Kuta, Bali — With his win today at Kuta Reef, Ketut “Mega” Yoga
Semadhi became the first Balinese surfer to climb atop the podium in a
Billabong Pro Junior Series competition, taking on a strong field of
international Pro Juniors and coming back to the beach with a hard
fought victory.
After exchanging the lead several times in the hotly contested final,
an on-fire “Mega” Semadhi charged into the lead with three minutes to
go, nabbing the highest single wave point score of the competition, a
9.7, to wrestle the lead away from a stunned Caleb Boquist.
Boquist needed just minutes before he ripped into a glassy 3 footer and
netted a 9.5, leaving Semahdi requiring a 9.2 to take the lead and
seemingly having the win well in hand, but on the paddle back out to
the lineup he watched Mega take off on small but nicely formed wave. A
mixed bag of snaps, floaters, rail grab cutbacks, and punting a small
air in the critical inside section kept the judges busy, and when the
MC announced the score the spectators and crew on the boats cheered
wildly.
“I didn’t know how good of a wave it was going to be, but I knew I had
to go for it and make the most of it. I just didn’t want to
fall and so I had to focus on completing every move. I’m so
lucky it was a good wave so I could do my best,” said Mega later back
on the beach grinning widely.
Ketut “Mega”
Semadhi celebrates his emphatic win as the first ever Balinese to claim
a Billabong Pro Junior Series title. Photo:Tim Hain/Billabong
The winners presentation was held at the Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel
where Mega couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as his friends and fans
went berserk. “I want to thank Billabong for bringing this
series here and for all the sponsors that support it. I’m so
happy to win today for my country and my island, its
unbelievable. Thanks everybody, now lets have a drink!” Then
the champagne bottles erupted and he generously doused his fellow
competitor and runner up Caleb with the contests. Later, when
he got down from the podium, he was asked what he would do with his
$2000USD prize money. He answered, “I’ll be making a couple
extra car payments I think!”
Unlike the previous Billabong Pro Junior event at Keramas in which no
Indonesian surfer had advanced past Round Four, the Kuta Reef event
quarterfinals included Mustofa Jekson, Ketut “Mega” Sumadhi, and Agus
Purnawan. Earlier action in Quarterfinal One saw Mustofa Jekson looking
set to continue his run for the podium by getting on the scoreboard
first over Josh Baxter, but a tactical priority error by Jekson with 30
seconds to go let Baxter back in and so ended the run. Back
at the boat Baxter said, “I got a bit lucky there in the end. There was
a lull for awhile and I was expecting some bigger sets like the ones
coming through while it was raining so I kept waiting, and at the end
one finally came my way.”
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Ketut “Mega” Semadhi boosts on his way to the first ever Balinese win at the
Billabong Pro Junior Series Event at Kuta Reef. Photo: Tim Hain/Billabong
Quarterfinal Three between Sam Wrench (NSW) and Ketut “Mega” Semadhi
was one of the most closely contested of the event. After getting out
in front with a couple of small scores, Mega gave up the lead to Wrench
who blasted off on one of the better set waves to nail a 6 and then win
the paddle battle for priority. He then proceeded to rip off
some big turns and finish with a 360 hop on the inside for a
7.83. But Mega wasn’t fazed and in the final minutes posted a
9.0 that included boosting a couple of airs, digging out some deep
gouging cutbacks, and going off on the lip to win the heat.
Nick Vasicek took his time dispatching Agus Purnawan in Quarterfinal
Four. Vasicek was behind in the early going as Purnawan was chasing the
few smaller ones coming in and getting points up, but just after the
halfway point Nick nabbed one for a 6.5 that got him out in front, and
with the ocean going flat for the last 5 minutes, had Purnawan on the
ropes when the horn blew.
In a David and Goliath battle, the small and wiry Ketut “Mega” Semadhi
took on the much larger Nick Vasicek in tightly contested Semifinal
Two. But the waves and the wind were in favor of the young Balinese
surfer, and though Vasicek’s surfing was nothing short of solid, the
smaller waves favored Mega’s quick and nimble style and mixed back of
tricks. There were several lead changes during the 30 minutes
of competition, each surfer upping the ante in hopes of getting
through. In the final minutes Mega retook the lead by working
a couple of big turns and a floater into a 7.2 that got him into the
final.
About The Billabong Pro Junior Series:
The Billabong Pro Junior Series is sanctioned by the Coca-Cola
Indonesian Surfing Championships as part of the Pro Junior Championship
Division. The series is the most lucrative on the Indonesian calendar,
attracting surfers from Australia, Indonesia, USA, Hawaii, Malaysia,
New Zealand, South Africa, and Europe.
In line with the ISC’s goal of seeing talented young Indonesian surfers
on the WQS and eventually on the WCT, Billabong is delighted to be an
integral part of attaining this goal, as the Billabong Pro Junior
Series is widely recognized as the premiere career booster for surfers
aged 20 and under with world renown surfers such as Andy Irons and Joel
Parkinson having launched their careers with wins at the Billabong ASP
World Junior Championships.
2008 Billabong Junior Series
June
18-22:
Billabong Pro Junior Series Keramas
July
9-13:
Billabong Pro Junior Series Kuta Reef
August
13-17:
Billabong Pro Junior Series Canggu
August
13-17:
Billabong Occy’s Grom Comp Canggu
2008 Billabong Pro Junior Series Indonesia
Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Pro Junior Series
$16,000USD over 3 Events
