Wild conditions with 2 to 2.5 metre waves and strong winds forced organisers to postpone the start of competition on Day 2 of the 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships before running just the nine heats in the U18 boys Round 2 at Piha Beach in New Zealand today (Friday).

The challenging double-overhead surf made contest surfing a lottery as competitors battled to find waves with scoring potential and many of the heats were won with scores of less than 10 out of a possible 20.

Team captain Beyrick de Vries was the only South African to master the conditions and remain in the qualifying stream of the U18 boys, placing a distant second to Tahiti’s Tamaroa McComb. The Umhlanga teenager counted scores of 5.0 and 2.97 for a heat total of 7.97 to McComb’s 13.17 (7.0 and 6.17).

Dane Staples (St Francis Bay) was again sent out in the first heat of the day and was unlucky to place fourth and slip into the cutthroat repecharge rounds. In a tightly contested encounter where all four competitors were separated by a single point, Staples posted scores 4.77 and 2.0 on the only two waves he rode in the 20 minutes and required just 2.61 points to grab second spot.

Mikey February suffered a similar fate, dropping to the repecharges when he placed third needing just 4.51 points for a berth in the next round of qualifiers while fellow Kommetjie resident Davey Brand, the bronze medalist in the U16 division in Ecuador last year, will also have to take the far longer route if he is to make the finals of the U18 division this year.

Brand accumulated 10.17 points (6.67 and 5.50), the highest of the SA quartet in action today, but still required a ride of 5.11 to grab second spot from Tahiti’s Poulou Jocelyn in the last heat run on the day.

For the second day in succession Brazilian prodigy Gabriel Medina was the top scorer in the U18 boys division, racking up individual wave scores of 6.67 and 8.0 for a heat total of 14.67 out of 20, which was 1.50 points better than the next best total of 13.17 posted by Tahiti’s McComb.

Competition is expected to continue tomorrow with U16 boys’ qualifying Round 2 and repecharge Round 1scheduled for the main podium and U18 boys’ repecharge Rounds 1 & 2 planned for podium two. The U18 girls’ heats are yet to get underway at the event which runs until Thursday 28 January.

Surfing commences at 8.00am daily (9pm today SA time) on both podiums with live action webcast on www.isaworldjuniors.com

The 2010 South African Junior Surfing Team is supported by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), clothed by Quiksilver with additional support from Skullcandy and Power Balance.

Surfing South Africa will post a daily Press Release, photos and video footage focusing on the progress of the South Africans on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

Ends

Pictured: Brazilian Gabriel Medina was the top scorer in the wild conditions on day 3 of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships at Piha in New Zealand on Friday. Photo courtesy ISA

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Surfing South Africa

Contact:            Robin de Kock: General Manager (in New Zealand)
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