Dreams do come true and they certainly did today for Bali’s Garut Widiarta in the most spectacular waves seen in the Rip Curl Cup’s 11 year history.
Dawn revealed corduroy lines stretching to the horizon of the Indian Ocean as a field of surfers that had waited 5 weeks finally witnessed the glory of the fearsome Padang Padang reef as good as it gets. With solid 6-8 feet bombs raging in against fierce tradewind conditions, it was an all Indonesian affair by the time the finals arrived. International surfers such as California’s Chris Ward, Hawaii’s Kekoa Bacalso and on form juniors Luke Hynd and Jacob Willcox were felled by local knowledge as cousins Garut Widiarta and Raditya Rondi stampeded into the final with grace and guts. Padang Padang at this size and power is not to be taken lightly, with giant sets closing out the channel, it was these two cousins who paddled out into the afternoon glare and did epic battle in career defining waves that set a new standard of performance in Indonesian Surfing.
It has been a long road for Bali’s favourite son, Garut Widiarta, whose flamboyant style has taken him close to the most prestigious winners dias in Indonesia but has never afforded him the win. Today, surfing with the confidence that only destiny can bring, Garut charged every gun nest and rifled his way through impossible barrel after barrel to ride to a convincing win. The Rip Curl Cup certainly lived up to it’s name as the world’s Ultimate Tuberiding Contest as a multi-national crowd lined the cliffs and flooded the beach to witness the phenomenon of Padang Padang’s rolling thunder. It was a breathless audience who watched on as the live broadcast brought all the action to an eager surfing world on what was the best surf on the planet for the day.
The Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang has built a proud heritage for over a decade, spectacular waves, sensational location and a fitting champion.
Results:
1st Place: Garut Widiarta
2nd Place: Raditya Rondi
Equal 3rd: Lee Wilson
Equal 3rd: Mustofa Jeksen
It’s ON when It’s ON !
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