Rip Curl Gromsearch # 2 goes off in West Java! + Video – Indonesia

20MAR – Batu Karas, West Java
The second series of the GromSearch turned on the heat at Batu Karas, West Java last weekend. Grommets were flying through the air, making 360s and blew the crowd’s mind away in the hottest battle of the year when Ketut Agus, title defender from the last series at Lombok lost his number one spot to Raju Sena.

Arriving at the beach at Batu Karas Rip Curl’s crew decided to run the 16, 14 and girls division at Pantai Bulak Benda due to better swell forecast. With the Rip Curl Grommet riders ripping these waves the days before the contest Rip Curl’s Team Manager Dylan Amar was confident this decision would give the Grommets the ultimate opportunity to show what they’ve got. And he was right. With 2 to 3 feet consistent righters on a point break the kids got to ride long and powerful waves motivating them to bring it on!

Starting off with the under 14 division who lurked the crowd to the edge of their seats as Tenshi Ishii, Rip Curl’s own Grommet managed to stay in the lead up until the very last 3 minutes where a huge set kicked in giving Bronson Maidy a chance to show every trick in his booklet in one single ride, almost finishing on the beach, and earning a well deserved 8.0 that put him on the 1^st place. And not only Maidy got lucky, Varun Tanjung sneaked in a long last wave with sick maneuvers from start to finish earning him 2^nd place and leaving Ishii sit on 3^rd and Pito Italo on 4^th.

Second to follow where the girls finals where the crowd got stoked on Ellie Turner’s powerful moves and Giada Legati’s eye pleasing surfing. All the way up to the semi-finals we got to see Taina Izquierdo, Rip Curl’s newest Grommet, on fire hitting one perfect wave after an other, sadly on the finals she appeared to have lost her magic while Ellie Turner seemed to have found it with strategically selecting the waves that carried her to victory and leaving Izquierdo on 3^rd and Giada on 2^nd. The girls division number 4 was the brave local Perta Melia who has only been surfing for one year and dared to take it on with these experienced young women.

Under 16 was odd to be a good run as a rematch on Lombok where Ketut Agus merciless defeated Raju Sena. However, it seemed that Raju had stolen Agus’ flair as he started his first wave with a long ride giving him the opportunity to not only fly through the air on the first section of the wave but mix all his maneuvers and hitting the 9.0. Staying strong through the 20 min heat finishing his last wave with an undestroyable 9.5, and exiting the water minutes before the horn blew, watching Agus struggle to keep his 2^nd place in the heat. With these two guys on 1^st and 2^nd place Ivan Prihandoyo from Red Island, Banyuwangi, East Java showed expressive surfing power through the whole heat earning him 3^rd place and leaving the local Batu Karas kid Riky Fauzi with 4^th place. Nevertheless Fauzi stoked up all the local crowds who where all there to cheer on their local hero.

Farid Maulana showed to be a real sportsman though and took his defeat proudly while shaking his competitors’ hands to congratulate them. He also showed great improvement and this had to be rewarded with a gift from Rip Curl’s Grommet Agus who happily handed him a new surfboard after the podium ceremony which was held the second day right after the under 12 division.

As the under 12 division was held a day later the swell had picked up in Batu Karas again giving our favourite division a chance to show their action on sweet 2 ft waves on Sunday morning. After Rip Curl’s fun games for the Grommets and educative beach clean-up Sam Harrent kept the show strong all the way from the first heat to the finals giving him 1^st place against Andi Suryaman who took 2^nd, Parid Maulana who took 3^rd and Adam Wirayuda on 4^th.

The Rip Curl Gromsearch 2^nd session at Batu Karas, West Java was a great success and lived up to its name as they got a step closer to finding 2016’s ultimate Indonesian Grommet. From the under 16 division Ivan Prihandoyo and Riky Fauzi got their ticket to the National Finals as they were the best surfing grommets from the Java region, granted the opportunity to roll into the International Finals ‘somewhere’ on the world.

But first Rip Curl is taking the 3^rd series of the GromSearch to Canggu, Bali where the kids from the island of the Gods get to show everything they have been training for leading up to what odd to be a great competition with our constant returning Grommets and some new faces!

Rip Curl GromSearch 2016 sponsored by:  Asian Surfing Championship (ASC), AGILITY, XPS Link and Zombie Wax
Supported by: GUS and Batu Karas, West Java Board Riders
Media partners: Surf Time, Balibelly and Indosurflife.com

RIP CURL MEDIA