Matt Wilkinson (AUS), 24, bashes into Round 3 of the Oakley Pro Bali.
KERAMAS, Bali/Indonesia (Thursday, June 20, 2013) – The remaining two heats of Round 2 of the Oakley Pro Bali were completed this morning in clean three-to-five foot (1 – 1.5 metre) waves at Keramas.
Event No. 5 of 10 on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), the Oakley Pro Bali has enjoyed an excellent and exciting start to the competition and, with plenty of swell forecast for the window, event organizers will reconvene in improved conditions in the coming days.
Putra Hermawan (IND), 20, was a late replacement for an injured Travis Logie (ZAF), 34, this morning and the young Indonesian made the most of his opportunity, eliminating Californian Brett Simpson (USA), 28, in the opening heat of the day. The young, Balinese natural-footer threaded a number of impressive barrels to secure the win, the first ASP WCT heat win in history for an Indonesian.
“I am so excited to be in the event,” Hermawan said. “I am proud to be representing Indonesia and the waves are very fun. I hope I can keep surfing well.”
Hermawan will face 11-time ASP World Champion and current ASP WCT No. 1 Kelly Slater (USA), 41, in Round 3 of competition.
Matt Wilkinson (AUS), 24, was electric on his backhand this morning, surfing fast and loose in the glassy morning conditions at Keramas. Wilkinson’s 14.90 heat total was enough to better a strong showing from Kolohe Andino (USA), 19, and advance through to Round 3.
“I was surfing all morning and the waves were really fun,” Wilkinson said. “I was pretty vocal about having them call it on as there was lots of opportunity to get some great scores. There are waves that offer lots of maneuvers and other ones that offer a few hail marys. Psyched to have a good heat and really happy to be in Bali.”
Wilkinson will take on Adriano de Souza (BRA), 26, in Round 3 of the Oakley Pro Bali.
Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow at 7:30am to assess conditions for a possible 8:30am start.
When competition resumes, up first will be Taj Burrow (AUS), 35, up against Miguel Pupo (BRA), 21, in the opening heat of Round 3.
Surfline, official forecasters for the Oakley Pro Bali are calling for:
The current SW swell will gradually back down through the end of the work week. A slightly smaller swell for Keramas (much smaller for Canggu) will peak on Sunday the 23rd, after building Saturday afternoon the 22nd. A series of potentially solid SW to SSW swells are on the radar for the afternoon of Monday the 24th through Friday the 28th.
OAKLEY PRO BALI REMAINING ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 11: Putra Hermawan (IDN) 12.00 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 11.07 Heat 12: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.90 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 13.50
UPCOMING OAKLEY PRO BALI ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA) Heat 2: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS) Heat 3: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Damien Hobgood (USA) Heat 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Filipe Toledo (BRA) Heat 5: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. John John Florence (HAW) Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Putra Hermawan (IDN) Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS) Heat 8: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Julian Wilson (AUS) Heat 9: Nat Young (USA) vs. Kai Otton (AUS) Heat 10: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) Heat 11: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF) Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
