RIP CURL GROMSEARCH FINALS GOES OFF!!

Small 1 to 1.5 meter waves and rainy conditions did not stop surfing competitors from giving their best today at Halfway Beach in Kuta. As the sun set Gazali Hamzah (Under 16) and Koko Mitsuantara (Under 14) emerged victorious from their brief yet intense final match ups. Semifinalists had been picked through prior wins at Rip Curl GromSearch contests around Indonesia in Java, Lombok, and Bali. Those surfing today represented Indonesia’s surfing future with ages ranging from 10 to 16.

Gazali from Lakey Peak, Sumbawa won the first-place ticket to Australia to compete in the upcoming GromSearch Grand Finale at Bells Beach. A lefthand wave held up just enough in the dying seconds of the final to rack up the points Gazali needed to win. His mother couldn’t have been more proud as she joined Gazali at the winner’s podium as he accepted his ticket award.

Second-placer Augustina from Pangandaran, West Java didn’t find the waves he needed in the final’s walled-out conditions but impressed the judges and crowd each time he stood up. It’s guaranteed we will see more of Augustina in the coming years. Koko has been consistently placing high in local surfing contests and today might be the pinnacle of his year’s run.

Koko, already sponsored by Rip Curl, not only won at his sponsor’s contest and cemented his name in their books as a star surfer, but he also took home a brand new surfboard for first place. He might be the biggest surfing name out of Bali’s Nusa Dua to date, and at 12 years old he is just at the start of his already shining career.

The Under 14 runner-up from Pangandaran, Dian Dianto (AKA Made Butut) is only 10 years old and already ripping. In the Semis he tore up a left with a backhand attack that would have made adult surfers tremble in their boardies. Of course the small size of the Under 14s gave these mini groms a tremendous advantage in the minimal wave heights to the point that ISC Commentator Tai Buddha exclaimed “It’s half a foot out there, but double overhead for those boys!”

In the Expression Session Putra Hermawan won Best Maneuver for a 360 air reverse while Tia Nustawan netted the Best Wave.

The ISC decided to run their main event’s first two rounds in Halfway’s little waves with hopes of finishing up in tomorrow’s forecasted bigger waves. Putu Angarra from Nusa Lembongan was a standout from his first wave and at 15 won his Round 1 heat with an easily- earned 8.5 and 8.0. Angarra unfortunately got shut down in Round 2 by Made “Bol” Adi Putra and Marlon Gerber, who landed a high frontside air to win his heat.

Other standouts going into tomorrow’s Round 3 were Yuki Seedwell who showed no sign of his injured knee and pulled a clean 180 aerial to advance, local favorite Rizal Tandung, Bali Hui Nyoman Maika, Dedy Santoso, Muklis Anwar, Wayan Susiana, and ISC Commentator Ribut Wahyudi. Ismail Dully picked each of his heat’s best waves with calculated style to Round 3, and Jefferson De La Tore from the Phillipines also surfed to the main event. Check the full contest results below for final placing into the seeded heats of Round 3. Be sure to arrive early or you’ll miss the surfing and music showdown that will define 2008’s greatest beach party!

Final Result

Under 14
1. Koko
2. Dian Dianto
3. G. Putra
4. M Rifai

Under 16
1. Gazali
2. Agustina
3. Ahmad
4. Taka

Text courtesy of Rip Curl. Photos by Angg, Kopi and Grandong