Knocked Out In The Tokyo Olympics Round Of 16 Due To Difficult Wave Hunting, Rio Waida: The First 10 Minutes I Was Confused Where To Go

Rio Waida (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Indonesian surfer Rio Waida admitted that he had difficulty getting waves due to strong winds which knocked him out in the third round or round of 16 of the Tokyo Olympics wave surfing on Monday.

"The condition of the waves is very difficult because the wind is strong like a storm so the current is very strong. I went into the sea... the first 10 minutes I was confused about where to go," Rio said after the match, as quoted by Antara in a KOI statement

Rio's match in Heat 1, which was held at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach, was postponed for more than an hour due to the weather, which was originally scheduled at 09.48 WIB to 11.18 WIB.

Rio admitted that he had tried hard to catch the good waves. But when you get good waves, your ability may be judged as lacking by the jury.

"I tried to find waves, finally I got it. I tried to look good, but maybe in the eyes of the judges it wasn't good," said Rio.

Dealing with the deputy host Kanoa Igarashi, who is ranked 6th in the world, actually made Rio motivated.

"I wanted to beat him, but I learned a lot... I'm sad I couldn't get into the next round, but I will try to do better next time," said the 21-year-old surfer.

In the third round match, Rio recorded a score of 12.00, two points adrift of Igarashi who scored 14.00. In the man-on-man round, only the first-placed surfers could advance to the quarter-finals, so Rio had to be willing to leave the Tokyo Olympics.

"Thank you for the support from friends and Indonesia. Sorry I haven't been able to bring home a medal. I will try harder to be able to perform better in Paris, 2024," said Rio.