Hurley SA Junior Champs in Durban – Day 4:
There was a dramatic surfing moment at New Pier, Durban, yesterday during the Hurley SA Junior Champs when in the U15 quarter-finals Matt McGillivray (Eastern Province) completed the biggest air move of the contest so far.
In his heat against Slater Rudling (SKZN), Josh Fairley (WP) and EP team mate Josh Chipps, Matt picked up on a clean looking right-hander with a good-looking wall on it. He carved off the top and bounced off the lip on the outside before setting up for the inside double-up. As he raced into the inside section Matt turned hard off the bottom, smashed a huge re-entry off the top and flew into the air. He grabbed his outside rail and hung in the air before landing and
On the beach the Eastern Province team started screaming and going wild, the beach was hooting and applauding, and then everyone turned around and all eyes were fixed firmly on the judging tower. The general consensus was that it was the best wave of the contest so far, but were the judges going to reward it as such?
After an agonising delay, and with the commentator pausing for effect, the score was announced as a 9.9, and it became the highest scoring wave of the contest so far. The cheering began again as Matt exited the water after a well deserved heat win.
“The waves are quite tricky out there,” said Matt after his heat. “I was lucky to catch that one. I could see that it was going to go all the way through so I managed to do a few turns on the inside before setting up for the inside. I just went as hard as I can for the air, and luckily I landed it. I think the wind did help.”
Matt was clearly totally stoked out with the event so far. “This has been an amazing event, ” said McGillivray. “We (EP) still have a good number of surfers in the contest and we have such a strong team spirit. I think we might be able to pull off a win on this one.”
Head Judge Johnno Hutchison commented. “He pumped on the outside and worked his way towards the inside section. His air was the one big move on that wave. It was a solid, progressive move and we rewarded him for it. He grabbed his outside rail and pulled it nicely.”
After four days of intense competition at the weeklong (4th – 9th October) Surfing South Africa premier event, the scene at Durban’s New Pier is set for what promises to be a thrilling finale to a most exciting event.
While a number of surfers have put their hands up and identified themselves as serious title contenders by blitzing their way through their respective fields to reach the latter stages of the competition, they still have much work to do if they are to secure a place in history by claiming one of the junior national titles on offer, as well provincial honours in the team competition.
Yesterday’s action saw the running of the U17 Boys Round 4 action, as well as a number of important heats. Judging by the fine form displayed in winning their heats in tough conditions in Round 3, Byran Wigmore and David Gouws (both Southern KZN), Mikey Venter and Josh Smit (both KZN Central), Hilton Pelser (Boland), Steven Sawyer and Jarred Veldhuis (Eastern Province), Brandon Benjamin (Western Province) all look like potential title contenders.
The U17 Girls division also saw some of the form surfers from the early rounds successfully negotiating the tricky surf conditions that Round 3 was held in. Roxy Giles (Southern Cape), Carryn McNicol and Sarah Baum (both KZN Central) and Gina Smith (EasternProvince) all continued their good form and won their respective heats. Saturday’s semi-finals are sure to be exciting, with many serious title contenders set to meet head on in their quest for Hurley SA Junior Champs glory.
U15 Boys Round 1 heat winners Jason Harris (KZN Central), Steffen Burrows (Boland), Matt McGillivray and Jerry van Wyk (both Eastern Province), Dylan Gouws and Slater Rudling (both Southern KZN), Dylan Wichmann and Dillon Fernandez (both Western Province) and Shane Sykes (KZN Central) will all be going into their Round 3 match ups full of confidence, hoping that their fine form continues into the latter stages of the competition.
Also looking to continue their winning ways in the U15 Girls division in Round 3 today will be Britney Linder and Tahra Uren (both Eastern Province), Shannon McGee (SA Development Team) as well as Courtney Ellish and Chanelle Botha (both Southern KZN).
In the third round of the highly competitive U13 Boys division, Jordy Maree (Western Province) and Adin Masencamp (Boland) continued their fine form by winning their respective heats to progress to the fourth round, along with other title contenders and Round 3 heat winners Donovan Wichmann and Ford van Jaarsveldt (both Western Province), Tristan Lev (Boland) and Jose Faulkner (Eastern Province).
In the U13 Girls division, Western Province duo Ruth Armstrong and Caitlyn October claimed a first and second respectively in the only Round 2 heat, earning them both a spot in Saturdays semi-finals along with Round 1 qualifiers Sophie Bell and Cana Foster (both KZN Central) and the youngest surfer at the event, Kai Woolf (Eastern Province).
Defending champion Sarah Baum (Central KZN) posted a heat score of 17.5 in winning her heat late on Thursday and took pole position in the ‘I’m Off To Oz, Bru’ ratings.
Event sponsors Hurley have offered a free ticket and a chaperoned trip to the Australian Open Of Surfing Presented By Hurley and Billabong at Manley Beach in Australia during the second week of February next year.
Hosts KZN Central, defending champions Western Province, Eastern Province, Border, Southern KZN, Boland, Zululand, Southern Cape, and a SA Development team are battling it out for the Freedom Cup which is won by the team that posts the highest combined points total.
Robin de Kock, General Manager of Surfing South Africa, said that “the standard of surfing at the Hurley SA Junior Champs has been fantastic. Surfers starting posting good scores from Round one and we are set for an exciting final few days.Durbanand New Pier have produced good weather and contestable surf so far, which makes for a great vibe. The finals should be an excellent display of South African surfing’s top talent.”
According to Hurley SA Marketing Manager Liam Wood, “looking ahead to the weekend, we could not be more excited about what the next few days hold. Some of the top names in junior surfing have lived up to their potential, and by exposing these youngsters to the competitive arena, we are hopeful that we are helping to usher in the next era of junior surfing in South Africa.”
The finals of the Hurley SA Junior Champs will run today at New Pier, with all the action kicking off at 8 am with the semi-finals of the U17 Girls, U13 Boys, U15 Boys and U17 Boys divisions, which will be followed by the finals of the U13, U15, U17 Girls and Boys divisions respectively.
The action on Sunday starts at 10am after the Springboks Rugby World Cup Quarter Final, with the Surfing South Africa Tag Team competition semi finals, which will be followed by the Red Bull Air Show.
The Surfing South Africa Tag Team Final will end the championships and the Awards Ceremony will take place at New Pier at 2 pm when the winners of all of the divisions, as well as the tag team champions and Freedom Cup winners will be announced.
See related posts:
http://stfrancischronicle.com/2011/10/08/first-winners-jbays-kai-woolf-clinches-u13-girls-champs/
http://stfrancischronicle.com/2011/10/06/hurley-sa-junior-champs-in-durban-days-2-3/
http://stfrancischronicle.com/2011/10/04/great-excitement-at-hurley-sa-junior-champs-in-durbs/
All photos: Karen/ Hurley
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