11 March, 2022 – Kuta, Bali: 197 surfers from 15 surf clubs gathered together today at Kuta Beach for the start of the Liga Surfing Indonesia Grand Final where they will compete in this 3 day event that will crown individual and club champions this coming Sunday afternoon.
The competition today started at 8 am with four heats of the Round 1 Women’s Open Division, 5 women in each heat surfing for 20 minutes. The 3 women with the highest 2 wave total scores advance to Round 2. The low tide conditions made for relatively low scores, but Kuta Boardriders Dhea Natasya managed to post the highest two wave total score of 11.17 with a 5.00 and a 6.16. Bingin’s Ziggy Mackenzie had a 6.00 as her highest single wave score and handily won her Round 1 heat to advance to Round 2.
Dhea Natasya
The Junior boys were up next, with Kuta Boardriders Gana Sunestra having the highest total score of the 54 competitors, a 12.16 with a 6.33 and a 5.83 as his highest two wave scores. Legian Boardrider’s Made Balon was just behind him with a total heat score of 10, earning 6 points for a nice aerial maneuver and adding another 4 point wave to win the heat.
Gana Sunestra
The Men’s Open division was 10 heats of non-stop action for the 60 surfers, who were the best surfers from each surf club, going head to head to avoid elimination. In the 6 man heats, 3 advance to Round 2 and 3 get to watch the remainder of the competition from under a beach tent.
Right out of the starting gate, Kuta Boardriders Ketut Agus posted first a great 7 point score, then added an excellent score of 8 points to earn a 15.50 (out of a possible 20 points) points total! Legian Boardriders Darma Putra Tonyo was next with a total score of 14.17, for a 7.5 and 6.67 respectively. It’s no surprise that local knowledge plays a key role in high scores at Kuta Beach.
Ketut Agus
Last but not least, to end the day was the 36 Master Division legends taking to the waves, showing that they still have plenty of motivation to surf in competitions. Kuta Boardriders Gogo Sujaya had the highest combined score of the round, an 11.60, with his teammate Mickey Sudena close behind with a combined score of 10.67.
Also competing in the Masters was Dede Suryana from West Java, who has traveled the world as a professional surfer after having competed and won titles on the ISC (Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour) and the ASC (Asian Surfing Championships) before competing out of Asia on the World Surf League International Qualifying Series.
“It’s been awhile since I’ve done any big competitions…I think this is big one for me now, right? (laughs),” said Dede. “ So happy we could bring the team from West Java down here, it’s a long way to come and with the pandemic situation…you now. We had to ask our friends to help support us in taking the trip, but it’s really important especially for our young surfers so they can gain experience. It’s great for me to come back here too, so many good memories and contests, it’s been a long time. I’m finally old enough to join the Masters Division…it was fun to get out there and have a heat with the guys that I used to compete against in the ISC and ASC days. I’m really stoked that this LSI Final is happening and we all get to surf together again.”
Dede Suryana
ASC’s Tipi Jabrik took time out to join the Master’s division also. “I was lucky enough to advance in my heat, got 3rd of out 6 so I’ll take it,” said Tipi. “I’m not really taking it serious, the serious part is making sure that the event runs well, and that the sponsors, crew and surfers are happy. I’m just glad I get to take a 20 minute break to surf! We have 197 surfers that joined, beyond our expectations really, but this is just the beginning, and there will be bigger things in the future for the Liga Surfing Indonesia.
Tipi Jabrik
Winning the longest trip to Bali award is the Lakey Peak Boardriders. Captain Dedi Gun was very happy to be in Bali saying, “For us at Lakey Peak Boardriders, we have been training hard and really stoked to be here. We took a bus from Lakey Peak to Bali, it took about 24 hours or so, but everyone was so excited it didn’t matter how we got here. The younger kids especially are super excited to see all the other surfers and to watch the WSL QS event over the last couple of days, to see all the really good surfers. We’re so lucky that we have so much support from our friends to make this happen and it’s such a great experience for all of us to be able to participate in this LSI final.”
Dedi Gun
End of a Great Day…have a Bintang Crystal! Only if you are over 21 year old.
You can view today’s event highlights on Vidio at https://www.vidio.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=asiansurfco&ua=1&c=55C
Follow the LSI and ASC on our website at https://asiansurf.co/lsi/ and on Instagram at @ligasurfingindonesia and @asiansurf.co
Competition will resume tomorrow at 7 am…come out to Kuta Beach or follow the live scoring on Live Heats at https://www.liveheats.com/ligasurfingindonesia
The Liga Surfing Indonesia is sanctioned by the PSOI (Persatuan Selancar Ombak Indonesia), operated by the ASC (Asian Surf Cooperative), sponsored by Vans Indonesia, East Ventures, Bintang, Mamaka and Earth Island, support for LiveHeats from Billabong, Quiksilver, and Rip Curl, and supported by the Indonesian Tourism Ministry (Kemenpar), Ministry of Youth and Sports (Kemempora), National Sports Committee of Indonesia(KONI), and the Indonesia Olympic Committee (KOI)
Media Support by:
Baliwaves: https://www.instagram.com/baliwaves
BaliBelly https://instagram.com/balibelly
Surfing Indonesia https://instagram.com/surfingindonesia_org
SurfTime Magazine https://instagram.com/surftime_magazine
About the Liga Surfing Indonesia
The focus of the LSI is on providing Indonesia’s current and future boardriders clubs with the opportunity to be part of a system that will result in them playing a key role in the development of surfing talent, growing the surf industry, and growing surfing tourism in Indonesia. Having them to fund and organize several of their own surfing events each year has them acting as a business entity, event organizer and media creator in addition to the development and nurturing of the surfing talent in their community.
About the Asian Surfing Cooperative
The Asian Surf Cooperative is a professional surfing organization with 16 years of experience in the organizing, managing and supporting surfing events around the Asian region, from local boardriders club competitions to WSL World Championship Tour events.
The Asian Surf Cooperative provides event management, live scoring, ISA certified judges, contest directors, digital photography and videography, event media packages, rankings, media coverage and distribution, and also assists the ISA in organizing Surf and SUP Instructor and International Judging courses.
From local grassroots boardriders and grommet (junior) events to specialty and World Surf League events, the ASC’s purpose and goal remains the same: To grow the sport of surfing in the Asian region by offering reliable and consistent resources and assistance to both small and large organizations who are helping to make Asia’s surfing athlete’s dreams come true.