Graham Takes International Victory at Rote Open 2011

Denpasar (Antara Bali) - In an amazing final day of competition at the Rote Open 2011 presented by Billabong on the far-flung East Indonesian island of Rote today, Bali’s Marlon Gerber and Tai “Buddha” Graham from Australia exhibited impressive displays of high performance surfing over the two day event to each end the day in the coveted top spots on the podium.

For Gerber, this was the fifth time he has competed in a surf competition in Rote (2002, 2004, 2009, and 2010) and he has been the runner up in 3 of the four events, so his victory today was very sweet indeed. Gerber entered the event as the Number 1 ranked ISC Open surfer, and as a somewhat unexpected surprise he was informed by Coca-Cola ISC CEO Tipi Jabrik back on the beach that with his win today he was now the 2011 Coca-Cola ISC Open Champion as well!

"I wasn’t really thinking about the championship during this event much, I was just trying to break my runner-up streak here at Rote,” Gerber said.  

I love this place and this wave, it's so much fun to surf and compete here, so to finally get the win here is so great.  Then to find out I’ve won the 2011 championship, well I’m just about speechless.  

"I’ve been pretty focused, just surfing one heat at a time in each comp and be consistent, and now its really paid off . I can’t be any more happy than I am right now," he added.

Gerber pockets $2,500 for his win today as well as the many rewards that follow after being crowned the best surfer in Indonesia.

In the International Division, it was Australia’s Tai “Buddha” Graham who goes home with the big $4,000 USD first place prize money.

"I’ve surfed in competitions since I was a kid, and this is the biggest prize money I have ever won in my life.  And to win it in such a beautiful place with all the locals and the Bali boys here is tops.  It’s my third time coming here to Rote and I love this place.  The waves were pumping today for the most part, and I was stoked to get a couple of good ones in the final. A big thanks to Pak Amos and all the crew here for such a great event.  And to think that I almost didn’t come!," Graham said.  

Graham hails from the Gold Coast but is a long-time resident of Bali and an active participant in the Indonesian surfing and entertainment scenes.

The two-day Rote Open 2011 presented by Billabong event also saw competition in several other divisions, namely the ISC Masters and ISC Women’s, and a special Local Rote surfing division.

The Masters Division was taken out in a come-from-behind charge by Ketut “Kombong” Juliarta, and the Women’s division was won handily by four time Coca-Cola ISC Women’s champion Yasnyiar “Bonne” Gea.

The Rote Locals Division was won by Adi Lenggu, and it was observed by many of the ISC surfers how much the level of surfing has improved over just the last two years.  

"I remember three years ago these guys couldn’t even make a turn without falling," two-time Coca-Cola ISC Champion Lee Wilson said.  

Now they’re getting super long rides, making bottom turns and going off the top.  It’s really great to see how much better they have gotten in such a short time, I’m stoked.

The Rote Open 2011 presented by Billabong was sponsored by the Regency of Rote Ndao and held at Boa Beach in Rote Island from September 14th-17th.  This the third year for the event, which is a part of the government’s tourism promotion program to attract foreign and domestic surfers and tourists to their unique and still pristine island.  

"We hope that everybody that comes to our island for this event has enjoyed their time here and will take back to their friends and associates the memories of the good times they have had here.  We’re proud of our island and all it has to offer, and want to share it with everyone,” Vice Regent Marthean L Saek said.

The Rote Open 2011 presented by Billabong boasted a record $25,000 in total prize money and attracted the top professional surfers from Indonesia as well as international surfers from Australia, France, Hawaii, Japan, and California.

To see videos, photos, the heat draw, heat and waves scores from the Rote Open 2011 presented by Billabong, go to www.isctour.com/events/mentawai and on Facebook look up Indonesian Surfing Championship.

The Rote Open 2011 presented by Billabong is sponsored by the Regency of Rote Ndao, Billabong Indonesia, Von Zipper, Nixon, Kustom, Tresna Tours, Garuda Indonesia, Trans Nusa, Telkomsel, Bank NTT, Jayakarta Suites, T-More Hotel, Anugerah Hotel, Bintang Flores Hotel, and Express Bahari with media support by Surfersvillage.com, Alam TV Bali, Baliwaves.com, Surftime Magazine, Magic Wave Surf Community Newspaper, Lines Magazine, RVM, and Balibelly.tv.

The Rote Open 2011 presented by Billabong is sanctioned by the Coca-Cola Indonesian Surfing Championship Tour.(**)