25 June 2021, Kuta-Bali: The Legian Boardriders started off their first Liga Surfing Indonesia club event on Sunday the 23rd of May with amazing waves and a very full day of non-stop action at Padma Beach, where the waves were pumping from early morning all the way until the closely contested Men’s Open Final that had the crowd on its feet cheering as it was almost dark.
The action got started at 7:30 am with the Women’s division first in the water with perfect glassy wave conditions, bright sunshine and high tide, which gave them lots of good scoring opportunities, followed by the Juniors, Opens, Under 10’s and then Masters first rounds. As the tide got lower it became more challenging to be the best position with the rip currents ever changing, but then as the tide started to fill in again the afternoon, the waves got better shape and the surfers were able to post some bigger scores.
A total of 113 surfers competed in the 5 divisions as follows: Women’s Open = 11, Men’s Open = 40, Junior = 20, Under 10 = 22, and Masters = 18.
There were a lot of surfing highlights during the day, but the most exciting was the last final of the day as the best-of-the-best went blow-for-blow in the Men’s Open Division Final with twins Made “Bleronk” Darma Yasa and Wayan Darma Putra “Tonjo” battling it out with Febrie “Biawak” and Nyoman “Blacky” Satria as the sun had all but disappeared into the ocean.
Bleronk jumped out into the lead and was soon challenged by his brother Tonjo, with both surfers putting on a clinic on how to maximize each and every wave by taking them all the way to the beach and executing a wide variety of maneuvers on the way. Bleronk had the highest wave score of the final, a 7.83, which cemented his win, but on his last wave Febrie posted the second highest score of a 6.83 to move himself up to second spot and push Tonjo into third. Meanwhile Blacky just wasn’t have much luck finding a good scoring wave, so had to settle for fourth position.
“I was super happy to make it to the final with my brother and Blacky and Febrie,” said Bleronk. “They were all surfing so good, but I think it was my lucky day so that’s why I won. Thanks so much for everyone’s support for Legian Boardriders, we’re so happy be part of the Liga Surfing Indonesia, especially so we can support the young surfers to keep learning about competition in these events going forward,” he explained.
In the Women’s Division final it was young Georgie May who posted an excellent score of 8.17 on her first wave in the final, slashing a beautiful lefthander to pieces and jumping out into the lead, which she never gave up. She was up against two seasoned veterans in Cinta Hansel and Diah Rahayu Dewi, plus another young and stylish surfer Kayla Tani.
“It feels really amazing to get this win, especially with Cinta and Diah as I’ve always looked up to them and still look up to them now,” said Georgie May. “The waves were pumping, with the best wave conditions I’ve had in a heat as both lefts and rights were good. And I’m so happy to be part of the Legian Boardriders, it’s a dream come true…everyone is so supportive!” she exlaimed.
Junior Division winner Made Balon was all smiles after receiving his trophy and goody bag at the winner’s presentation, saying “I’m so happy to win today, and thanks to everyone for your support! The waves were really pumping, all the boys and girls were ripping, and thanks to everyone.”
After the winner’s presentation, Akung from the Legian Boardriders was asked for his thoughts at the conclusion of this first LSI event. “I’m super stoked with this first event, as the waves were really good and everybody is happy here, it’s great! I’m so stoked with the fact that everybody is supporting this, from the PSOI and ASC, making this LSI program happen. This is so great for the groms, our next generation, as we can help them and our surfing industry to grow. We have such great talent and such great waves on this island, so this is really what we need,” he explained.
As the presenting sponsor, Chris James from Boardriders (Quiksilver) added, “Quiksilver are stoked to partner with the Legian Boardriders club! It’s exciting to see the huge turnout for the first event and froth levels so high. Everything starts at the grassroots and these events only happen with the time, energy and support that the club, judges, photographers, sponsors and members put in. Congratulations to all competitors and a special well done to Riko, Balon, Bleronk, Georgie and Maika for winning the first round and now leading their respective divisions. Can’t wait for Round Two!”
In addition to receiving trophies and prize packs from Quiksilver and the other sponsors, the Under 10 winner and Junior winner each get a custom Warner surfboard.
A special prize for the most deserving grom went to Gede Darma Wisesa, who also receives a custom Warner surfboard.
You can follow the Legian Boardriders on Instagram @legianboardridersclub and the LSI at @ligasurfingindonesia.
To see the scores and rankings from this event, go to Live Heats at https://liveheats.com/legianboardriders
Event 1 Results:
Men’s Open
- Made “Bleronk” Darmayasa
- Febrie “Biawak”
- Darma Putra “Tonjo”
- Nyoman Satria “Blacky”
Women’s Open
- Georgie May
- Cinta Hansel
- Kayla Tani
- Diah Rahayu Dewi
Boys Junior
- Made Balon
- Phillip Duke
- Mario
- Ketut Aditya
Under 10
- Riko Bastian
- Jasper Glossop
- Deber Christian
- Rocco
Thanks to the following sponsors for their support:
Quiksilver Indonesia, Warner Surfboards, Warung Cahaya, Swich Sandwiches, Bali Dayz, Carve Indonesia, Swallow Sandals, #Leak Laut, and Natural
For more information about this event and the Legian Boardriders, please contact Akung at +62 813-3944-9492 or email to akungpow@yahoo.co.id