Yo Yo’s perfection. All PIcs: Tim Hain / Coca Cola / ISC
West Sumbawa:
In a riveting 30 minute duel in epic conditions on the final day of the O’Neill Freak of the Reef Challenge at “Yoyos” West Sumbawa, Bali’s Raditya Rondi showed his skill & aggression in the solid 6 foot plus waves and posted a string of impressive scores to beat fellow Bali ripper Pepen Hendrik, adding a second West Sumbawa trophy sword to his trophy collection and receiving a winners check for Rp 15 million proving he was indeed the “Freak of the Reef.”
This win is especially sweet for the talented goofy footer as he dominated the field of top seeded Indonesian surfers and one of Australia’s top pro juniors (Josh Hay) on his backside to win.
“I’m so happy right now…don’t know how to say it, just so happy, said Raditya immediately after the final. “The conditions were really hard in the final, with strong wind and big waves. I was so lucky to beat Pepen in the final, so I’m stoked.” He then added, “It was a great event and I think I’m lucky to win. I was stoked to beat Josh in the semifinals, as he is one of top juniors in Australia, and that I won over Putra in the quarters, then to beat Pepen also, it was pretty good eh? I want to say thanks to all the boys, to the judges, to the ISC crew and the government for making this such a great event, and I hope we can come back and do it again next year!”
Runner up Pepen Hendrik was all smiles after accepting his West Sumbawa “Perang” sword and second place winner’s cheque saying, “I’m used to getting second place so I’m ok with my result. It was a lot of work out there after surfing two other heats this morning, with strong current and wind, but the waves were great and anytime I can get into a final I’m happy.”
Coca-Cola ISC President Tipi Jabrik was watching the action from the judging tower on the final day, “I really liked what I saw out there today with Raditya’s performance. He was definitely the in-form surfer of the day. He was very committed on each maneuver and seemed to be only looking for the biggest waves to attack. I think some of the guys underestimated him because he has such a good small wave repertoire, plus he was on his backhand here at
The Women’s Division took place on day two of the waiting period & it was Michaela Partin (USA) who added another winner’s cheque to her collection with her second win of the year, having won her first comp in Indonesia at an ISC/ASC event in the Mentawaii Islands in May. Coming in second was Salini Rangganis from Java, and Alia Murizi from Kalimantan.
Tai Graham from O’Neill Indonesia was nothing but stoked after the conclusion of the event, saying “I couldn’t be happier with the outcome of our first event here in Indonesia. We challenged the boys to come here to West Sumbawa and put it all on the line. In some pretty heavy conditions on finals day Raditya proved he was truly the Freak of the Reef by charging the biggest waves and going for risky and highest scoring maneuvers. We’re stoked, and want to thank the ISC for all their help, the Government of West Sumbawa and PT Newmont for their sponsorship and support, and for the gracious hospitality of Nichole, Cahyo and all the crew here at Ubantu. We’re really looking forward to doing this again next year, but even bigger and better!”
The Six Star O’Neill “Freak of the Reef” Challenge was sanctioned by the Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championships and took place in the scenic area around the PT Newmont mining site in West Sumbawa over a 4-day period from June 28 to July 1st. The competition was run primarily at the backup location of “Yoyo’s” in the Sekongkang area, as the primary site of “Scar Reef” only produced a few hours of its world-renowned waves.
O’Neill Freak Of The Reef Challenge from Jacob Wooden on Vimeo.
