SA girls surf into Pro Junior finals in France and USA
Pictured: Bianca Buitendag shows the form that earned her 4th place and R2 400 at the Oakley Pro Junior in France on the weekend Photo: Aquashot / ASP Europe
SA girls surf into Pro Junior finals in France and USA
Redman, Palmboom and Bortoletto advance to Round 2 at Lacanau
ASP Africa Pro Junior titles to be decided at Victoria Bay in September
South Africans Bianca Buitendag and Nikita Robb posted stellar performances to reach the finals of ASP Pro Junior girls events in France and the USA respectively on the weekend.
Buitendag, 15, from Victoria Bay was one of the standouts in the Grade 2 Oakley Pro Junior at Lacanau, on the Bay of Biscay coast of France, taking on and defeating the cream of Europe’s 20-and-under female surfers in small 0.6 to one metre waves to reach the final four in the 40-strong field.
A lack of waves in the final, and an amazing last three minute performance that saw ASP World Pro Junior champion Pauline Ado (FRA) vault from fourth to first with two excellent rides, resulted in Buitendag, described as the ‘South African wunderkind’ in event media releases, finishing fourth overall with prize-money of R2 400.
Tanika Hoffman (Kommetjie), the only other SA surfer in the event, eventually lost out in the quarterfinals after starting strongly in the first two rounds, ending equal ninth overall.
Meanwhile in the Pacific Ocean, East London’s Nikita Robb cruised through a talented line-up of American and Hawaiian competitors to finish fourth in the Grade 4 Supergirl Pro Junior at Oceanside in California.
Referred to as the ‘international sensation from South Africa’, Robb, 20, from East London battled to find waves with scoring potential in the tiny 0.3 to 0.6 metre windswept waves for the final and ended behind winner Courtney Conlogue (USA), Malia Manuel (HAW) and Sage Erickson (USA), collecting prize-money of R13 000.
Robb is currently ranked No. 13 on the ASP Women’s World Qualifying Series (WQS), the highest of the SA contingent and narrowly ahead of fellow East Londoner Rosanne Hodge who is No. 14. With just two WQS events remaining on the 2009 schedule for women, a 5-Star in Rio de Janeiro starting on 7 October and a 6-Star at Haleiwa in Hawaii in November (still listed as Tentative), the ratings tallies are extremely close and the pair are still in with a chance of reaching the top six in the yearend rankings and automatically qualifying for the 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour.
ASP Women’s WQS Rankings
(After event No. 7 of 9)
1 Moore,Carissa HAW 7980
2 Ho,Coco HAW 7740
3 Bevilacqua,Claire AUS 6800
4 Miley-Dyer,Jessi AUS 6420
5 Woods,Rebecca AUS 6345
South Africans (Top 5)
13 Robb,Nikita ZAF 5650
14 Hodge,Rosanne ZAF 5620
35 Buitendag,Bianca ZAF 3520
37 Chudleigh,Tarryn ZAF 3380
53 Smith,Tammy Lee ZAF 2430
Redman, Palmboom and Bortoletto advance to Round 2 at Lacanau
Daniel Redman (Durban), Rudy Palmboom Jnr. (Bluff) and Antonio Bortoletto (Durban), all put their small-wave abilities to good use at Lacanau in France to advance to Round 2 of the 6-Star rated, R1.1 million Sooruz Lacanau Pro, Europe’s longest running professional surfing tournament.
The 0.6 to occasional one metre waves and light onshore winds produced conditions that were ideal for aerial manoeuvres with several near-perfect scores recorded as the competitors boosted themselves above the lip.
Chad du Toit (Durban) was SA’s only Round 1 casualty, while Durbanites David Weare, Travis Logie and Brandon Jackson were seeded directly into Round 2. The event runs until Sunday and all the action can followed live on the internet at http://sooruzlacanaupro09.com
ASP Africa Pro Junior titles to be decided at Victoria Bay in September
The 2009 ASP Africa titles for Pro Junior men and women will be decided at the Billabong Junior Series event at Victoria Bay in the Southern Cape from 23-26 September which features a Grade 2, R80 000 event for men and a Grade 1, R20 000 event for women.
The results will also determine the four men and one woman who will receive coveted invitations to represent ASP Africa at the annual Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Sydney, Australia at the beginning of January 2010.
The men’s ratings after three events are led by Casey Grant (Scottburgh), winner of the first Billabong Pro Junior in his hometown at Easter. He is followed by the consistent Chad du Toit (Durban), Kyle Lane (Umhlanga), winner of the Quiksilver Pro Junior in Durban in April, Brendon Gibbens (Kommetjie) and Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay), who won the Oakley Pro Junior at Port Alfred in May.
Fifteen-year-old Sarah Baum (Athlone Park) heads the women’s ratings after one event ahead of Kirsty Delport (Durban) with Heidi Palmboom (Bluff) and Tanika Hoffman (Kommetjie) tied third.
Those surfers wanting to compete in the Billabong Pro Junior events at Vic Bay are advised that the closing date for entries is next Tuesday, 25 August, after which seeding privileges will be forfeited and a late entry fee will be charged.
ASP Africa Pro Junior men’s ratings (After event No. 3 of 4)
1 Grant, Casey Scottburgh 3190
2 Du Toit, Chad Durban 2920
3 Lane, Kyle Umhlanga Rocks 2710
4 Gibbons, Brendon Cape Town 2690
5 Joubert, Shaun Mossel Bay 2600
6 Bromley, Matthew Cape Town 2230
6 Strachan, Klee Warner Beach 2230
8 Staples, Dale Cape St Francis 2115
9 MacNicol, Haydn Scottburgh 2110
10 Leppan, Chris Umhlanga Rocks 2000
ASP Africa Pro Junior women’s ratings (After event No. 1 of 2)
1 Baum, Sarah Durban 1000
2 Delport, Kirsty Durban 850
3 Palmboom, Heidi Bluff 730
3 Hoffman, Tanika Cape Town 730
5 McGregor, Laurie East London 610
5 Zoetmulder, Faye East London 610
5 Rautenbach, Chantelle Melkbosstrand 610
5 McGregor, Alive East London 610
For further information on the ASP Africa members, including profiles and rankings, visit www.aspafrica.com
ends
Issued on behalf of:
ASP Africa
Contact: Colin Fitch – Operations Manager
Tel: 021 534 5738
Email: aspafrica@mweb.co.za
Compiled & Distributed by:
Life’s a Beach Communications
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa
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Email: lifesabeach@mweb.co.za
About ASP:
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing’s undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the ASP World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world’s best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America.
