The Padang Cup Roster Is Decided, But Will There Be Waves?

The complete cast of characters invited to the 2019 Rip Curl Cup at Padang Padang has been unveiled. 

It’s a who’s who of natural-born cave dwellers—half of them domestic, half from abroad—and if the forecast plays ball, a 10-second head dip is all but guaranteed. 

Mick Fanning got to pick his favorite four surfers and give them a wildcard into the comp. Eight of Bali’s most notorious surfers got the call—half of them via the 2018 results, the other half through the local trials. There were a few other notable invitees, like defending champ Jack Robinson (who’s in the midst of his breakout year), certified tube shaman Mason Ho, his west-side bestie Sheldon Paishon, and they even convinced Matty Wilkinson to pull on a jersey again.

Here’s the official roster:

International Invitees:

• Benji Brand (ZAF)*
• Taj Burrow (AUS)*
• Mason Ho (HAW)
• Barron Mamiya (HAW)*
• Kai Otton (AUS)*
• Sheldon Paishon (HAW)
• Jack Robinson (AUS)
• Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
  Note: * Mick Fanning Pick

Indonesian Invitees:

• Made “Bol” Adi Putra
• Koki Hendrawan
• Mustofa Jeksen
• Raditya Rondi
• Mega Semadhi
• Agus “Blacky” Setiawan
• Agus “Dag Dag” Sumertayasa
• Garut Widiarta

As far as surf goes, there’s some energy in the Southern Indian Ocean, but nothing in the requisite height range to change the “light” from red to green.

Ironically, what we really need is more yellow (see chart above). 

“Long-range charts point to a swell with a good deal of west in it around mid-month. The storm looks fairly impressive with potential swell direction in the 230-215 range,” reads the official even forecast. “One drawback is the storm looks like it will be strongest just to the south of Madagascar and that long travel distance for the swell would limit size. Right now it appears that the swell wouldn’t be big enough to run, but we’re a week out from that storm pulling together so let’s keep our fingers crossed that the models bump things up in the coming days.”  

The waiting period for the Rip Curl Cup ends on July 31.