Is Keanu Asing the most obscure contest winner ever? Matt Warshaw says, "No!"
Has the thrill worn off today’s Keanu Asing’s World Championship Tour victory yet? It hasn’t for me. The just under three-footer popped off John John Florence and Gabriel Medina in back to back heats to take Quiksilver Pro trophy and hold it high high above his head.
But it made me wonder. Is the Li’l Frangipani the most obscure contest winner of all time? And you know what that means…
IT’S MATT WARSHAW TIME!
Surfing’s living treasure and I happened to be talking on the phone when the question arose and right away he said:
“No. Ricardo Tatui won… I think it was the same contest in 1994. I was not known as a real contest coverage guy but for some reason I was at that one. There were these tiny little sand bar lefts. It was a dumb little contest and won by a complete nobody.”
Jamie Brisick, maybe the best surf author ever, fills in the detail:
There’s not a hell of a lot to tell. The waves were small and meek. The tide was high so it was inconsistent. Booth surfed with power and style. Tati surfed at the edge of himself — more flick and less composed. Nothing to really sink your teeth into. Tati was supercharged, Booth too mature for the conditions, and the trinity of Australia, America, and Hawaii that’s been making all the noise for all these years has to move it on over. The winner was announced and the samba music played.
I ask Matt, “Was he Brazilian?”
And he responds, “Brazilian but with blonde hair.”
Later, after we hung up, he emailed the following bit:
Tatui beat Slater in Round Two, in decent head-high Grande Plage surf. In finals against, Jeff Booth, surf was tiny left-handers. Also worth noting: One week earlier, at Rip Curl Pro Hossegor, event won by Flavio Padaratz. So when Tatui won, it was the first time EVER that Brazil won two events in a row. Also looks like poor Ricardo totally haired out at Pipe.
Matt wrote in a 1995 Surfer magazine top 44 review:
The Quiksilver result probably saved Tatui’s professional career. Had a shot at the Top 44 at the end of 1993, but haired out of the Pipe Masters and fell to 45th. Ridiculed in Brazil. Channel-sat in this year’s Masters as well, but already had the magic win in France and a fresh start.
Does a Brazilian hairing out at Pipeline surprise you?
Do you think the Li’l Frangipani will enter our gilded history as a strange footnote or do you think this is the start of a new dynasty?
Also, did you like the lesbian kitsch Russian band Tatu?
The great tuberider & unknown Larry Blair (beat Simon & Wayne Lynch) to win 1978 Surfabout & (Gerry & Rory) to win 1978 Pipe and made him a star
Marcus Brabant… 1990 Pro Class Trials or Jake Spooner 93 same event…
Rolf Aurness
Agree with Spade below. Ryan Alagich was by far the most obscure surfer to win a major contest. Clint Kimmins winning Sunset was up there too. He may have been a “name” in the Oz Junior Circuit but internationally, wasn’t even close to being as recognized as Keanu was. Keanu at least won an ISA World title and multiple WSL Junior contests. If Italo had won a contest in his rookie year, he hands down would’ve been the biggest shocker of all time. At the time of his qualification, one would be hard pressed to find even a media headshot of the guy let alone video of him surfing. A lot of mags couldn’t even give a prediction of how he’d do in “power ranking” features cause they had no freakin clue if he was even regular or goofy.
But the real question at BG is, Hot or Not?
Didn’t Ryan Alargich win one of the big oz comps in the 90’s?
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
Glen ‘Micro’ Hall
Twiggy`s not obscure…
Re Twig at Mav’s 06… He stopped by Mavericks on his surf bum travels, no sponsors, borrowed a board and won the event. No one had ever heard of him before that day. Epic to say the least!
I feel for Ricardo though; I remember the first time I paddled out to a pipeline wave; I was with my two of my friends who are two of the best big wave surfers in the world; it was huge, and I was on a 6′ 0″; I was young, stupid, under-gunned, and still under the influence from the night before – I paddled out but then had to paddle back in bc I had to doo doo – went to the bathroom then paddled out at a more mellow spot. Poor Ricardo.
Tatui won the Quik pro when it was held in Biarritz, not Hossegor, and in summertime, which meant poor swells and tiny waves. He won by swiping powerless snaps, showing a very repetitive and boring surf. Biggest underdog win to my opinion.
I’m pretty sure Ricardo was a touring surfer though. Ryan Alagich was some local trialist that took out a CT.
I think you’re right, he was on tour for a few years..
What about Shred McShane who paddled out at redrock during a contest at Lennox and pulled into one which sent him through the contest zone behind the curtain the whole time and got spat out at the reef 50m past the contest and surfed a reform to the pub and stepped off the sand and stumbled straight to the bar and sat there for 7 years and nobody saw it but me.
Fuck; that’s a good story.
Give Wincy an at bat to write a follow up to this story for all to read here on BG.
Phil MacDonald.
I have a vague memory of some complete nobody winning entry into the draw of the Coke Classic in the early 90’s. He lost, but “Joe Public” finding the winning Coke bottle top and getting to surf against one of the top16 in a man on man heat… can’t see that ever happening again.
What about that guy who won the 2nd Stubbies at Burleigh, something-Harris. He was just a local, right?
Peter Harris. He got a few more invites as a wildcard I think, but didn’t get anywhere.
Wow
Ryan Alagich. Hands down most obscure major event winner in history.
Hands down the best moment in history. Ryan’s a legend.