Men’s Challenger Series leader Rio Waida is the first on the qualification circuit to cement his spot on the Championship Tour in 2023. The more significant news is that Rio is Indonesia’s first-ever CT surfer. Rio’s dominant run in 2022 would be enough to qualify for the CT after winning his round of 96 heat today in Ericeira, Portugal. The Balinese born has been on an absolute tear this year, competing at the WSL event in G-Land and winning Challenger Series events at Sydney and Ballito.
This milestone has been a long time coming for Indonesia. The country had boasted an extended depth of talent for years but failed to have a man or woman qualify to surfing’s biggest stage. This would change today when Rio was told in his post-heat interview that he will be competing for a world title next year. With a big smile the 22-year-old replied.
“I’m very happy “
“I’ve made history”
“Indonesia has never qualified for the CT.”
“I think about this (qualifying) every day, I think about this (qualifying) before sleep.”
As surf fans, we have known about Rio since he was a young grom. Rio caught our attention on Instagram with his freakish surfing ability displayed around the different breaks in Bali. However, we would be cautious in our predictions of Rio as a future world champ or a CT surfer. Due to in the past, we have seen other Indonesia surfers with world-class talent fail to transcend to the CT.
So when Rio was given the wildcard at the Corona Open Mexico last year. It was going to be interesting to see how Indo’s new prodigy would go against the world’s best. Rio didn’t look out of place in his CT debut, finishing nineth, falling short to event winner Jack Robinson.
It became even more apparent that Rio was a future CT prospect when he won the Sydney Pro event at Manly earlier this year. It wasn’t just the standout surfing he showcased. It was his mindset. He wasn’t content in finishing second at the contest, telling WSL presenter Kaipo in the event, “I want to win this.” Rio would back up his words and take out the event against CT veteran Ryan Callinan.
Rio’s performance sent the surfing world a message that he’s different from his country’s predecessors. He’s not here to mess around and enjoy the perks of being a pro surfer. He wants to win. Rio again confirmed this competitive mindset today, knowing he still has an event to compete at in Portugal.
“I’m still just trying to focus on my next round.”
Congrats are due to Indonesia and Bali. It’s been a long time coming.
Keen to see how your boy does at solid Pipe when the WSL season kicks off next year.
