20 June 2019, Bali – Indonesia: It was a full day of non-stop action today at Padma Beach on Day 2 of the REnextop Asian Surfing Tour, as both the Men’s and Women’s Division faced frequent 4-6 foot closing out sets on the 200 meter stretch of beachbreak, but wave knowledge and positioning along with smart decision-making on maneuvers resulted in some impressive surfing and allowed the Men’s Shortboard Division to find their Semifinalists and the Women’s Shortboard Division’s Quarterfinalists to be decided.
Day 2 began at 8 am with the continuation of Round 2 of the Men’s Shortboard Division. The day’s top single wave score was earned in Heat 7 by Reef Doig, who posted the first and only excellent score of the event so far, an 8.0 (out of a possible 10 points) for a series of searing turns that impressed the fans on the beach as well the judging panel to win his heat and advance into Round 3.
Doigy, as he is known in Bali, went on to win his Round 3 heat and then his man-on-man Quarterfinal heat against Kuta’s Sima Rai to earn his place in the Semifinals, where he will face Lakey Peak’s Oney Anwar, who competes full time on the WSL’s World Qualifying Series (WQS).
Doig is Australian but grew up in Bali, just about a kilometer up the beach from Padma, but moved to Australia to go to university several years ago.
Earning his place in the Semifinals and winning the day’s top total heat score was Bali’s Rio Waida, who bested 3-time ASC champion Raditya Rondi in their Quarterfinal matchup by blasting apart a couple of big lefts for first a 7.67 and then a 6.90 on his backhand for a combined total of 14.57 (out of a possible 20 points).
He was asked what he thought was the secret to his success in getting a Semifinal berth today he replied, “I don’t think there is any secret…I just love surfing Padma. Just surf like I always surf every day and just enjoy the heat like it was a free surf.”
When asked if he would have been surfing here today with these conditions even if no contest was on, he said “For sure…because there were some really good waves out there, and us Padma Boys love to go out and see if we can get the best ones, even if it’s big and lots of closeouts like today. I compete full time on the WSL Qualifying series, so I have to surf all kinds of different conditions, so for me it’s really good practice.”
In the Semifinals, which will be held on Saturday, it will be Kuta’s Mega Artana vs Padma Boy’s Rio Waida in Semifinal 1, and Lakey Peak’s Oney Anwar vs Bali/Australia’s Reef Doing in Semifinal 2.
In the Women’s Shortboard Division, it was Brazil’s Hayanna Iguchi earning the highest single wave score of a 6.83 in her Round 2 heat and in the same heat it was Japan’s Rina Kitazawa who posted the highest total heat score of a 10.70 (out of a possible 20 points) with a 6.33 and a 4.37 to Iguchi’s 6.83 and 3.50. Both surfers advanced into the quarterfinals, where the matchups will be Rina Kitazawa vs Dhea Rahayu Dewi, Hayanna Iguchi vs Lizzie Stokely, Pua Johnson vs Brittany Penaroza, and Kailani Johnson vs Cinta Hansel.
Lorca Leuras, who grew up in Bali, was asked at the end of the day for some words about the day’s action from his position as the primary web commentator for the event. “Surfing is my passion in life, so to be able to sit and watch it live, call scores, and describe what’s going on..there is nothing more fun than that…well, except for actually surfing!” Leuras was given a spot in the event, so was able to experience it first hand and share that with the audience. “A big thanks to RAST and ASC for giving me that chance, and even though I had Oney Anwar in my heat, I had a great time. After I got back into my seat, there were lots of questions from the viewing audience, and I can tell you that from the webcast perspective it looked way easier out there than when you were actually out there. Guy like Oney and Rio make it look so easy, but for the average surfer it’s not easy at all!
Tomorrow will continue with Men’s and Women’s Longboard Divisions, as the swell is predicted to be dropping, with the competitors told to standby at 7:30 for a possible 8 am start depending upon the conditions.
Check all the results from today on Live Heats at https://www.liveheats.com/events/1803
The RAST #1 event is webcast live so you can tune in to https://www.facebook.com/REnextopRAST to see all the action each day
RAST #1 is sponsored by REnextop Entertainment, REnex, M-GRAPH, WWW.CHTWM.COM, Sinaloa, Ibis Styles, and Carver, and supported by the ASC, the PSOI and the Padma Boys
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About the REnextop Asian Surfing Tour
Through this series of competitions, REnextop will strengthen the integration of China’s surfing community with the international surfing world to provide more opportunities, communication avenues and interactions. Surfers from various countries in the Asia-Pacific region including Japan, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan are invited to compete in these events.
REnextop is Asia’s first platform dedicated to helping extreme sportsmen and independent athletes to realize their dreams, and surfing is one of the most important extreme sports in REnextop. China’s top woman longboarder Monica Guo and top men’s longboarder TZ, are high-level surfers that are sponsored by the platform. Now they have become independent professional athletes traveling to surf and compete in the Asia Pacific region, setting an example for other Chinese surfers to follow and realize their dreams.
Find out more about REnextop at:
www.renextop.com
https://www.instagram.com/renextop/
https://www.facebook.com/REnextop-Entertainment
About the Asian Surf Cooperative
he Asian Surf Cooperative is a professional surfing organization with 14 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 WCT 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.
www.asiansurf.co
https://www.facebook.com/asiansurfco/
https://www.instagram.com/asiansurfco/