Greg Emslie of East London has been named as captain of the South African Team that will compete in the inaugural ISA China Cup which gets under way in Hainan Island on 7 January 2012.
Emslie, the current SA Open and Masters champion, Dale Staples (St Francis Bay), Royden Bryson (East London), Brandon Jackson (Durban), Sarah Baum (Durban) and Nikita Robb (Cape Town) make up the side.
The top eight countries in the World have been invited to participate in the ISA China Cup which is a focal part of the Hainan Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival presented by Quiksilver. South Africa will be joined by current Team World Champions Peru, Australia, Brazil, USA, France, Argentina and Venezuela.
Peru’s stars are Christobal de Col, Gabriel Villaran, Carlos Zapata and Sophia Mulanovich while Australia will pin their hopes on Heath Joske, Blake Thornton and the talented Jessie Miley Dyer. Wiggoly Dantas, Bruna Schmitz and Diana de Sousa are the best known surfers in the Brazilian team while Corey Lopez, Chris Ward and Sage Erickson are the stars in the USA lineup. Jeremy Flores, Marc Lacomare and Pauline Ado are the top ranked trio in the French team while Argentina will pin their hopes on the current World Champion Santiago Muniz.
The ISA China Cup will be followed by a second surfing competition, the Hainan Classic which is an ASP Men’s 4-Star contest which will not only feature all the surfers from the ISA China Cup but will also include surfers who will be competing on the 2012 ASP World Qualifying Series. The Hainan Classic takes place from 11-14 January 11-14 and the total prize purse is $95,000 USD.
The South African team will leave for China on 3 January 3 and return on 16 January.
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