2 June 2013, West Java - Indonesia: The 2012 Indonesian and Asian surfing champion Raditya Rondi from Bali is back in top form, winning the ASC 4-Star West Java Surfing Championship in head-high (sometimes bigger) Cimaja today over Sandi Selamet (West Java), Komang Sujaya(Bali) and Mega Semadhi (Bali).

After missing the season opening Mentawai event due to a knee injury, Raditya has not completely rehabbed the injury but was able to bounce back enough to compete at Cimaja and win in a knee brace with his trademark vicious backhand attack. "I'm not 100% and still feel some pain in my knee, and I didn't surf for over 2 weeks except for a five minute surf yesterday, and today I did a full day surf so I think I just got lucky. I did use a bit longer board and just waited for the big sets. I usually ride a 5'7 but this is a 5'10 Akaba board, the same one I won Scar Reef on," said a stoked Raditya just after winning the Final and Rp 10 million (about US$1,000).

With the win Raditya is now 12th on the ASC rankings and looking forward to the next event, the Oakley Bali Pro Trials that are coming up in Bali from 14-17 June.

Due to having only a short two days to run at Cimaja, the Open, Longboard and Women's Divisions were pushed through today with a 4-man heat format straight to each Final. This proved to be a perfect amount of time, allowing the event to run in the choice glassy to offshore conditions in the early morning to the early afternoon before the wind turned to an onshore breeze. The swell had tapered off a touch today but still holding with plenty of super fun head-high to overhead waves on hand for every heat.

The runner-up in the Open Division behind Rondi was none other than rising star Sandi Selamet, who was born and raised right next to the break here at Cimaja. More than just using local knowledge, Selamet blazed through his heats with convincing performances and some cleanly landed 360 airs that helped push him through. Still a bit lost in the moment after hearing the result Selamet commented, "I just want to say a big thank you to the West Java government and Tourism Department for holding this event. This was my best ASC Open result ever in Indonesia!"

The ASC is an open tour, and the West Java Surfing Championship saw competitors come from Japan, Taiwan, France, Malaysia, the USA and Indonesia competing in the event.

In the Women's Division, it would be one of the international surfers that would emerge victorious with Rina Katazawa taking the win with a solid lead over the other girls in the Final. Coming virtually out of nowhere onto the ASC tour and almost missing her first heat yesterday, Rina was consistently catching the biggest sets and smoothly combining maneuvers all the way to the cobblestone shoreline in each of her heats. "I started surfing six years ago when I was 13 in Japan and I have fun competing in contests. This event I just got lucky and got really good waves. I'm looking forward to the next ASC event in Bali at Balangan and I would love to be champion!" said a fired up Rina.

Longboarding is growing in Indonesia and already has its stars, one in particular named Arip Nurhidayat aka Mencos from Batu Karas, Java.

Mencos is the reigning Indonesian Longboard Champion and showed everyone why with solid noserides and shortboard hotdogging moves that he made look easy on his 9foot surfboard. Mencos was very happy about his win and commented, "I'm very thankful to the West Java government for holding this event and that I was able to win here again. Hopefully next year we can get more longboarders to join and also grow the event."

Pak Haji Dadang Hendar is the head of the TP3TP, an organization in charge of West Java tourism and beach conservation that is instrumental in backing and making the West Java Surfing Championship a reality. In a short speech during the closing awards ceremony at the Augusta Hotel, Pak Dadang had positive things to say. "Surfing is a big sport in Cimaja and one that is logical for us to market this area for tourism. We have had good results in the past holding surfing contests here that have produced visible results in the tourism sector, and we want to continue supporting such events. We want to also thank the ASC for working with us and hopefully in the future we can again continue with our past sponsor and supporter Quiksilver to make the West Java Surfing Championship a reality in the future."

Cimaja is always a favorite stop on the ASC Tour due to the friendly nature of the laid-back beach town and consistent good surf that breaks here on a daily basis. As the awards ceremony came to a close and good-byes were said, another chapter of Cimaja surfing closed and was set in everyone's memory banks.

OPEN FINAL

1 – Raditya Rondi (Bali) 12.90/Rp 10,000,000

2 – Sandi Selamet (Jabar) 11.00/Rp 5,000,000

3 – Komang Sujaya (Bali) 9.20/Rp 2,500,000

4 – Mega Semadhi (Bali) 6.90/Rp 2,500,000