Rio Waida Wins Nias Pro QS 5000 // Highlights + Full Heat Replay

Entering the event as the sole Championship Tour (CT) surfer and the highest seed, Rio Waida (INA) was always going to be the man to beat. The 23-year-old Tokyo 2020 Olympian waited until Finals Day to peak however, slowly building his heat totals throughout the event, before delivering a near-perfect 19.00 (out of a possible 20) in his Semifinal match against Oscar Berry (AUS). Throughout the event Waida was clear that his intentions weren't to win, but to perform to the best of his abilities. And perform he did, to the loud cheers of a giant local crowd that showed up to show him their support.
Opening the Final with a 7.00 and almost immediately backing it up with an 8.77, Waida showcased his lightning fast rail-work, matching the judges criteria to a tee, with speed, power and flow on full display. After a litany of excellent scores throughout the rest of the event, Wylie was unable to come anywhere near cracking the Indonesian's two-wave combination, especially after Waida notched a 9.60 midway through.
"I don't know how to explain but I'm really happy that I came here to Nias and today, the Finals Day, Nias showed us the proper wave, the wave that everyone's dreaming of," Waida said. "In the Final I was kind of a little bit more nervous maybe, I saw more crowd and stuff and I thought I had to perform my best and then I think I did, I got a pretty good score. I haven't watched the replay, you know, I have to learn and get better, but I'm happy with how I performed."
"I'm really grateful that there's so many people here," Waida continued. "I'm just really grateful that I have so many supporters and of course representing my country, Indonesia, there's so many locals that said, ‘Rio please, do it for us!' They [were saying] it's been Australians winning this event, so they want Indonesians to win this event and I think I did, so I hope I made everyone happy. I'm really proud of my surfing and I'm really grateful."
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[@williamhanley7031]

Intelligent man. Not doing or going for airs, just attacking the lip and being consistent. Good job!

[@AndrewCooperr]

Man that waves looks so fun even with onshore wind. Love watching Rio surf, can't wait for next CT season!

[@Br00sta]

Amazing win for Rio there, very very impressive! I never realised how similar to Ewing he surfs. I guess in the CT the nerves/confidence had taken their toll on his results because after seeing this performance Rio should be top 5 in the CT.

[@wildnwoolley3113]

Rio is the man. Nice to see the hometown repoing.

[@carlosfranciscoromeromunoz6013]

The performance delivered by Rio has been ridiculous

[@woodnbikes]

As he should have ...Gettin it done!

[@wilburkookmeyer024]

Where tf you been bruh? Left me alone with those filthy animals for the second half of the season!

[@Hoolakohaole]

Better waves than on the CT

[@scottthomasen8978]

Ripping! Welp...just saw next seasons schedule for the CT. Still ending at Trestles.....

[@OrionsMako]

So sick

[@Soldado_deDios1]

Destruyendo Nias, well done Rio..💪🏽👏🏽👏🏽🤙🏽

[@arthurwang7800]

No shit he's going to win, he's a CT surfer vs'ing QS surfers

[@SawDawify]

kolohe andino just lost to a qs surfer in the final of a qs1000(outer banks pro). qs guys are good, but the consistency isnt always there. it can come together from time to time though CT guys arent always guaranteed wins

[@arthurwang7800]

@@SawDawify Kolohe isn't a CT surfer tho

[@SawDawify]

@@arthurwang7800 kolohe was a ct surfer for years. Thats like saying mick fanning isnt a ct surfer, or owen wright isnt a CT surfer. Kolohe is definitely beyond 95% of QS and CS surfers(he easily won the previous QS event the week before) I've been working QS events for almost 10 years now and I know the level of their surfing pretty well.

[@Ghostrob2023]

He's really good with those tail whips.

[@clo3342]

What is the first song please? Keeping surfing!

[@rpmx9699]

At what size does it start to barrel?

[@xisotopex]

I am looking forward to seeing some Indonesians on the WCT, they will bring a lot of good surfing when they do, they surf better than the brazos, can surf big waves, and have much better style than any of the brazos. Who is going to be first to make it on the WCT?

[@Rawchilli]

Well done mate, and now it’s time for fucken Bintang 🍻 hey

[@user-hn9oj1fq3z]

Who sings the opening song?

[@808iy]

Who’s he beat? Exactly.

[@babypapaya8229]

If this was the quality of the waves on the WCT then Raida would be first place

[@Sunsaintsandwaves]

14:10

[@Sunsaintsandwaves]

17:07

[@Daniel-ns7bv]

Rio paid to come second but I change it, good surfing la

[@markstrutt2507]

If a ct surfer cant win the comp 😅

[@domzyau9627]

Judging was eh

[@greggardiner895]

i prefer Rio to Gab @byronbaybarrels