King of The Groms 08

Bali Has A New King! Putu Anggara Wins Quiksilver’s King Of The Groms SE Asia Qualifying Event And A Ticket to France.

Bali Has A New King! Putu Anggara Wins Quiksilver’s King Of The Groms SE Asia Qualifying Event And A Ticket to France.

15-year-old Putu Anggara from Nusa Lembongan became SE Asia’s King of the Groms today with his win in the Quiksilver King of the Groms Final at Kuta Beach, and climbed down from the podium with an all-expense paid trip to Hossegor France to compete in the Quiksilver World KOTG final to be held in September of this year.

In testing beachbreak conditions at Halfways where 4 foot closeouts and strong currents made it very tough to find high scoring wave opportunities, young Putu picked off the best waves and went on the attack to take out the final.

The 30 minute four man final had Putu up against Putra Hermawan and Agus Frimanto also from Nusa Lembongan; and Gazali Hamzah from Lakey Peak, Sumbawa- some of the best junior surfers on the Indonesian Surfing Championships Junior Tour.  Wave selection was critical, and for Agus Frimanto sitting alone waiting for the righthander on the north side was the key to his second place finish.  Putra Hermawan followed suit in the last minutes of the final, but it was too little too late.  Gazali spent a lot of time duckdiving big sets on the lefthander and couldn’t get a really good scoring wave, making it appear early that Putu was destined to win.  

Up on the podium, the elated Putu said, “I’m so happy to win today, and now I will get to go to France and I want to win there too!  Thanks to Quiksilver, the judges, the ISC and Coca-Cola, and all the sponsors. It feels so good to win!  Thanks!”

59 Under-16 junior surfers from Java, Sumatra, Sumbawa, Bali, Lombok, Nusa Lembongan and Australia started out their quest to be King of the Groms on Thursday the 17th in much different conditions.  The waves were averaging two feet, leaving Contest Director Jake Patterson to call off the action for the day after Round Two was completed, knowing that a new swell was imminent.  

Congratulations to Putu in getting his first trip abroad… it should be a great adventure for him and we’ll be waiting for the announcement of his next win!


Contest Results

1. Putu Anggara – Nusa Lembongan
2. Agus Frimanto – Nusa Lembongan
3. Putra Hermawan – Nusa Lembongan
4. Gazali Hamzah – Lakey Peak, Dompu-Sumbawa


Many thanks to Quiksilver, DC Shoes, Coca-Cola ISC Tour, and Surf Travel Online for all their support .