Event Reports

Indonesias Sandi Selamet Wins Taitung County 2011 International Surf Challenge Presented by Quiksilver

28 November 2011

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28 November 2011, Taitung County-Taiwan: 18 year old Sandi Selamet from Indonesia won the inaugural Taitung County 2011 International Surf Challenge presented by Quiksilver yesterday at Jinzun Harbor in pumping 4 foot waves, to take his first ever international open win and the winners check for $2,100 USD (63,000 NTD).

Selamet, who is from West Java and was the youngest of the finalists in the Open Shortboard Division, was up against fellow Indonesia’s Mustofa Jeksen and Devis Ratif from Bali and Teiki Balian of France. He went to work early in the 25 minute final, ferreting out some nice medium sized inside waves to jump into an early lead, while the others waited on the outside for the larger set waves.

Runner up Jeksen went for the big maneuvers at each opportunity, wowing the crowd but failing to complete them and coming up short of points, while Ratif was prowling the lineup for waves that would give him a big scoring opportunity but getting himself out of position for the best waves. Balian was a bit unlucky, getting stuck on the inside after only one good scoring wave, and so spent a lot of time fighting the current trying to get back outside, and then falling at the end of his second wave to get only a small score.

In the end it was Selamet’s wave selection and ability to put together great combinations of maneuvers that had him posting the highest scores and taking the win. He is no stranger to surf competitions, being a previous Indonesian Quiksilver King of the Grom’s Champion and top ranked Junior on the Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour (ISC), and having represented Indonesia at the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships in New Zealand.

Selamet was all smiles after receiving his trophy and winners check from Taitung Governor Justin Huang, and when asked how he felt about his win he replied modestly, “I feel so lucky to win this event, and I thank my sponsor Quiksilver for bringing me here to compete. The waves were really good out there and I had a lot of fun at this whole event, and to win is just unbelievable. Thanks to the judges, the organizers here, the ASC, and the locals for sharing their waves and being so good to us!” And how will he be spending his winner’s check? “I’m saving it to pay for my school, and giving some to my parents,” he replied.

In the Open Longboard Division it was Australian Jackson Close who came home with the win, clearly dominating the field and impressing everyone with his amazing longboarding skills. Close mixed classic longboarding moves like hang 5’s and 10’s and cross-stepping with modern long and shortboard maneuvers like floaters, aerials, re-entry’s and roundhouse cutbacks to get the crowd on their feet clapping every time he took off. After his final he couldn’t keep the smile off his face, saying, “I was having almost too much fun out there, the waves were that good! There were some big ones coming in and giving me such a good wall to work with that I could do about anything I wanted. This is my first time here to Taiwan and it has been so great, I’m so happy I came. Thanks to the guys from Surf Taiwan for inviting me up here.”

Close goes home with a nice trophy and a winners check for $1270 USD (38,000 NTD), along with a great first Taiwan experience.

The Junior Division (18 years old and under) final was taken out by Chein Wei Quing, who received a brand new Channel Islands surfboard for his win.

From the podium after the awards had all been presented, Taitung County Mayor Justin Huang gave a closing speech in which he was profuse in his thanks and appreciation to Quiksilver, the ASC, and the local organizers for putting on such a great event, and to all the attendees, saying “Thank you everybody for coming and supporting our event, its because of you that the event has been so wonderful. I want to invite you to come back next year, as I’m hope you’ve discovered something special and how beautiful the Taitung area is, so do come back, as we’ll be waiting.”

Quiksilver Asia Pacific Marketing Director Simon MacGregor was very pleased and encouraged by what he has seen during the event, saying, “ The event has been simply amazing, I don’t think we could have asked for a better result really. Having such good waves and just being able to bring an event of this nature here, and seeing how stoked the people are about surfing, its just great. And having a Quiksilver grommet like Sandi winning his first open international event here, it couldn’t be better could it.”

And in regards to the significance of the event to Asian surfing, MacGregor added, “Development of our key action sports, like surfing in Asia is critical and this starts from the grassroots level by supporting events like this. We could see today there were some very young grommets going out and having a solid dig in some testing conditions for them. They were game and the vibe on the beach with their parents and locals cheering them on was great. Having guys like Ry Craike, Sandi, Mustofa, and Devis here helps to lift the level by giving them some vision of their future…and from what I’ve seen here the future of Taiwan surfing looks very healthy.”

Almost 100 competitors from Taiwan, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, America, Hawaii, and France signed up to compete in this 5-star Asian Surfing Championship event, competing in the Open Shortboard, Open Longboard, and Junior Divisions.

To view video clips from the event, see:

Day 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cBZcgrmKMA

Day 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSzZZldeLvc

See also www.isctour.com/asc

Taitung County 2011 Surf Challenge presented by Quiksilver Contest Results:

Open Shortboard

1. Sandi Selamet (IND)

2. Mustofa Jeksen (IND)

3. Devis Ratif (IND)

4. Teiki Balian (FRA)

Open Longboard

1. Jackson Close (AUS

2. Cheng Chung Hua (TW)

3. Chen Dong Ming (TW)

4. Wu Cha Chi (TW)

Juniors

1. Chien Wei Quing (TW)

2. Chen-Minwang (TW)

3. Rory MacDonald (TW)

4. Jordan Lin (TW)

5. Kaylee Clark (TW)

Best Local Performers

1. Lee Shing Bang (TW)

2. Tan Bau Loh (TW)

3. Yang Hiu Hao (TW)

Expression Session Best Maneuver

Teiki Balian (France)

Media Contacts:

Stephanie Chang

Marketing Manager – Quiksilver Taiwan

P: +886 2 2723 7801 Ext: 212

F: +886 2 2723 9665

M:+886 987712422

Email: stephaniec@quiksilver.com.tw

www.quiksilver.tw

Asian Surfing Championships

Tim Hain

Media Director

Office: +62361768293

Mobile: +628123606674

Email: tim@isctour.com

About Quiksilver:

Quiksilver, Inc. (NYSE:ZQK) is the world’s leading outdoor sports lifestyle company, which designs, produces and distributes a diversified mix of branded apparel, footwear, accessories, snowboards and related products. The company’s apparel and footwear brands represent a casual lifestyle for young-minded people that connect with its boardriding culture and heritage.

The reputation of Quiksilver’s brands is based on outdoor action sports. The company’s Quiksilver, Roxy, DC, Lib Tech and Hawk brands are synonymous with the heritage and culture of surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding.

The company’s products are sold in over 90 countries in a wide range of distribution, including surf shops, skate shops, snow shops, its proprietary Boardriders Club shops and Quiksilver company-owned retail stores, other specialty stores and select department stores. Quiksilver’s corporate and Americas’ headquarters are in Huntington Beach, California, while its European headquarters are in St. Jean de Luz, France, and its Asia/Pacific headquarters are in Torquay, Australia.

For further information about Quiksilver, Inc., you are invited to take a look into our world at: www.quiksilverinc.com, www.quiksilverfoundation.org, www.quiksilver.com, www.roxy.com, www.dcshoecousa.com, www.hawkclothing.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.isctour.com/asc

Text and Photos: Tim Hain - ASC