12 December 2011 – Cherating, Malaysia: In an exciting finale to the Billabong Cherating Pro 2011, Indonesia’s Raditya Rondi dominated both the relentlessly pounding South China Sea waves and his fellow finalists to take the Men’s Open Division victory yesterday at Cherating Point in East Malaysia. With this being the final event of the inaugural 2011 Asian Surfing Championship Tour season, Rondi also claims the title of first Asian Surfing Champion, a historic milestone in Asian surfing.

It was a battle not only against his competitors but also against the elements, as the further increase in swell from the previous day had the waves in the 3-4 foot range with a raging rip current making paddling against it all but impossible. After catching a wave, the surfers would usually get washed half a kilometer or more in a matter of minutes, and have to paddle in to the beach and then run back up to the point to jump in again. It was a test of strength and endurance as well as surfing ability, and after the final Rondi said jokingly, “Maybe that gave me an edge. I was the youngest guy in the finals, and maybe the most fit, so I still had some reserve power that maybe they didn’t, which got me in position to get the best waves.”

Always modest, Rondi played down the fact that he absolutely ripped apart his very first wave to post the highest single wave score of the day, 7 points out of a possible 10, which had the crowd on the beach cheering wildly. He went on to add another good score halfway through the final to clinch his hold on first place and leave the runner up spot to Teiki Balian from France, third place to Tipi Jabrik from Indonesia, and fourth place to Kuo Heng Liang of Taiwan.

Rondi was clearly ecstatic about not only his win but becoming the first ASC Champion, saying “This is a really a great moment for me, to be the first ever Asian Surfing Champion, and I’ll remember it forever. Back home in Indonesia, it was Pepen Hendrik that was the first Indonesian Surfing Champion back in 2004, and now its 2011 and I’m the first ASC Champion. I’m so stoked right now, and feel so honored.” When asked about his experience this year surfing on the ASC Tour he replied, “I’ve had so much fun, traveling to different parts of Asia, making new friends, seeing new places, and surfing fun waves. I really think it’s a great idea and really important to surfing. It gets us out of our usual places and helps us improve our surfing. I’m looking forward to next year already!”

In the Women’s Division final, it was 4-time Indonesian Women’s Surfing Champion Yasnyiar “Bonne” Gea who took the win in the final minutes over 13 year old Annissa Flynn from Thailand, who seemed to have the victory in hand until Gea scored big points for her now patented layback maneuver, her second of the final, which turned the win over to Gea. Gea also claimed her spot in history today, becoming Asia’s first Women’s Champion. “I’m so happy to both win today and to be the Asian Women’s Champion,” she said. “I hope I can be a good example for other women to follow, so we can get more girls out surfing together.”

In the Master’s Division it was Aril Zainal whose local knowledge got him the best waves and the top scores, as he seemed to know just where each section was and how to hit it for maximum points. He was clearly worn out from the effort of surfing three heats, but stoked on his victory, saying with a laugh, “I’m so tired I can barely carry my board back, and I’m so glad its over. There is no way I could go out for another heat after this!”

The Billabong Cherating Pro 2011 was a very successful event, drawing almost 70 men and women contestants from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, the Maldives, Taiwan, France, Denmark, Australia, and Switzerland to compete for cash, products, prestige, and fun in this 3 star Asian Surfing Championship sanctioned event, the 8th and last stop on the 2011 ASC tour.

Finalists in the Men’s and Women’s Divisions received cash, a Nixon watch, and Von Zipper sunglasses, and the Master’s finalists received product vouchers and the winner receiving a Nixon watch.

Billabong Asia’s Brand Manager Peter Thew was on hand to join in the fun over the weekend, and had this to say after the awards presentation: “It’s always good times for us here at Cherating, and it was exciting to come back again this year. This is a great grassroots event and with the ASC coming in this year there are a bunch of new countries seeing Malaysia surf for the first time. Hopefully we can continue to grow this event but still keep it true to its grassroots core, helping to nurture and build the Malaysian surfing community. Looking forward to coming back next year to do it again!”

The Billabong Cherating Pro 2011 was sponsored by Tourism Pahang, Satu Suku Surf, Billabong Asia, Nixon, and Von Zipper with media support from Surfersvillage.com, Lines Magazine, Thai Surfrider Magazine, SurfTime Magazine, Baliwaves.com and RVM, and sanctioned by the Asian Surfing Championship Tour.

Billabong Cherating Pro 2011 Contest Results:

Men’s Open Division
1. Raditya Rondi – Indonesia
2. Teiki Balian – France
3. Tipi Jabrik – Indonesia
4. Kuo Heng Liang – Taiwan

Women’s Open Division
1. Yasnyiar “Bonne” Gea – Indonesia
2. Annissa Flynn – Thailand
3. Hung Che Chun – Taiwan
4. Brenda Lee – Malaysia

Master’s Division
1. Aril Zainal – Malaysia
2. Sean Gilhooley – Australia
3. Hazmin Harun – Malaysia
4. Hirano Takayuki – Japan

Special Awards:

Encouragement Awards: Juliette Allan (France) and Samuel Chris (France) – Billabong Gift Vouchers

Best Beach Marshal – Landy Ismail (Malaysia) – Billabong Gift Voucher

Local Surfers Potential: Shahir and Ijak (Malaysia) – New Surfboards

Media Contacts:

Billabong Asia
Jamie Chow
Online Marketing Executive
Mobile: +6597971477
Email: Jamie.chow@billabong.com.sg

Satu Suku Surf
Fairus Ahmad
Mobile: +6017341732
Email: fairus@satusuku.com

Asian Surfing Championships
Tim Hain
Media Director
Office: +62361768293
Mobile: +628123606674
Email: tim@isctour.com

About Billabong

Billabong was founded on the Gold Coast of Australia in 1973, and created for the simple purpose of providing ‘Surfers’ with the most functional and high quality board shorts available

Surfing and Billabong have been at the foundation of the ‘global boardsport movement’ that today provides a dynamic platform of self-expression for the ever creative, and rebellious youth culture.

Billabong’s focus and values remain firmly committed to the ongoing development of Quality Product, and the board sport channels of Surfing, Skateboarding, Wakeboarding, Snowboarding and those who participate and inspire. www.Billabong.com.

About the Asian Surfing Championships

The goal of the Asian Surfing Championships is to grow the sport of surfing in South East Asia from the grassroots level by assisting each country in creating organized and sanctioned events that will develop the skills of their surfers in healthy competition as well as to draw attention to their area for the progression of surfing locally, nationally, and throughout the SEA area.

Organized surfing competitions have historically been the best medium for the development of surfers and for the sport of surfing. Learning how to compete fairly and to being disciplined in training and competition key assets needed not only for surfing but also for life.

The ASC will work with the local, national and multinational event sponsors and organizers to maximize the results of these competitive surfing events towards accomplishing the goals of sharing the sport of surfing and bringing positive economic, social, and environmental benefits to the people in these South East Asian countries.

With a multi-stop and multi-national surfing tour, Asian Surfing Champions will be crowned each year in multiple divisions each year including Open Men, Women, Longboard, Junior, and Master. For more see www.asiansurfingtour.com

Photos and Text – Tim Hain

Billabong Cherating Pro 2011 Video