18 April 2010, Cimaja-West Java: In a day that dawned showing off consistent 3-4 foot glassy waves peeling down the cobblestone right hand point break in bright sunshine, to the finals that afternoon in windy and broken up conditions with 4-5 foot closing-out set waves rolling through, the Java groms showed a tremendous amount of guts paddling out and tackling the often trying conditions on offer on Sunday at the Rip Curl GromSearch in Cimaja, West Java. All for the prestige of a podium finish and the coveted “Ticket to Bali”. 
The first and second place winners of the 16 and Under Division each received a “Ticket to Bali”, an all expense paid trip to compete in the GromSearch Grand Finals in October. The winner of the Grand Final will be representing Indonesia at the famous Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach contest in Australia next year. The battleground for the ticket to Australia will be set in the middle of the Rip Curl Surf and Music Festival 2010 from October 23-24. After a great start to the 2010 GromSearch season with perfect waves in Lakey Peak Sumbawa, the GromSearch crew flew up to Java to the home of 2008 Coca-Cola Indonesian Pro Surfing Champion Dede Suryana and last year’s GromSearch Cimaja Under 16 Division winner Sandi Selamat to look for the next potential surfing champion of Indonesia. Cimaja is just a few hours drive from the capital city of Jakarta.
Although there were no girl grommets participating in this event,
the 50+ boy grommets from the West Java area were fired up and ready to surf, stoked that there were great waves on offer. The previous morning had seen a rare 2-3 foot set with long waits in between, while on Sunday morning the waves were really pumping! Due to the size of the waves, the Under 16 groms took to the water first at 7:30 am, ripping into each wave with delight and passion. Rock Roy, Atris and Andre Julian (Sandi Selamat’s younger brother) were clear standouts, making it clear they were headed for the podium together but it was just a matter of who would end up in the top spot. All three boys live just a stones throw away from the beach.
By the time the semifinals were completed the tide was going out and the wind was coming up, together with the occasional rain shower passing. But the show had to go on, so the Under 14’s bravely paddled out to do battle with the elements.
A few of the smaller groms spent a lot of time paddling and duck-diving some big walls of whitewater, but everybody managed to catch a few waves and score some points. The bigger kids like Deden, Yahya, Muldi and Asep were up to the task, aggressively attacking each wave to maximize their point totals and ending up in the final together.
After the semifinals were all completed, some of the older surfers got their chance to win something in a 20 minute Expression Session, nabbing great gear from Skull Candy for the Best Wave and Best Trick. The Best Trick award went to Riswandi (Macan) and the Best Wave award went to Dwi Nuka.
Finally it was time for the showdown and the Under 16 Final got underway. Atris on his forehand was going big on the difficult and often closing out waves, pulling off a big floater and managing to find some open face to carve, seeming to have a lock on the final. But Andre Julian on his backhand soon found his rhythm and starting racking points of his own, soon finding the wave of the heat which he ripped apart and finished with a 360 on the dangerous and rocky inside section to win the final.
“I’m so happy to win here today, so I can go to Bali for the final. My brother won last year so it’s great that I won this year. My goal is to win that ticket to Australia,” said Andre. When asked whom he would like to be matched up with in the Grand Final, he said without hesitation “Jeren Kiring. Because he is a goofyfooter also, and it would be a good test for me!”
The Under 14 Final was a paddle battle for the groms, with Muldi and Asep stuck inside for a lot of the final but bravely paddling on and even coming into the beach to paddle out from further up the point. Deden was on fire, dodging the big sets and picking off the better shaped waves on the middle and inside sections, gouging big bottom turns and floating over the closing sections to clearly take out the final over Yahya. From the podium when handed the microphone, Deden said “This win means a lot to me, and I want to keep winning so I can get a sponsor. That’s my goal now.” Yahya had a great goal also, saying “I want to get a sponsor so I can go traveling and surf other places.”
A very stoked 13-year-old Dennis Nasution was the excited recipient of a surfboard from Coca-Cola. At each junior event this year, the surfer who shows the most potential receives a custom made surfboard that will allow him to further improve his surfing ability. Dennis is from Cimaja and started surfing 7 years, and his aggressive backhand attack earned him the nickname of “Dennis Martinez” from Rip Curl Team Rider and MC Dedi Gun. Bobby Martinez is a famous pro surfer from California.
In addition to the full day of surfing, the spectators and non-surfing groms also had a chance to win some of the many prizes that are up for grabs at every Rip Curl GromSearch event, with quizzes, trash collecting, and even a paddle race in the river, so everybody could come home with some goodies.
The Rip Curl GromSearch 2010 is sanctioned by the Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour, and is sponsored/supported by Light Surfboards, Eat-Sleep-Surf, Skullcandy, SurfTime Magazine, Lines Magazine, Magic Wave Surf Community Newspaper, and GUS.
Also a big thanks to the Cimaja locals, Mr. Mumu and his crew as well as Evan and Nurda Anderson, for all their help in making this Cimaja event a big success.
The Rip Curl GromSearch Series 2010 is sanctioned by the Coca-Cola ISCTour, so all contestants will receive ISC Junior Division points at each event. The Under 16 surfer with the most points at the end of the year will become the Indonesian Junior Champion of 2010.
Under 16
1. Andre Julian
2. Atris Jachim
3. Ryan Hidayat
4. Rock Roy Anderson
Under 14
1. Deden Sutendi
2. Yahya Zakaria
3. Muldi Aditya Rangga
4. Asep Ipung Abep
Expression Session
Best Wave: Dwi Nuka
Best Trick: Ruslandi
Coca-Cola Surfboard Award
Dennis Nasution
The next Rip Curl GromSearch Event will be held in Bali at Medewi Beach on September 26, 2010. See you there!
Cheers
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