Macaronis lived up to the hype on Thursday, as the most fun lefthander in the world delivered a veritable highlight reel of surfing action on the opening day of the 2012 Rip Curl Pro Mentawai 6-star Coca-Cola ISC/ASC sanctioned professional surf competition in the wave playground of the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia. Men’s Rounds 1 and 2 and Women’s Round 1 were completed on Thursday.
No slides are available.
Asia’s top surfers put on a highlight reel of surfing at pumping Macaronis on Day 1 of the Rip Curl Pro Mentawai.
Italian expat Mattia Morri from Bali put up the day’s highest combined heat score of 16.50 points (out of a possible 20, setting the bar high and getting tagged as one of the favorites to take out the event with his impressive performance. When asked his thoughts about the wave of Macaronis so far Morri replied, “This is the reason we surf, to be able come to waves like this. It’s just so good, it’s like a dream wave for sure.”
And about his performance today, Morri said: “I don’t think I would have surfed any different if free surfing or in a comp. I really didn’t think about scoring points or playing it safe or any of that. It was just about looking at the wave ahead of me and taking what it offered up. The variety of things you can do on this wave is just incredible. I’m so stoked to be here.”
The competition got started today at 7:45 am, and the horn blew the close of Day 1 at 5:45 pm, with Rounds 1 and 2 of the Men’s Open Division and Round 1 of the Women’s Division completed.
In Heat 2 of the first Round it was 13-year-old Andre Anwar and his 18-year-old cousin Oney Anwar, both from Lakey Peak, Sumbawa, competing in their first ever heat together. Young Andre put up an impressive 14.5 points out of 20 and posted a huge 7.75 highest-single wave score. Though he ended the heat in second place behind is his older cousin, Andre clearly sent out the message that he is a force to be reckoned with. Andre is hot off a Rip Curl GromSearch win at his hometown of Lakey Peak, and Oney was laughing when asked how he felt about his little cousin getting a higher wave score than he did in the heat.
“I really had to work at beating the cheeky little bugger,” Oney said. “I got a couple of good scores but then he posted that 7.75, so I even had to block him a bit to make sure I won the heat. He’s surfing really good, and I’m proud of him because I know he’s got a great future ahead of him.”
West Java’s Dede Suryana was on fire in his Round 2 heat, putting on an impressive backside attack, posting a 7 and 8 point score for a combined 15 points. “I had a really fun heat out there,” Suryana said. “This wave is so rippable in every condition, high tide or low tide, onshore or offshore, it’s just impossible not to blast away.”
Wayan “Gobleg” Suyadnya roared to a late afternoon standout performance, posting the highest single-wave score of the day, slotting into the barrel twice to post an almost perfect 9 points out of a possible 10. Gobleg hails from Uluwatu, the legendary lefthander of Bali, so he is no stranger to surfing great waves. The Rip Curl Pro Mentawai is his first time surfing at Macaronis and Gobleg had nothing but complements for the wave.
“This is the first time I’ve been here to the Mentawais, and I can’t believe how great this waves is,” Gobleg said. “It’s really different from Uluwatu, as the reef here bends around more so you can really blast your turns, and make lots of them, whereas Ulus is a bit more straight. I’m so stoked to be here and to compete, and to get my highest score ever in a comp, a 9 point wave!”
Tomorrow will see the top seeded pros on the Coca-Cola ISC and the ASC tours taking to the water to meet today’s challengers in Round 3, so expect the highlight reel action to just keep getting better!
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