Surfing in Bali: June 13th 2007
Bali is heading into the high season for surfing and one can tell the weather conditions are changing. Sure we live on a tropical island, but at this time of year the humidity drops off, mornings and evenings are cool and in late afternoon one gets a strange dejavu that Fall (autumn) is arriving.
According to Bali’s oldest surf site BaliWaves, a new swell is heading our way, which will please all the blokes who have made the trip over. As BaliWaves reports the Outer Reefs has small waves this mornings, but the signs are good that better stuff is coming along. As is normal for the dry season, water temperatures drop to around 21C. Magic Seaweed isn’t as optimistic in its swell forecast, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Tim Hain from Indonesian Surfing Championships tells us the latest about the Quiksilver King of the Groms contest at Canggu recently.
One Anwar takes the crown at the Quiksilver King of the Groms Indonesian Final and the ticket to France to compete against the world’s best.
One Anwar is Indonesian junior surfing’s new King after taking victory over his brother Gazali Hamzah in the Indonesian Finals of Quiksilver’s King of the Groms held at Canggu, Bali.
Hailing from Lakey Peak on the island of Sumbawa, the brothers battled for the lead throughout a hard fought final which saw One Anwar narrowly take victory by a mere 0.23 points over his brother Gazali in conditions resembling the tricky beach breaks of Southern France, the location for Quiksilver’s King of the Groms World Final.
“The waves kept coming in and I just got lucky to get the good ones, and got some good points,” said One afterwards. “I really felt sad for my brother out there because I saw he wasn’t getting the good waves like I was. I wish there was a way for both of us to win, but I know that’s not possible. I just did my best, and I’m so happy to be going to France!”
Gazali was clearly disappointed after the narrow loss which saw him take the lead half way through the final before One snatched it back with the highest scoring wave of the heat a 6.17. Gazali made a valiant last ditch effort right before the hooter but was unlucky with the wave shutting down on him, stopping any kind of scoring potential.
The Quiksilver King of the Groms World Final in Capbreton, France will be the culmination of a worldwide tour spanning five continents, by the end of which 16 young surfers will have qualified for the final in south-west France.
Today, the title of Quiksilver’s King of the Groms is the most sought after by young surfers aspiring to a professional career due to the amazing opportunities made available to the winner, invaluable to their career development.
With a competition format, judging criteria and rules identical to those of senior events like the WCT, the King of the Groms will offer the 48 finalists a tournament worthy of the top professionals.
Being Crowned the World King of the Groms champion means the winner will be awarded the greatest prize an apprentice pro-surfer can dream of: a wildcard enabling him to compete in the trials for two events on the Men’s World Championship Tour: the Quiksilver Pro France 2006 and the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast 2007 (Australia).
Anwar has had experience competing at an international level as he represented Indonesia in Australia last April at the GromSearch final, giving him valuable experience heading into the World King of The Groms final.
Spectators were also treated to a half hour expression session on the day by the Quiksilver surf team including “Young Guns” Julian Wilson (Australia) and Garret Parkes (Australia), along with surfing legend Matt Hoy and local team riders Wayan “Betet” Merta, Mustofa Jeksen, and Devis Ratif. The Young Guns team are in Bali filming for the upcoming release of Young Guns 3.