Williams Defeats Dorrington in All Aussie Surfing Final
Australian Madison Willliams has won the Billabong Pro Junior Series at Kuta Reef. The event climaxed Sunday and surfers enjoyed perfect 1.5 meter waves at Kuta Reef. Today out at Blue Ocean Beach in Legian conditions looked to be good also. Here’s more from Mandy McKinnon, photo by Tim Hain of ISC.
Williams wins all-Oz surfing final
Madison Williams won the All-Australian final of the Billabong Pro Junior Series at Kuta Reef, Bali, on Sunday.
In perfect 1.5 meter waves, Williams narrowly defeated fellow natural footer Brent Dorrington in the left-hand waves breaking 800 meters offshore in front of Discovery Kartika Plaza.
Williams set up his win from his opening ride — an 8.33 score (out of a possible 10) — that saw him break his board on dry reef with a death-defying backhand re-entry. Unfazed by the experience, the 18-year-old quickly backed up with a 6.67 to leave his opponent playing catch-up for the remainder of the 30-minute final.
“I’m just so happy to have won my first junior event in Bali,” said Williams, who has now taken the ratings lead in the Indonesian Surfing Championships (ISC) Pro Junior competition.
“I just wish my old man was here to have seen it, he would have been frothing. I was a bit rattled at first when my board broke but then I heard I had that 8.33 score and my back-up board felt just as good.”
Twenty year old Dorrington, fresh from his first major pro junior win at Trestles, California, came back with a 7.33 and 7 point ride but was left requiring a 7.68 score on the final siren.
“At the start of the heat we decided to play rock, paper scissors to see who would get the better second set wave,” he said.
“I went paper and Madison went scissors, so I had to go the first one and he got the second one which was a bomb.”
“I’m happy to see Madison win. He deserves it, but I don’t think I will be playing that game again.”
The final heat score saw Williams claim victory by less than one point with a total heat score of 15.00 points (out of a possible 20) to Dorrington’s 14.33 score.
Australian surfers filled three of the final four semifinal berths, proving they were too strong for the Indonesians who had dominated the early rounds of the competition.
Indonesia’s highest-ranked surfer Mustofa Jeksen was eliminated from the second semifinal by an in-form Dorrington. The 18-year-old Balinese goofy footer (right foot forward) had no come-back for the newly confident natural footer who dominated the 20 minute match-up.
“So hard, that heat,” said a disappointed Jeksen.
“Dorrington is one of the best junior surfers in Australia. I know he is good but I wanted to win too.”
“Today with the waves it was all about luck. I was so lucky to make the semifinals. Many of the Balinese surfers like Garut and Raditya could have done it today. It just depended on who got the good waves.”
Jeksen is now the highest ranked Indonesian surfer in the competition, sitting third on the ISC Pro Junior Ratings ahead of compatriot One Anwar in forth place, heading into the Aug. 2-5 deciding event at Canggu, Bali.
Indonesian surfers tend not to like travelling and also have to deal with funding issues. Those factors often mean they lack experience when facing the top foreign surfers.
Slim at BaliWaves give his thoughts on the present surfing conditions which seem to be pretty decent. As you can see by Magic Seaweed‘s surf report, anyone surfing at Uluwatu today would have well pleased.