Putu Anggara riding a wave. Putu finished second in the first U-18 heat, one of three Indonesians to advance. (Photo courtesy of ISC Tour/Tim Hain)
Indonesian kids proved that they could really ride the wave.
The first day of the ISA Quiksilver World Junior Surfing Championships in Piha, New Zealand, ended on Wednesday and three of the eight Indonesians advanced directly into Round 3, while the remaining five will surf in Round 2 on Friday in hopes of joining their teammates.
Jeren Kiring and Ediana Putra both put on impressive displays to nab second-place finishes in the Under-16 division, while Putu Anggara also finished second in the Under-18 division.
“It was really hard out there because the waves were all over the place,” Putu Anggara said in an ISA release after his heat. “I was lucky to get a nice right-hander that walled up so I could do a couple of turns.”
“I had no idea about my score because the wind was so strong I could only hear the final horn,” he added.
Jeren had a similar opinion about the day’s surfing.
“I was so happy when I heard I got second, because I didn’t hear anything out in the water. I was pretty busy out there,” he said.
Against a field of the top junior surfers in the world, and entering such a huge international competition for the first time, the Indonesian boys were doing a good job. Especially considering that they also had to battle against initial hurdles of money, visas and logistics just to get to New Zealand.
But several sponsors stepped in to allow the Indonesian team to compete in their first World Junior Championship.
Coach Tipi Jabrik was very pleased with the results.
“Considering that Indonesia has the lowest seeding, since this is our first time competing in this event, we did really good to get three of our boys into second-place finishes,” Tipi said.
The third round is on Saturday, while the finals are on Sunday.
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