Your Favorite Freesurfers Will Have Their Comp Heads On This Week
Mason Ho, Noa Deane and Joel Parkinson are leading the Rip Curl Padang Cup – here’s how to tune in for finals day.
Based on the energized squawks emanating from Vaughan Blakey’s grub chute, the best damn tuberiding show on the planet – The Rip Curl Padang Cup – is living up to its legacy. After an opening day that went untelevised due to the short tide window, the finals are set to run August 27th with a fizzing live broadcast hosted by the Swellians — we’ll drop the YouTube link once it’s live.
But first a brief day one recap.
The icons heat kicked off proceedings at stellar 6-8ft Padang, with legendary shaper Jim Banks masterfully threading his first pit at the break in over 40 years (despite living at Ulus), with other notable performances from the likes of Joel Tudor, Nathan Hedge and Moana Jones Wong.
When else do you get to see such a diverse cast of tuberiding blackbelts with a perfect Indonesian lineup all to themselves?
Mason Ho was the standout performer today in the men’s division, scoring an 8.9 and 8.17 with his signature mid-tube pigdog switchup, which saw the 35-YO Hawaiian steam past Mash and Horse star Noa Deane, and two time Padang Cup champ Mega Artana in his round one bout.
“Freesurfers aren’t not competitive people,” Mark Mathews told Stab in HSGP. “They just hate losing.”
The most recent addition to the freesurfing club, 2012 World Champ Joel Parkinson also impressed, earning an 8.83 for a deep barrel ride followed by another tube, proving he’s still in top form post-retirement. With recent cameos at the Four Seasons Cup in the Maldives, the legends heat at Snapper Rocks, and this one at Ulus, Parko’s been choosing his contests with the wisdom of a swami.
Speaking of divine powers, local Bukit surfer Mega Samadhi comes from a holy Hindu bloodline. Both of his parents are Mangkus, which roughly translates to ‘holy priest’. Mega once said that before he fulfils his Mangku destiny, he has a bunch of partying to do first. Everything in balance. He’s currently in eighth pozzy – but will likely summon some divine nugs to quantum leap up the ladder before it wraps.
Erin Brooks had to skip schooling the men again this year, in favor of schooling the CT women in Fiji – winning her first ever CT event as a 17-YO wildcard. “It was my first time even surfing at Padang Padang, and I beat Luke Swanson, Mason Ho, Shane Dorian, and Nic von Rupp,” she told Stab in our HSGP series. However, with Fiji done and dusted there’s whispers of her flying to Padang to pants them once more. Stay tuned.
Nic Von Rupp + Haz Bryant are the other two non-locals listed in the current top eight, doing the goofs proud in what has so far been a contest dominated by panache pigdogging.
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