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| Thursday 06th of August 2009 |
South African women progress but three of their male teammates are eliminated on Day 4 of Billabong ISA World Surfing Games
Nikita Robb in action on her way to the last eight in the
Qualifying stream of the Women's division at the Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica. Photo: Sanchez/ISA
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Billabong ISA World Surfing Games
August 1-8, 2009
Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica
South African women progress but three of their male teammates are eliminated on Day 4 of Billabong ISA World Surfing Games
The performances of Rosanne Hodge and Nikita Robb kept Team South Africa’s hopes high as three of their male teammates were eliminated on Day 4 of the 2009 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in Costa Rica on Tuesday.
Hodge and Robb, both from East London, finished second in their respective Round 3 Qualifying steam heats to progress to the last eight in the Women’s division and are now potentially just two heats away from reaching the Grand Final in the event.
However, the good news was offset by the elimination of Rudy Palmboom, Ryan Payne and Damien Fahrenfort in the men’s Repecharge rounds, seriously denting the chances of a podium finish for SA team, which is supported by a R400,000 grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).
Fahrenfort was the first to go, placing third in his Round 3 Repecharge heat behind Peruvian and Puerto Rican opponents despite scoring 11.20 points out of 20, his highest heat total of the event. The former Capetonian, now residing in California, finished the event in equal 49th place overall, contributing 240 points towards the team total.
As Palmboom (Bluff) continued to advance through Rounds 3 and 4, Payne (St Francis Bay) was ousted in Repecharge Round 4 when he could only bag a pair of four point scores, placing third in his heat for equal 33rd place overall and 320 points.
Palmboom’s run came to an end in an extremely close and low scoring affair in Repecharge Round 5 where the South African needed a ride of just 4.51 points, but placed fourth behind Costa Rican local Carlos Munoz, who won the heat despite incurring an interference penalty that halved one of his two scoring rides.
Jesus Chacon (VEN) grabbed second spot in the heat to remain in contention while Palmboom was eliminated in equal 29th place overall, adding 340 points to the Team SA total.
With the event having reached the halfway stage only 14 of the original 34 nations still have contenders in the Open and Women’s divisions while the Longboard division is scheduled to get underway on Wednesday. Australia and USA, each with only one surfer eliminated so far, lead the team standings with hosts Costa Rica and Hawaii closely matched for third and fourth places and Brazil in fifth.
SA Longboard champion Justin Bing (Noordhoek) and runner-up Michael Hill (St Francis Bay), both earning their first national surfing caps, will be keen to get their campaigns underway at Playa Hermosa today.
Brandon Jackson - sole South African survivor in Men's Division
Brandon Jackson (Durban North), SA’s sole survivor in the Open division, takes on Dylan Graves (PRI), Gabriel Villaran (PER) and former ASP World Tour surfer Ben Bourgeois (USA) in the last 16 of the Qualifying stream.
The draw in the Women’s Qualifying stream sees Hodge and Robb in the same heat against American standout Courtney Conlogue and former ISA and ASP World champion Sofia Mulanovich. The top two progress to the Qualifying Final and those placing third and fourth drop into the Repecharge rounds.
All the action can be followed live via webcasts on www.billabongpro.com/isa09 which also provides news, full results, videos, photos and more. Costa Rica is eight hours behind South Africa with heats expected to start around 4pm CAT.
About Surfing South Africa (SSA)
Surfing South Africa is recognised by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) and the International Surfing Association (ISA) as the governing body for surfriding in South Africa.
Six provincial organisations and three national associations are affiliated to Surfing South Africa which coordinates and manages all aspects of surfriding from grass roots level through to the selection of National teams.
About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for surfing, bodyboarding and surfriding. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running World Championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980. |
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