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Coca-Cola ISC Pro Surfing Tour 2009 Officially Launched at Kuta Beach, Bali

20 April 2009

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Bali Lifeguard, surfer and musician Marcello
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Beautiful Kuta Beach Bali sunset (Mick Curley photo)
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2009 ISC Pro Surfing Champion Dede Suryana being greeted by Rahtu Suargita
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ISC CEO Tipi Jabrik
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Balinese Dancers at Kuta Beach
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Mr. Yerki, Charles Rossi, and Gunther Kinzler in the front row
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Coca Cola ISC Tour Flags (Mick Curley photo)
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CCBI Bali GM Yerki Basuki hands Bali Tourism Department Head Ngurah Darma his very own surfboard as ISC CEO Tipi Jabrik and CCBI's Valenite Mutiara look on

18 April 2009, Kuta-Bali: The Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Pro Tour 2009 was officially launched on the sands of the world famous Kuta Beach in Bali on Saturday afternoon in front of the Hard Rock Hotel just before sunset, complete with Balinese gamelan music and dancers, speeches, giveaways, and s live music performance, announcing the start of this exciting competitive surfing season.

The season’s first pro event will be the Rusty “Rumble in Da Jungle” 6-star contest at Bangsal Beach in Sanur, starting off on April 26th with a waiting period of 3 weeks with which to allow the contest to be run in only the best waves, creating the most exciting event for both the surfers and the spectators, with a prize purse of 35 million Rupiah at stake.

Six more pro events will be held in locations throughout Indonesia including West Java, Sumbawa, Rote, and of course Bali. Please check www.isctour.com for details on the schedule and to follow the tour as it travels to these exciting surf spots.

The Saturday afternoon launch event was attended by local and national media, members of the surf industry, surfers, staff and management of Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia and the ISC, and of course the tourists and beach workers that crowd the sands of Kuta Beach each day in front of the Hard Rock Hotel Bali.

After the beautiful Balinese dancers had entertained the audience, Bruce Waterfield from Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia headquarters in Jakarta gave a welcoming speech in which he explained, “Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia's sponsorship is an extension of our CSR program happening around Bali. We have been working with local authorities and NGO's to clean up Bali’s beaches and improve environmental awareness through education. The ISC, surfing and surfers are users of the beaches in a place where surfing has such a global focus.....so we're very keen to work with ISC, the governing body of surfing in Indonesia, as they provide an organized platform for the surfers to develop their skills and have great future.”

After a big round of applause, he added, “This is CCBI's second year supporting the ISC. The large value of our sponsorship represents our commitment to provide all Indonesian surfers an opportunity to develop themselves, the sport and lifestyle of surfing, and an opportunity to shine on the world stage.”

His speech was followed by a few words from ISC CEO and pro surfer Tipi Jabrik, who expressed his appreciation saying, “Thank you to CCBI for their support of the ISC and for surfing in Indonesia. Partnering with Coca-Cola opens a lot of doors for us, and with their help and media connections we can create more visibility to what we are doing here in Indonesia. Their community involvement in beach clean up, reef preservation, and other social programs means a better future for Bali and Indonesia. Finally, my heartfelt thanks to our loyal event sponsors Billabong, Oakley, Quiksilver, Rip Curl, and Rusty for making our tour grow each year and become such a big success, and to Baliwista (Bali’s Lifesaving Dept) for helping out at every event!”

Mr. Ngurah Darma, the head of Bali’s Tourism Department, was next to take the microphone, informing the audience of how grateful he is for CCBI’s support of Bali and surfing, and how proud he is of the ISC’s success. He went on to say that his tourist department fully supports surfing and want to become more involved in the future. He was then presented with his very own surfboard by Tipi Jabrik and Yerki Basuki (GM of Operations, Bali), courtesy of the Coca-Cola ISC tour.

Another surfboard was given to lucky Misa Tai from Surf Edge Magazine, the winner for doing the best impersonation of a Coca-Cola TV advertisement, and finally a glorious sunset capped off the event, while Bali lifeguard, surfer and musician extraordinaire Marcello, played the guitar and sang to a darkening sky.

The ISC would like to express their appreciation to Coca-Cola Bottling Indonesia, the Hard Rock Café Bali, Baliwista, the Bali Tourism Department, Billabong, Oakley, Quiksilver, Rip Curl, Rusty, GUS, SurfTime, Magic Wave, Hello Bali, Bali and Beyond, and the other media in attendance for their support.

About the ISC

The Indonesian Surfing Championship is the professional surfing sanctioning body for Indonesia, providing the surfing athletes with a consistent, legitimate, and respected forum in which they can compete and measure themselves against their peers, a stepping stone towards their ultimate goal of becoming a professional surfer on the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Qualifying Series (WQS) and World Championship Tour. In addition, the ISC seeks to further grow the awareness of the sport of surfing in Indonesia and throughout the Asian region, for the benefit of the surfers, the community, the environment, and the surfing industry as a whole.

For more information and high resolution photos, contact:

Tim Hain
Media Director- Coca-Cola ISC Tour