Hawaiian Brisa Hennessy wins 2014 Rip Curl GromSearch International final

                                                  

Hawaiian Brisa Hennessy wins 2014 Rip Curl GromSearch International final 
in flawless waves at world famous Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Indonesia. 
- May 7-10, 2014. 

 
The champ getting a boat ride in after her nail biting victory. Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

May 9, 2014 , Lakey Peak, Dompu Sumbawa ;

Finals day for the women’s Rip Curl International GromSearch started off with the two youngest competitors in the field, Brisa Hennessy (14 years) and Cinta Hansel (12 year) paddling out to perfect conditions for their quarter final. The crowd was in awe of the waves and the girls took full advantage by putiing on one of the best displays of women’s junior surfing in history. The day finished in similar fashion with Brisa edging out Isabella Nichols (AUS) in a nail biting final that showed the girls are progressing at a manic pace.

Hennessy qualified as the number one seed (after yesterday’s round one action) and built momentum all day to meet up in the final with Nichols, the second seed and the other form surfer of the event. The two girls traded high scoring waves as the lead changed several times until Hennessey scored an 8.3 (out of 10) on her last wave and squeaked in front. The ocean went calm for the last 5 minutes and she was left out the back as the siren sounded, crowning her the Champion of the Rip Curl GromSearch International final.

“This is easily one of the best comps I’ve ever been to, the waves were absolutely firing and everyone was ripping. It was a super close battle in the final, with Isabella on fire all day I knew I had to go big to take it out. I’m just really stoked to get the win in what has been an amazing comp” commented the champ.

Nichols was extremely gracious in defeat after such a close final “The conditions today were the most perfect that I’ve seen in my life and everyone was ripping, getting 8’s, 9’s and 10’s in all the heats. Brisa deserved the win, after surfing so well all day she pipped me in an awesome final. I’m happy for her and we’re all just stoked to be able surf in such a great event.”

Semi finalists Jasmine Smith (NZL) and Hayana Iguchi (IDN) showed great fighting spirit in the perfect conditions but just couldn’t get past the two eventual finalists. Smith scored a combined total of 17.50 (out of 20) in her semi against Brisa, a score that would have won most other heats in the day, but her opponent scored a perfect 10 point ride for the highest heat score of the competition (19.40) to keep out the determined Kiwi. “I’m happy that I managed some high score” she said. “After a slow start to the event it was nice to get a 9 and back it up with two 8 point rides, but Brisa was too strong today, she scored a 10 and deserved the win”.

Hayana Iguchi (IDN) was equally as impressive in making it to the semi finals. After receiving a wildcard to the event she produced some strong backhand surfing on the winding lefts, but eventually succumbed to Nichols.

As the youngest competitor in the field, Cinta Hansel (IND) summed up the day perfectly, when she commented on how inspired she was with the performances of her fellow competitors “That was an awesome day of surfing, Brisa was ripping in my heat so I just pushed myself to surf my very best and I even ended up catching the biggest wave of my life” said the excited Balinese surfer.

The day finished off with a ‘Lakey versus The World’ specialty heat which allowed local Lakey Peak surfers to test themselves against the visiting International GromSearch finalists. Each team had eight surfers and their single highest wave score was counted after the one hour heat. All of these scores were combined to come up with the combined heat score. The World team scored a combined 63.95 (out of a possible 80) to have the slightest lead over the Lakey juniors, who amassed a score of 62.25.

These scores will be carried over into tomorrow’s ‘Lakey Legends versus the World’ heat which will put 8 legendary local surfers from the early pioneering days of Lakey Peak, against the fathers of the visiting competitors. The Lakey versus the World concept is a way that competitors and officials can say thankyou to the local community for hosting such a special event.

Rip Curl GromSearch International Final.

May 09, 2014 Results.

Girls Final:

1^st Brisa Hennessy – 17.05, 2^nd Isabella Nichols – 16.90

Girls Semi Finals:

SF1. 1^st Brisa Hennessy – 19.40, 2^nd Jasmine Smith – 17.50

SF2. 1^st Isabella Nichols – 17.15, 2^nd Hayana Iguchi – 13.05

Girls Quarter Finals:

QF1. 1^st Brisa Hennessy – 16.00 (USA/HAW), 2^nd Cinta Hansei (IDN) 12.50

QF2. 1^st Jasmine Smith – 14.15 (NZL), 2^nd Kayane Reis - 12.65 (BRA)

QF3. 1^st Isabella Nichols - 18.50 (AUS), 2^nd Tessa Thyssen – 15.65 (FRA)

QF4. 1^st Hayana Iguchi – 12.50 (IDN), 2^nd Pua Johnson 12.50 (IDN)

Boys action will commence tomorrow with the quarter finals, semis and final.

Boys Quarter Finals:

Heat 1. Tim Bisso (FRA) VS Gustavo Ramos (BRA)

Heat 2. Jacob Willcox (AUS) VS Andre Anwar (IDN)

Heat 3. Pat Curren (USA) VS Daniel Far (NZL)

Heat 4. Jackson Giles (AUS) VS Raju Sena (IDN)

The 10th Rip Curl GromSearch International Final runs May 7 to May 10, 2014.

More news, images and information available at www.ripcurl.com

The Rip Curl GromSearch International final is supported by Bapak Bupati Kabupaten DOMPU (Lakey DOMPU Government).

POSCA is a major partner of the event with further support from the Asian Surfing Championships (ASC) and Lakey Peak Boardriders

History - Rip Curl GromSearch International Champions.

2013 – Leonardo Fioravanti (ITL) & Tatiana Wetson-webb (HAW)

2012 – Dylan Lightfoot (ZAF) & Tatiana Wetson-webb (HAW)

2011 – Mitch Parkinson (AUS) & Nikki Van Dijk (AUS)

2010 – Gabriel Medina (BRA) & Bianca Buitendag (ZAF)

2009 – Thomas Woods (AUS) & Nikki Van Dijk (AUS)

2008 – Dale Staples (ZAF) & Malia Manuel (HAW)

2007 – Tyler Newton (HAW) & Tyler Wright (AUS)

2006 – Owen Wright (AUS) & Alana Blanchard (HAW)

2005 – Mason Ho (HAW) & Nikita Robb (ZAF)

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9   
|The 2014 RCGS International champion, Brisa Hennessy. Brisa was on fire the entire final day of competition.   
|Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 | Jasmine Smith put on a show for spectators finishing a respectable equal 3^rd 
|Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
|Tessa Thyssen tore apart her heat, but came up against 2^nd place finisher Isabella Nichols early in the day, and wasn’t able to overtake the young Aussie.   
| Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
|Nichols, tore apart the Lakey Peak lefts and scored numerous excellent rides during finals day. 
| Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
|With only two girls taking to the lineup, plenty of flawless waves went by unridden. 
|Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
| Bali’s Pua Johnson digs in for a beautiful ride. 
| Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 8 
| Hennessy showed mature form all day long as she dissected section after section. 
| Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
|Jasmine Smith laying it on rail as she amassed a 17.5 heat total in her semi-final bout, which still couldn’t catch an in-form Hennessy. 
| Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
| Kayane Reis showed signs of brilliance in her quarterfinal loss. 
 | Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 | 
|This is why they call it Lakey Peak. Hennessy (right), & Smith (left) decide to share a ride. 
| Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
| Hayana Iguchi ripped her way to a solid semi-final result after receiving a last minute wild card slot. 
|Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
| Nichols tagging the inside section, as a perfect left peels through the outside. . 
| Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 | 
|RCGS competitors and parents loving every moment of the competition 
| Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 |Event runner up, Isabella Nichols, blasting a fin release 
|Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo   

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 | Hennessy scored the events only perfect 10. This was the start to her perfect ride…. 
 Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo   

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 -… And this is what followed. Hennessy hammering the single best turn of the event.   
Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo   

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
A shaka from the stoked, and always smiling Hennessy (we wonder how fast your new Rip Curl GPS watch says you were going today?).   
Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
What’s an event winner without a chair up the beach from her dad (Mike), & team manager (Matt)? 
Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

 
Lakey Peak, Dompu, Sumbawa Island - May 9 
Talk about a happy family. The Hennessy’s enjoying paradise with a GromSearch world title. 
Photo Credit : @Mick_curley_photo 

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