World Surfing Championships in Bali to Promote Indonesian Surfers Achievement

Gianyar, InfoPublik - World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour featuring the theme “Corona Bali Protected 2019” held at Keramas Beach, Gianyar, Bali on 13—15 May 2019 is considered able to promote Indonesian surfer achievement on the world stage.

Indonesian surfers Rio Waida in men’s category and Kailani Johnson in women’s category showed off their skills in the competition against world surfing champions.

Rio Waida managed to overtake the 2018 reigning champion Gabriel Medina from Brazil and win the game by a nose. He successfully make his position as the champion of Corona Bali Protected 2019. In the competition Rio catched 2 out of 4 waves that he made.

Meanwhile, Kailani, a Balinese female athlete, started her career debut in this world-level surfing competition. She is the first Indonesian woman to compete in WSL Championship Tour event.

"This is a new experience for me. Hopefully it will inspire Indonesian women in the future," she said following her performance in Gianyar, Bali, Tuesday (5/14).

In line with Kailani’s statement, Tourism Ministry's marine tourism development acceleration team head Indroyono Soesilo said that in addition to promoting tourism, the world championship in Bali will also able to bring out outstanding athletes in the country

"In 2020, surfing will be one of the new sports that is contested at the Olympics in Japan due to its increasing popularity in the world.” he said.

Reporter: Untung S

Translator: Sugiarti