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| Wednesday 28th of April 2010 |
Bianca Buitendag wins Billabong Pro Junior women’s title and Dale Staples clinches Billabong Pro Junior title in countback, in epic conditions on Dolphin Coast
Bianca Buitendag (George), left, celebrates her victory in the Pro Junior women’s division of the Billabong Junior Series event at Westbrook on Monday, along with runner-up Chantelle Rautenbach (Melkbosstrand). Photo: Billabong / Patterson
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2010 Billabong Junior Series
South Africa’s premier national junior surfing series
Dolphin Coast
Sunday to Tuesday, 25-27 April 2010
Final Results
Pro Junior
U12 Boys
U14 Boys
U16 Boys
U20 Girls
Bianca Buitendag wins Billabong Pro Junior women’s title and Dale Staples clinches Billabong Pro Junior title in countback, in epic conditions on Dolphin Coast
Bianca Buitendag showed the benefit of her international experience by selecting the best waves and riding with speed, flow and control to record a comfortable win over Chantelle Rautenbach (Melkbosstrand) in the Pro Junior women’s final at the Billabong Junior Series event on the Dolphin Coast on Monday.
The well traveled 16 year-old from George, who won the Gromsearch International Final at Bells Beach in Australia at Easter, was in a class of her own throughout the event as epic 1.5 to two metre waves peeled through the lineup at Westbrook.
“I’m stoked to win and the waves were epic, so well done to the organisers for completing the girl’s event today even though it was starting to get dark,” Buitendag said after being awarded the R2 000 winner’s cheque and raft of prizes that included a case of Monster Energy drink, a Nixon watch and a pair of Kustom footwear.
Heather Klug (Durban) and Alice McGregor (East London) placed equal third, losing to Buitendag and Rautenbach in their respective one-on-one semifinals as they struggled to find waves with good scoring potential. The upset of the day came when event favorite Tarryn Chudleigh (Kommetjie) let an early lead slip away as first Rautenbach and then McGregor overtook her in the Round of 8.
The competitors in the premier ASP Grade-1 rated Pro Junior men’s event reveled in the pristine early morning conditions. Matt Bromley (Kommetjie) and Devin Lane (Umhlanga) advanced to the man-on-man quarterfinals from Heat 1 with full commitment late drops and deep tube rides while Australian Ryan Callinan led throughout his encounter to progress along with heat runner-up Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay).
Mikey February (Kommetjie) waited for 11 minutes before catching his first wave in Heat 3 but then bagged pair of sixes to run out the winner with 13 year-old Slade Prestwich grabbing the runner-up spot from fellow Scottburgh surfer Haydn MacNicol, 19.
Heat 4 produced the encounter of the day as the lead changed hand on virtually every wave before Dale Staples (St Francis Bay) took off inside the barrel, tucked in and then emerged from under the lip which the judges rewarded with an excellent 8.5 out of 10. From then the battle was on for second place and when the siren went to end the clash it was David van Zyl (Glenashley) who was ahead of Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay) and Shawn Dennis (Durban).
The scene is set for an exciting conclusion to the Pro Junior event with R37 000 at stake, of which R15 000 plus a Nixon 42-20 PU Watch valued at over R3000 goes to the winner, along with priceless ratings points towards the Billabong and ASP Africa Pro Junior series titles and invitations to the inaugural ASP Junior World Championship Series later this year.
The U16 boys had the benefit of taking to the surf first and the six of the top eight seeds – Jarred Veldhuis (Kommetjie), Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh), Steven Sawyer (JBay), Mikey Venter (Warner Beach), Benji Brand (Kommetjie) and No. 8 Dylan Lightfoot – won their heats to progress to the last 16.
Joshua Smit (Athlone Park), the No. 6 seed, placed second behind Wade Simkiss (Durban) to also advance while No. 7 Simo Mkise (Umzumbe) was the only casualty, placing third behind on-fire U14 standout Matt McGillivray (Port Elisabeth), who charged into some of the gnarliest waves of the day, and Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand) who snagged the runner-up spot despite incurring an interference penalty by dropping in on Max Armstrong (Scarborough) on the first wave of the heat.
The U14 boys division was dominated by a performance from Benji Brand that was simply mind blowing. After slipping out of the Pro Junior event and quietly winning his U16 heat, the stockily built 14 year-old from Kommetjie posted rides of 9.0 and 7.5 in the first five minutes of his U14 heat. He followed that up with an 8.75 and an 8.15 in the next five minutes before tailing off with a 7.0 and a couple of short rides towards the end.
Yet even with a heat tally of 17.75 out of 20, Brand was less than two points ahead of runner-up Matt McGillivray as the youngster from PE posted excellent scores of 8.5 and 7.5 of his own to stay in contention for higher honours. Others to move into tomorrow’s semis included heat winners Jordan Maree (Kalk Bay), Max Armstrong and Steffen Burrows (Somerset West).
Competitors in the youngest division – the U12 boys – also charged in the classic conditions with Cape Town surfers Jordan Maree, Ethan Fletcher (Kommetjie) and Donovan Wichmann (Marina da Gama) taking the heat victories. They will be joined in the semis by David Burrows and Aiden Masencamp (both Somerset West) and newcomers Jake and Max Elkington from Cape Town and sole Durbanite Bevan Willis.
The swell is forecast to drop further for the final day and the organisers will be checking all the breaks for the best waves between Umhlanga and Ballito on KZN’s Dolphin Coast before making the call on where to stage the finale of the mobile event.
The location for each day of competition can be accessed throughout the contest via the Event Hotline at 071 179 9813.
The finals in all divisions will be followed by the Von Zipper Air Show where the surfer completing the most futuristic aerial manoeuvre will pocket the R2 000 winner-take-all prize-purse.
Images, results and news will be available daily during the event at www.billabong.com and a TV documentary, produced by Silver Bullet Productions, will be broadcast post event on Vuzu – DSTV Channel 123.
The Pro Surf Tour (PST) events in the Billabong Junior Series are sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport, while the internationally rated Pro Junior men’s event is sanctioned by ASP Africa, the regional office for ASP International.
The series is proudly supported by Von Zipper, Kustom and Nixon and fueled by Monster Energy.
The 2010 Billabong Junior Series starts on the Dolphin Coast of KwaZulu-Natal from 25-27 April and concludes at Victoria Bay (1-4 September) where the series champions will be crowned for the 14th time.
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Dale Staples clinches Billabong Pro Junior title in countback on Dolphin Coast
Dale Staples won the narrowest of victories in the Billabong Pro Junior men’s event at Westbrook today, tying with Australian Ryan Callinan in the final of the ASP Grade-1 rated contest before being awarded the victory on a countback to each surfer’s best ride, with Staples’ top score of 8.5 better than Callinan’s 7.0.
The organisers took the first Billabong Junior Series event to use a mobile event format back to Westbrook for the third and final day where 1-1.3 metre glassy waves produced the ideal scenario for high performance surfing by the country’s top 20-and-under competitors.
The final of the US $5 000 (approx R37 000) Pro Junior men’s event was a thrilling finale to a great event with Staples establishing his superiority right on the opening siren. Taking off on a set wave, the 17 year-old from St Francis Bay seamlessly combined a full repertoire of manoeuvres with powerful bottom turns punctuated by a fins-free tail-slide and a roundhouse cutback before successfully completing a vertical close-out re-entry.
With Staples awarded 8.5 out of 10 by the judges, which ultimately became the title-winning ride, Callinan had to play catch-up for the rest of the heat. The Australian’ netted a 6.0 at the 10 minute mark before Staples secured a 4.5 and leaving his opponent needing 7.01 for victory. With 10 seconds remaining Callinan took off on a wave and, as the siren sounded to end the heat, he produced a series of backhand bashes to earn 7.0 and tie the heat at 13.0 points each.
Staples was chaired from the water’s edge and earned US $2 000 (approx. R15 000) along with a Nixon 42-20 PU Watch valued at over R3000 and a case of Monster Energy drink for his victory while Callinan pocketed $900 and a pair of Von Zipper sunglasses for the runner-up spot.
Equal third after losing out in their respective semifinals were Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay), who was competing in both the Pro Junior and U16 boys divisions and contested five heats on the day, including back to back finals, and David van Zyl, the lone Durbanite in any of the four finals.
The first final contested was the U12 boys where reigning Billabong Junior Series champion Jordan Maree (Kalk Bay) stamped his authority on proceedings from the start by posting an excellent 8.0 point score on his first ride. Maree added a 3.5 later and his total of 11.50 out of 20 was sufficient to give him victory over talented newcomer Jake Elkington (Llandudno), Adin Masencamp (Somerset West) and Donovan Wichmann in an all Cape Town final.
Clearly exhausted from his earlier efforts, Maree could only manage fourth place in the U14 boys final. Matt McGillivray (Port Elizabeth) whose fearless charging in the larger surf yesterday was impressive, had to settle for third as Kommetjie friend and rivals max Armstrong and Benji Brand went head-to-head. When the spray settled if was Armstrong with his fully committed forehand attack that recorded the highest heat total of all four finals on the day – 15.50 out of 20 – who triumphed over Brand’s vertical backhand manoeuvres.
Not to be outdone, Brand stayed in the water after also qualifying for the U16 boy’s final. Steven Sawyer led for the first 18 minutes despite snapping the nose off his surfboard early in the heat and having collect a replacement from the beach. However, a flurry of rides in the closing minutes saw Sawyer overtaken by fellow JBay ripper Dylan Lightfoot and then Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand).
But saving the best for last, Brand came up trumps with rides of 5.0 and 5.5 in the last five minutes to snatch the U16 title from Lightfoot, Zakarian and Sawyer, who finished in that order.
As the results were totaled and the cheques written, a dozen of the country’s best junior exponents of aerial manoeuvres paddled out for the 30 minute Von Zipper Air Show. The winner-takes-all R2 00 prize-purse was decided in the opening minute as former Kommetjie resident, Thomas Woods, now living in Australia, boosted himself more than a metre above the lip of the wave, effortlessly completed a full 360 degree turn in the air and landed successfully. While Umhlanga local Beyrick de Vries came closest to matching Woods’ aerial, the Aussie was the clear victor and pocketed the cash.
The Billabong Junior Series Dolphin Coast was the first of two events and the Series champions will be crowned for the 14th successive year at stop No. 2 at Victoria Bay in the Southern Cape from 1-4 September.
Images, results and news from the event will be available at www.billabong.com and a TV documentary, produced by Silver Bullet Productions, will be broadcast post event on Vuzu – DSTV Channel 123.
The Pro Surf Tour (PST) events in the Billabong Junior Series are sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport, while the internationally rated Pro Junior men’s event is sanctioned by ASP Africa, the regional office for ASP International.
The series is proudly supported by Von Zipper, Kustom and Nixon and fueled by Monster Energy.
Billabong Junior Series
Westbrook, KwaZulu-Natal Dolphin Coast
Results
Pro Junior boys
1. Dale Staples (St Francis Bay) $2 000 + Nixon watch + Case of Monster Energy
2. Ryan Callinan (Australia) $ 900 + Von Zipper eyewear
=3. David van Zyl (Glenashley) $ 550
=3. Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay) $ 550
=5. Matt Bromley (Kommetjie) $ 250
=5. Devin Lane (Umhlanga) $ 250
=5. Mikey February (Kommetjie) $ 250
=5. Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh) $ 250
U16 boys
1. Benji Brand (Kommetjie) R2 000 + Nixon watch
2. Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay) R1 200 + Von Zipper eyewear
3. Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand) R 800 + Nixon watch
4. Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay) R 500 + Kustom footwear
U14 boys
1. Max Armstrong (Kommetjie) R1 500 + Nixon watch
2. Benji Brand (Kommetjie) R1 000 + Von Zipper eyewear
3. Matthew McGillivray (Port Elizabeth) R 600 + Nixon watch
4. Jordan Maree (Kalk Bay) R 400 + Kustom footwear
U12 boys
1. Jordan Maree (Kalk Bay) R1 000 + Nixon watch
2. Jake Elkington (Llandudno) R 750 + Von Zipper eyewear
3. Adin Masencamp (Somerset West) R 500 + Nixon watch
4. Donovan Wichmann (Marina da Gama) R 250 + Kustom footwear
Von Zipper Air Show
1. Thomas Woods (Australia) R2 000
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