Heat 1: 1st Jason Frederico (Hawaii), 2nd Ry Craike (Australia), 3rd Wayan “Betet” Merta, 4th I Komang “GoGo” Sujaya.
Alternate Jason Frederico got boosted into the main event at 7 a.m.
this morning after Koby Abberton failed to show up. The alternates
chose straws for the one spot and J Fed got lucky. Frederico took
advantage of the opportunity by pulling into two deep barrels and
winning Heat 1. "It pays to show up at the beach early when you're an
alternate," said Frederico, who was out late the night before, "because
you never know if you might get in."
Heat 2: 1st Raditya Rhondi, 2nd Made Lapur, 3rd Timmy Turner (California), 4th Takayuki Wakita (Japan).
Heat 2 belonged to the local boys. Teen sensation Raditya Rondi
(Kuta, Bali) blew up and took first place, followed by one of his
childhood heroes, Balinese surfing legend Made Lapur.
Heat 3: 1st Bruno Santos (Brazil), 2nd Tipi Jabrik, 3rd Lee Wilson, 4th Kane Faint (Australia).
Bruno Santos looked like the man to beat in this year's Rip Curl
Cup after completely dominating Heat 3. He scored the deepest tubes of
the morning heats, earning a 9.5 and a 8.25. His total heat score of
17.75 comboed the field and was the highest of the opening round. "The
barrels didn't stop the whole heat. They just kept coming," Santos said
afterwards. "The waves are even better than last year for the WCT. Last
year I got knocked out in the first round, so I'm really happy I get to
keep surfing empty Padang."
Heat 4: 1st Made “Bol” Adi Putra, 2nd Dean Brady (Australia), 3rd Wayan Suyadnya, 4th Marlon Gerber (Switzerland).
Kuta's "Bol" Adi Putra showed why he is the only two-time champion
at the Rip Curl Padang Cup. With less than five minutes remaining, Bol
was sitting in third place and needing a good second wave score to bump
him into the top two. In the dying minutes he stroked into the best
barrel of the heat, got spit out on the shoulder, and then pulled a
huge roundhouse cutty before weaving through the inside bowl. The crowd
on the beach erupted and Bol took first place, just ahead of Dean
Brady. Might we see a three-peat from Bol?
Heat 5: 1st Ketut "Mega" Yoga Semadhi, 2nd Laurie Towner (Australia), 3rd Pablo Gutierrez (Spain), 4th Made Lana.
19-year-old Padang local Mega pretty much grew up inside the tube at Padang, and it showed in Heat 5. Mega looked completely at ease as he pulled into multiple stand-up barrels en route to a first place finish. Laurie Towner, meanwhile, put on a backside tuberiding clinic. The Australian charger rode about as deep on the foamball as possible and took second place.
Heat 6: 1st Danny Fuller (Hawaii), 2nd Mustofa Jekson, 3rd Koa Smith (Hawaii), 4th Made Switra.
Danny Fuller overcame a broken board midway through the heat and scored a pair of 8-point rides to take the win. Java's Mustofa Jekson came in second.
Heat 7: 1st Luke Egan (Australia), 2nd Ryan Turner (California), 3rd Pepen Hendrik, 4th Rahtu Suargita.
WCT veteran Luke Egan showed the kids he can still get shacked with the best of them. Egan held the lead throughout the entire heat and earned first place with an 8 and a 6.2. "I've been coming here since I was 11, and I'm 40 now," Egan said after his heat. "The last few years I haven't surfed here as much because it's so crowded now. I think it's great they have an event like this for all the local Balinese guys who surf this wave so well but never get to surf it uncrowded anymore."
Heat 8: 1st Jamie O’Brien (Hawaii), 2nd Rizal Tanjung, 3rd Garut Widiarta, 4th Mikala Jones (Hawaii).
*HEAT OF THE MORNING*
Looking at the names under Heat 8 on the heat sheet, everyone figured we were going to see something special. The crowd on the beach wouldn't be disappointed. Jamie O'Brien put on arguably one of the most spectacular displays of backside tuberiding ever seen in a 30-minute heat. His opening ride likely would have earned him a perfect 10, but he got clipped at the very end section and didn't make it out. Not to be denied, O'Brien redeemed himself with a no-hands backside takeoff and then stood tall in a heaving Padang pit all the way through to the inside. The judges rewarded him with the only perfect 10 of the day so far. O'Brien would go on to win the heat, but he wasn't done wowing the crowd. After the buzzer sounded the end of the heat, a nice set rolled through and Rizal went for it. Jamie decided to go for it as well even though he was way too deep. Rizal got a deep pit on his frontside all the way across the reef, but all eyes were focused on Jamie, who was even deeper in the barrel pumping on his backside. They would both get spat out on the shoulder, to the disbelief of everyone on hand. It didn't count, but who cares? "I saw Rizal go after the horn, so I decided to burn him from behind," Jamie said. "That was one of the best barrels of my life. That was one of the best heats of my life."
Heat 1: 1st Mustofa Jekson, 2nd Jason Frederico, 3rd Raditya Rhondi, 4th Dean Brady
Mustofa Jekson ran away with the heat, while Jason Frederico kept his Cinderella story alive.
Heat 2: 1st Made “Bol” Adi Putra, 2nd Rizal Tanjung, 3rd Made Lapur, 4th Bruno Santos
Bol opened with a 9.7 and never really looked back. Rizal scored a 9 of his own and moved on with a second place finish,
Heat 3: 1st Ryan Turner, 2nd Laurie Towner, 3rd Danny Fuller, 4th Mega Semadhi
Most people don't know about Ryan Turner outside of Bali. Those who have seen him surf in Indo know he can get some of the longest backside barrels of anyone, as he did in Heat 3. Danny Fuller broke his second board of the event and never recovered. Laurie took advantage and advanced in second place.
Heat 4: 1st Jamie O'Brien, 2nd Ry Craike, 3rd Luke Egan, 4th Tipi Jabrik
*BEST HEAT OF ROUND 2*
Jamie O'Brien scored two perfect 10s for a perfect total heat score. As if that wasn't enough, his backup wave before his second 10 was a 9-something. Now that he's already surfed a perfect heat what else can we expect? There's still three more rounds if he makes it to the final!
(Only heat winner advances)
Quarterfinal 1: 1st Laurie Towner, 2nd Mustofa Jekson
Laurie Towner takes down Mustofa Jekson in the first man-vs.-man heat of the comp, leaving Bol and Rizal as the only Indonesian surfers left in the draw.
Quarterfinal 2: 1st Made “Bol” Adi Putra, 2nd Ry Craike
Bol scores his first perfect 10 of the event. His injured knee appears to be holding up well, even through the more drawn out turns. "How's this contest?" Bol said after the heat. "Insane!"
Quarterfinal 3: 1st Ryan Turner, 2nd Jason Frederico
Ryan Turner is a magician in the barrel. His backside, foot-dragging stalls in the barrel are too much for J Fed to overcome. J Fed won his first two heats after being boosted into the main event from the alternates list, more than proving his right to be in the comp.
Quarterfinal 4: 1st Jamie O'Brien, 2nd Rizal Tanjung
After scoring two perfect 10s in Round 2, O'Brien had to follow his own tough act. This time around he only scored a 9.5 and 9.65 in knocking out Rizal, arguably the greatest Padang surfer of all time. Jeez Jamie, you're losing a step. His backup wave was a 9.25 and he even went for a rodeo flip at the end of one ride. Luckily he didn't land it, otherwise we might have to take him in for questioning to see if he is actually an alien from another planet.
