We often forget: Bali has been pumping too!
Here at The Perfect Wave we are often guilty of overlooking Bali. Probably because we book so many exotic boat trips and resort stays all over the Indian Ocean we are sometimes guilty of forgetting about one of the mainstays.
Bali has been pumping recently!
Regular Indo traveller and friend of The Perfect Wave, Paul “Chook” Holbrook, emailed us last weekend with a simple header – “Bali’s been shit, bro.” That’s Chook speak for “Wish you were here, you kook”. Chook scored a fortnight of waves, that culminated in Padang pumping.
We often forget. Bali has been pumping too!
On Tuesday, August 6th 2013: The Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang event almost got the green light to run as the mythical lefthander began to pulse with 4– 6ft barrels from a powerful new Indian Ocean swell.
For the second time in the event’s six-week waiting period (July 1st – August 15th) the invitational went on “High Alert” for a possible start but both surfers and organizers opted to stage the expression session instead.
Conditions were not quite perfect enough to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the legendary tube-riding event – which is now predicted to run in pumping Padang waves this weekend.
Former two-time world champion Tom Carroll is amongst the 32 invitee’s and proved at 51 he can still slot into a Padang Padang barrel.
Laurie Towner slotted into one of day’s best pits on the dropping afternoon tide. The twenty-six year-old admitted to being torn between staying in Bali with perfect waves predicted or heading over to Tahiti for the Teahupoo Trials.
Defending event champion Chris Ward won the 2012 Rip Curl Pro Padang Padang Cup with a perfect ten point ride last year over an international field of tube-riding specialists including Jamie O’Brien, defending champion Lee Wilson, local legend Rizal Tanjung, Ozzie Wright, and the event’s first-ever female competitor, Bethany Hamilton.
Thirty-four year-old Ward has returned to Padang Padang with fiancée Michele and their four-month old son C.J and was in sensational form in today’s expression session. An inspired Ward, who proposed on stage to Michele after his victory last year, showcased his backside ability today and said he was looking forward to the predicted swell.
2012 runner-up Rizal Tunjung was just one of the many Indonesian standouts in the expression session with local surfers turning on an amazing display of tube-riding prowess at Padang Padang. Bali surfing legend Tunjung predicted the event would commence on the weekend.
The Padang barrel didn’t phase legendary Californian Christian Fletcher who wound his way through some of the day’s best tubes without so much as getting a hair out of place. The 42 year-old said he preferred the more dangerous low tide conditions.
With nine days remaining in the event waiting period, the attention of the surfing world now turns to this weekend’s upcoming swell, which looks to be bigger and more powerful than Tuesday’s expression session swell.
Stay tuned to live.ripcurl.com or the Rip Curl Live Events App for iPhone for the latest contest call and to watch live global webcast when the contest is given the green light.
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