3, sending South African Slade Prestwich (ZAF) home with an equal 33rd place finish.
“It’s very difficult on your backhand out there,” Veminardi said. “Normally I surf good on my backhand, but I’m not here. A lot of the goofy footers are struggling out here, like how we saw Nat Young (USA) lose yesterday. This wave, with this swell direction means you just need to race on your backside, but I can’t complain, you just have to deal with what you’ve got.”
Tanner Hendrickson (HAW) is quickly establishing himself as a darkhorse at this year’s Oakley World Pro Junior. A few minutes into his Round 2 heat, Hendrickson threw himself at a huge ramp, launched into a big air-reverse, landed clean and was awarded a 7.67.
“I knew it was a good wave so I just went for it,” Hendrickson said. “I saw that section and it was steep and perfect for an air, I’m stoked I made it. I was just having fun and free-surfing by the end of the heat, but I went for an air on a stupid section right at the end and I think I might have broken my toe, it hurts so bad.”
Oakley’s own Thomas Woods (AUS) showed his competitive nerves of steele after his heat was tied at 11.60 each with fellow Oakley teammate Keala Naihe (HAW) with a minute and a half to go. Had the heat finished in a tie Naihe would have taken the win as he had a higher single wave score in his tally. But Woods didn’t let it come down to that, he took off in the last minute, attacked the lip, pulled into a little tube and finished with a closeout re-entry to rocket himself to 1st place.
“I was so nervous when he got that 7.5 he needed,” Woods said. “I was like this can’t be happening. Then there was 30 seconds to go and I had priority and I saw a little runner and I did my best and even put out a claim. You feel like a kook doing a claim, but you gotta do it when stuff like that happens.”
Kaishu Tanaka (JPN) was the standout performer of the day, unleashing power turns right in the steep pocket of the wave. Tanaka scored two excellent rides an 8.00 and a 7.67 in the opening minutes of the heat, leaving Brazilian Joao Abreu (BRA) chasing scores that never eventuated.
Fellow Japanese surfer Arashi Kato closed out the day with another heat win for the Oakley team against Chase Wilson (USA). The contest went right into heat one of the third round only to get called for the day when neither Davey Cathels (AUS) nor Michael February (ZAF) had caught a wave 10 minutes into the heat.
The contest will resume tomorrow, October 6, at Keramas with a 5:30 am call.
The Oakley World Pro Junior Bali runs from October 3 – 14. Check out www.oakleyprojunior.com for the live webcast, latest news, photos, videos and more.
KERAMAS KEMBALI MENYAJIKAN AKSI-AKSI SURFING YANG SOLID DI HARI 4 OAKLEY WORLD PRO JUNIOR
KERAMAS, Bali/Indonesia (Kamis, 6 Oktober 2011) –– Ajang Oakley World Pro Junior Bali kembali dihelat di pantai Keramas di hari ke 4. Surfing dengan kondisi ombak 3-4 foot (1.5-2 meter), Keramas kali ini menjadi “medan perang” yang ideal bagi para surfer-surfer terbaik dunia untuk melakukan aksi dan manuver terbaik, baik itu di udara maupun dalam air.
Garrett Parkes, surfer asal Australia membuka pagi ini dengan kemenangan mutlak atas rekan senegaranya, surfer Oakley Matt Banting dengan mengendarai beberapa ombak masif dan manuver solid. Banting juga tak kalah sengit melawan, tapi Parkes menggunakan pengalamannya selama ini dan dengan tepat memilih ombak untuk menjuarai heat dan melangkah ke babak berikutnya.
“Rasanya seperti bukan kompetisi internasional, saya hanya surfing melawan sesama Australia,” ujar Parkes. “Sedikit unik buat saya kita berdua saling bertarung, tapi ya itulah pertandingan. Kita cuma harus ke sana dan menangkan heat-nya. Saat terakhir, saya sempat ketakutan juga, ia cuman butuh 7 (mendekati 10) poin saat ombak bagus datang. Tapi ia melewatkannya. Dan itu jadi sebuah keuntungan bagi saya karena dia jadinya tidak bisa mencetak poin lebih.”
Surfer Brasil Gouveia juga mendapat pertarungan sengit dari rekan senegaranya, Gustavo Machado. Kedua surfer berjuang saling berebut posisi terbaik, tapi Gouveia-lah yang keluar sebagai pemenang setelah mencetak hasil memuaskan lewat aksi menembus barrel yang impresif.
“Ombaknya sedikit lambat dan susah sekali nemuin yang bagus,” ujar Gouveia. “Set nya sendiri sebetulnya menyenangkan, ini kali pertamanya saya di Bali dan saya menyukainya.”
Medi Veminardi dari pulau Reunion menunjukkan eksistensinya sejak kekalahannya di babak 1 kemarin di mana ia harus kesulitan mengontrol ombak untuk mencetak nilai, terjatuh dari ombak solid. Veminardi mencetak poin memuaskan saat mengendarai ombak dan memastikan dirinya melangkah ke babak 3 sekaligus memaksa surfer asal Afrika Selatan, Slade Prestwich (ZAF) pulang kampung lebih awal dengan finis di equal 33.
“Sangat susah buat backhand pas kamu di sana,” ujar Veminardi. “Biasanya saya surfing bagus dengan backhand saya, tapi rasanya ini bukan saya. Banyak goofy-footer bagus yang juga sama-sama bersusah payah mencari ombah bagus di sini, seperti waktu kita lihat Nat Young (USA) kalah kemarin. Ombak ini, dengan Swell Direction berarti kamu harus mengejar backsidemu, tapi saya tidak bisa mengeluh, kamu hanya harus bisa menerima apa yang kamu dapat.”
Tanner Hendrickson, surfer dari Hawaii dengan cepat memantapkan dirinya sebagai “kuda hitam” di event Oakley World Pro Junior kali ini. Beberapa menit sesaat sebelum heatnya di babak 2, Hendrickson menyajikan atraksi memukau, big-air reverse yang luar biasa, mendarat mulus dan langsung diganjar poin 7.67.
“Saya tahu itu ombak yang bagus dan saya langsung memaksimalkannya,” ucap Hendrickson. “Saya melihat celah itu, kesempatan bagus buat bermanuver di udara, dan saya pun tercengang bisa melakukannya. Saya hanya bersenang-senang dan surfing sebebas mungkin di akhir heat, tapi saya malah melakukan manuver di udara di saat yang salah dan pada akhirnya, saya kira kaki saya cedera, sakit sekali rasanya.”
Surfer Oakley asal Australia Thomas Woods menyajikan ketegangan maksimal saat menggenggam poin 11.60 ketika melawan rekan sesama Oakley dari Hawaii Keala Naihe di sisa satu setengah menit terakhir heat. Heat hampir diakhiri dengan Naihe keluar sebagai pemenang lewat satu ombak yang ia berhasil dapat. Tapi Woods tidak membiarkan itu terjadi, ia mempergunakan menit-menit terakhir dengan menyerang balik lewat satu ombak dan memaksimalkannya untuk menghantarkannya ke posisi utama.
“Saya sangat tegang pas dia cuman butuh 7.75 buat menang,” ujar Woods. “Saya pikir, ini tidak boleh terjadi. Dan akhirnya ada sisa 30 menit dan saya dapet prioritas, pas sekali ada kesempatan dan saya langsung memaksimalkannya. Rasanya seperti yang mustahil bisa ngejar, tapi kamu tetap harus melakukannya kalau kamu dapet kesempatan seperti itu.
Kaishu Tanaka dari Jepang, menjadi surfer ‘standout’ hari ini, menghidangkan surfing yang kuat di atas ombak-ombak yang tersaji di kanan pantai. Tanaka mencetak dua poin mengagumkan, 8.00 dan 7.67 di pembukaan heatnya, meninggalkan jauh surfer asal Brasil Joao Abreu yang berusaha mengejar ketinggalannya dan tak pernah terwujud.
Surfer Jepang lainnya, Arashi Kato menutup hari dengan kemenangan di heat yang lain saat melawan surfer Oakley asal Amerika Chase Wilson. Kontesnya sendiri berakhir sampai heat 1 babak 3 saat Davey Cathels (AUS) atau Michael February (ZAF) baru saja mendapat 1 ombak ketika heat baru mulai 10 menit.
Kontes akan kembali digelar besok, 6 Oktober di Keramas jam 5.30 pagi.
Oakley World Pro Junior Bali digelar dari tanggal 3-14 Oktober. Cek www.oakleyprojunior.com untuk live webcast, berita terbaru, foto, video dan lainnya.
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