Mega
Semadhi Takes Quiksilver Open Phuket Thailand Win and Raditya Rondi Crowned
2012 Asian Surfing Champion
16 September 2012, Patong Beach-Phuket:
Topping a long list of highlights in the four days of non-stop surfing and
extreme sports action at the Quiksilver Open Phuket Thailand, Bali’s Mega
Semadhi took out the ASC/ISC Open Division final yesterday for his first
contest win this year, while reigning Men’s Asian Surfing Champion Raditya
Rondi (also from Bali, Indonesia) hoisted his second consecutive ASC
Championship trophy as a result of his second place finish behind Semadhi.
“I’m feeling so stoked right now,” said
Semadhi in his post-final interview.
“Actually I’m so tired of getting second, finally I got a first! Pretty stoked, thanks to God, thanks to
everyone, the judges and boys, my family and my fiancé. So stoked!”
Samadhi takes home a check for $1,700
USD plus Asian Surfing Championship and Indonesian Surfing Championship points
that will contribute to his rankings in both circuits.
Ronda, who hails from Kura Beach in
Bali, Indonesia was equally stoked with his second consecutive Asian Surfing
Championship Men’s Open title, saying, “I’m was so proud to be the first Asian
Surfing Champion and now to repeat that and win it again is an even bigger
honor, I’m so thankful to my family and my sponsor and my friends for
supporting me. Thanks also to the ASC for giving us this tour where we can surf
and compete around Asia, and come to awesome places like here in Puget.”
It was a tense and exciting 25 minute
Men’s Open final with a lot at stake, especially for Raditya Rondi and Lee
Wilson, both in the race for the 2012 Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship
title with one event remaining. If Wilson were to win the Quiksilver Open
Phuket, he would win the 2012 Indonesian Championship title, his 3rd. Anything less and the title wouldn’t be
decided until next month at the final event in Kuta Beach, Bali, with runner up
Rondi still smarting from being narrowly edged out by Marlon Gerber last year.
With the crowd on the beach glued to
every surfer’s move on every wave coming through in the afternoon sun, Mega
jumped out to a commanding lead, consistently launching and landing aerial
maneuvers like he was on autopilot.
Both Wilson and Rondi appeared to be feeling the pressure, with Wilson
landing an aerial for a 4.5 point score with his first wave and then failing to
find anything until near the end of the final, sitting in fourth place for most
of the 25 minutes. Rondi struggled
until midway through the heat, when he finally shook off the nerves and banged
out a couple of scores to grab 3rd place. Made Darmayasa meanwhile was sitting comfortably in 2nd
spot, feeling no pressure and just having fun.
Then it all came down to the final
minutes, when Wilson smashed out a 7.0 score on a left hand runner, which got
him up into second place and needing a wave score of only 5.3 points to win the
contest. But with just seconds to
go before the horn blew Rondi caught his last wave and blasted away. Everybody on the beach as well as the
finalists waited in anticipation for the MC to call out the score, as Rondi
needed better than a 6.0 to get into second place…after about 10 minutes
anxiety, the score was announced…a 6.1! So Rondi was up into second place, Wilson
down into third place, meaning the Indonesian title will be decided at the
final contest of the year in Kuta Beach next month.
Quiksilver SEA CEO Paul Hutson was down
on the beach watching the action close up, and couldn’t have been happier. “Can you believe all the drama in this
final, it’s crazy,” he exclaimed.
“The boys were absolutely ripping out there. Did you hear all the cheering up in the stands and on the
beach? I have to say this is probably
the most exciting final with one of the best crowds I’ve seen in a long
time. It’s been a super event for
sure…we’ve had some weather challenges along the way but I think that just made
it more fun in the end. We’ve seen
great surfing with the best surfers in Asia here this week, great skate and BMX
action from the Australian and American DC teams, 5-time Women’s World Surfing
Champion Stephanie Gilmore and amazing free surfer Ry Craike giving surf
clinics and doing expression session….I can’t think of anything we’ve left out. Big thanks to Surached and his
Quiksilver Thailand team, the sponsors, and the ASC/ISC crew for a super
event. We’ve come a long way in
four years since we sponsored our first event here in Thailand, and it just
keeps getting better. Great job
everyone!”
And it certainly was one of the most
exciting as well as challenging events of the 2012 Asian Surfing Championship
season, with a few major rain squalls threatening to blow apart the judging
tower on several occasions, but there were always waves and the surfers put on
exciting and impressive performances over the four day event.
The final day began with Grommet
Division (under 16 year old surfers) action, where Phuket’s own wunderkind
14-year old Annissa Flynn from Kata Beach bested the boys to win the
division. She went straight into
the Women’s Division and took that win as well, coming into the beach to
receive the 2012 Asian Surfing Championship Women’s title! An amazing feat for a girl that’s only
been surfing for 5 years. From the
podium at the evening awards presentation after receiving the trophy from
Quiksilver’s Stephanie Gilmore, she said, “I’m so happy, I can’t tell you how
happy I am to win this title. It’s
like insane that in 5 years I’m now the Asian champion!”
Gilmore complemented Flynn saying, “I
think this is a really special moment for Thailand, to have a local Thai
champion. It’s an amazing award
for you, to beat the boys and the girls! She added “Thanks to Quiksilver and
all of their team, and everyone who has put their time and effort into such a
wonderful event. This is my first
time to Thailand and I’m so impressed, everybody’s been so welcoming, and I’m
really looking forward to coming back here soon. Congratulations!”
Other highlights of the day included
Bali’s Wayan “Cupak” Widiarta winning the Masters Division and Arip “Mencos”
Nurhidayat and Luke Landrigan going head to head in the Longboard Division with
Mencos coming out on top and winning his 2nd consecutive ASC
Longboard title.
While the surfing was going on,
celebrity surf lessons were given by Ry Craike and Stephanie Gilmore and the DC
Tour skate and BMX teams were wowing the spectators on the sidewalk with their
radical moves like jumping over motorbikes, doing flips and all kinds of other tricks.
The full day ended with the awards
presentations held in the Phuket Graceland Hotel, as the beachside venue that had been prepared was awash
with torrential rain and howling winds, so everything had to be moved indoors. With plenty of food and copious amounts
of Chang beer at the ready, nobody was disappointed in the least.
Quiksilver Open Phuket Thailand
Results:
ASC/ISC Men’s Open Division
1. Mega
Semadhi (INA)
2. Raditya
Rondi (INA)
3. Lee
Wilson (INA)
4. Darmayasa
(INA)
ASC/ISC Women’s Division
1. Annissa
Flynn (THA)
2. Yasnyiar
“Bonne” Gea (INA)
3. Salini
Rengganis (INA)
4. Gemala
Hanafiah (INA)
ASC/ISC Longboard Division
1. Arip
“Mencos” Nurhidayat (INA)
2. Luke
Landrigan (PHP)
3. Tipi
Jabrik (INA)
4. Wenling
Chou (TWN)
ASC/ISC Masters Division
1. Wayan
Widiarta (INA)
2. Graham
Raisbeck (AUS)
3. Made
Lana (INA)
4. Michael
Anthony (AUS)
Grommet Division
1. Annissa
Flynn (THA)
2. Rory
McDonald (TWN)
3. Panu
Wisetsombat (THA)
4. Pancho
Schneider (THA)
The Quiksilver Open Phuket Thailand
was sponsored by Quiksilver Thailand, Yamaha, D.A.D., Nok Air, Chang, the
Phuket Graceland Resort & Spa, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, with
partners the Phuket Province, the Patong Municipality, Phuket Best Event, and
supported by Surfing Thailand, the Asian Surfing Championships, the Coca-Cola
Indonesian Surfing Championships, Very TV, HOT FM, and the Green Channel.
International media support provided by the ASC includes: Surfersvillage.com,
MyLifeonBoard.net, Balibelly.tv, Baliwaves.com, Lines Magazine, Surftime
Magazine, Magic Wave Surf Community Newspaper, Royal Video Magazine, Alam TV
Bali, and the Outdoor Channel.
For
more information contact:
Quiksilver Thailand:
Surached
Munghtong, General Manager
Phone:
+668194075385
Surfing Thailand:
Chanin
“Joob” Aiyarak, President
Phone:
+66819565854
Asian Surfing Championships/Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championships
Michaela
Partin, Tour Manager
Phone:
+6281805584486
Tim
Hain, Media and Communications
Mobile:
+628123606674
About Quiksilver:
Quiksilver,
Inc. (NYSE:ZQK) is the world’s leading outdoor sports lifestyle company, which
designs, produces and distributes a diversified mix of branded apparel,
footwear, accessories, snowboards and related products. The company’s apparel
and footwear brands represent a casual lifestyle for young-minded people that
connect with its boardriding culture and heritage.
The
reputation of Quiksilver’s brands is based on outdoor action sports. The
company’s Quiksilver, Roxy, DC, Lib Tech and Hawk brands are synonymous with
the heritage and culture of surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding.
The
company’s products are sold in over 90 countries in a wide range of
distribution, including surf shops, skate shops, snow shops, its proprietary
Boardriders Club shops and Quiksilver company-owned retail stores, other
specialty stores and select department stores. Quiksilver’s corporate and
Americas’ headquarters are in Huntington Beach, California, while its European
headquarters are in St. Jean de Luz, France, and its Asia/Pacific headquarters
are in Torquay, Australia.
About
the Asian Surfing Championships
The Asian Surfing Championships began
in 2011 with the mission of growing the sport of surfing in South East Asia
from the grassroots level by assisting each country in organizing professional
surfing events that will develop the skills of their surfers in healthy
competition as well as to draw attention to their area for the progression of
surfing locally, nationally, and throughout the SEA area.
Organized surfing competitions have
historically been the best medium for the development of surfers and for the
sport of surfing, where learning how to compete fairly and to being disciplined
in training and competition are key skills needed not only for surfing but also
for life.
The ASC works with
the local, national and multinational event sponsors and organizers to maximize
the results of these competitive surfing events towards accomplishing the goals
of sharing the sport of surfing and bringing positive economic, social, and
environmental benefits to the people in these South East Asian countries.
See more at http://www.asiansurfingtour.com
About
the Coca-Coca Indonesian Surfing Championships
The Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championships is the sanctioning body for professional
surfing in Indonesia. The ISC was established in 2004 to provide surfing
athletes with a consistent, legitimate, and respected forum where they can
compete and measure themselves against their peers, a stepping-stone towards
their ultimate goal of becoming a professional surfer at the international
level
With the
support of Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia, through organized surfing competitions,
the Coca-Cola ISC seeks to grow the awareness of the sport of surfing in
Indonesia and throughout the Asian region for the benefit of the surfers, their
community, their environment, their nation and the surfing industry. Find
out more at www.isctour.com
--
Tim Hain
Media and Communications
Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour - Asian Surfing Championship Tour
CV. Selancar Indonesia (ISC)
Jl. Raya Kuta No. 21
Pertokoan Kuta Raya Blok 9 Abian Base
Kuta, Bali 80361
INDONESIA
Phone/Fax: +62 361 768293
Mobile: +62 8123606674
Email:
tim@isctour.com
www.isctour.com
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