Mick Fanning Reveals His Picks For The Rip Curl Padang Padang Cup

Bali, barrels, and a bit of mystery. The Rip Curl Cup Padang Padang is coming. A couple of weeks out from the start date on July 1, Mick Fanning gets to pick four of this year’s competitors.

Featuring a 16-person field, nine of the spots are already a lock, and three will remain unannounced until the opening ceremony on June 30. Mick’s just dropped his four favs via an Insta post. His army includes Benji Brand, Barron Mamiya, Kai Otton, and Taj Burrow.

“Benji’s an incredible tuberider,” Mick said when explaining his selections. “He’s had tube of the year at this crazy left. So I’d love to see him in Padang.

“Another kid who’s gone absolutely nuts in the past six months, had some of the best highlights our of Hawaii this year, is Barron Mamiya. He’s just a solid kid who knows how to ride the tube, and I think he’s gonna be incredible out somewhere like Padang.

“Kai Otton is one of those people who when it does get heavy or it’s big tubes, he always sends it. He always comes up with a highlight reel. And he will talk a lot of rubbish which will be entertaining.

“Taj has been retired for a few years now, but he can ride the tube as good as anyone in the world. Him and Kai together with be talking so much rubbish and giving it to each other. It’ll be great.”

Mick’s crew ain’t no joke, but then neither’s the rest of the field that’s already confirmed. Defending champ Jack Robinson, who’s been red hot in shelving caverns for the past decade (he’s only 21), will be looking to go back to back. Who’s betting against him?

The top four Indo locals from last year have also already locked in their spots. Two-time Rip Curl Cup champions Mega Semadhi and Bol Adi, 2014 Rip Curl Cup champion Garut Widiarta and local Uluwatu upstart Agus “Blacky” Setiawan, who finished runner-up behind Robbo last year, will all be representing.

Four more Indo surfers will be added to the draw after a local trials comp that’s set to wrap the end of this month at Padang Padang.

After all that there are three more surfers yet to be announced. That will come at the Rip Curl Cup Opening Ceremony on June 30. The waiting period runs from July 1 – 31. The early season has been a bit slow in Indo, but with a full month during the peak of Indonesia’s prime swell season, good things come to those who wait.

“We haven’t had a lot of big swells so far this early season, like only one or two days with real waves at Padang,” Adi Putra says. “That’s always a great sign that there will be a lot of big swells in July. It feels like Padang is resting and waiting to turn on.”

Keep an eye here for updates.