Pictured: Jordy Smith throws a sheet of spray at Trestles in 2008 Photo: ASP/ CI / SCHOLTZ via GETTY IMAGES

Dan Redman recorded the best result of the South African campaigners in the San Miguel Zarautz Pro at Zarautz on the Basque coast of Spain when he placed ninth overall in the 5-Star rated, US $120 000 ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) event on Saturday.

The 25-year-old from Umdloti took advantage of a rare seeding into the Round of 96 to progress through three rounds, reaching the last 16 before being sidelined by eventual winner Gony Zubizarreta from Spain. Redman’s haul of US $2 000 (nearly R16 000) and 1 100 ratings points saw him climb 17 places to No. 69 on the latest WQS ranking list.

Travis Logie (Durban) retained his No. 9 spot on the WQS leaderboard and took another step towards re-qualifying for the 2010 ASP World Tour despite being eliminated in the Round of 48, a result that does not go into his best seven scores.

Royden Bryson (Cape Town) and Brandon Jackson (Durban North) both dropped one spot to Nos. 32 and 34 respectively after also going out in the Round of 48 while Rudy Palmboom Jnr. (Bluff) and Durbanites Warwick Wright, Antonio Bortoletto and Pro Junior Chad du Toit all picked up some prize-money before being ousted in the Round of 96.

The event was won by Zubizarreta, 24, who defeated Blake Thornton (Aus) in the final to the delight of the partisan local crowd. Nathan Yeomans (USA) and Glen Hall (IRL) finished equal third after losing out in the semis.

The next event on the WQS is the 5-Star rated Pantin Pro on the North Coast of Spain starting on Tuesday and running until Sunday. Visit www.aspeurope.com for details of live webcasts, images and news from the event.

ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) rankings (after Zarautz, event No. 28 of 40)

1 Ross,Daniel AUS 14975
2 Andre,Jadson BRA 14663
3 Wright,Owen AUS 13588
4 Melling,Adam AUS 13026
5 Gudauskas,Patrick USA 12588
6 Wilkinson,Matt AUS 12150
7 Duru,Joan FRA 12050
8 Simpson,Brett USA 11863
9 Logie,Travis ZAF 11851
10 Thornton,Blake AUS 11763

South Africans (minimum 7 events)

32 Bryson,Royden ZAF 8763
34 Jackson,Brandon ZAF 8551
54 Wright,Warwick ZAF 7069
57 Palmboom,Rudy ZAF 7001
69 Redman,Daniel ZAF 6451
82 Fahrenfort,Damien ZAF 6114
86 Bortoletto,Antonio ZAF 6064
105 Basnett,Ricky ZAF 5276
130 Du Toit,Chad ZAF 4538
135 Strachan,Klee ZAF 4406

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Smith, Emslie and Weare head for Trestles, California as ASP World Tour resumes

Durbanites Jordy Smith and David Weare and East London’s Greg Emslie, SA’s three representatives on the ASP World Tour, will get back to work next weekend at the Hurley Pro Trestles, Event No. 6 of 10 for 2009, which runs at Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California from September 13 – 19.

Smith goes into the event rated No. 10 in the world and has the talent to advance deep into the draw. Acknowledged as one of the new-age icons of progressive surfing, along with the likes of American Dane Reynolds, Smith advanced to Round 4 as a rookie in 2008 before being induced into paddling for a wave by the wily Taj Burrow (AUS) who used the switch in priority to snag the heat winning ride.

In 2007 the then 19-year-old Durbanite won a wildcard into the event and went on to eliminate Joel Parkinson (AUS) and three-time world champion Andy Irons (HAW) on his way to another Round 4 finish. Smith’s incredible repertoire of gravity defying manoeuvres are tailor-made for the high performance surf at Trestles while his improved understanding of the strategies required to win man-on-man heats now make him a formidable opponent.

Emslie too has a pair of Round 4 results at Trestles and his proven ability in right breaking point waves could see him improve on his best result of 17th this year. Weare, who finished 33rd at Trestles during his injury-ravaged 2007 campaign on the World Tour, will be expecting to better the string of 33rd places he has posted at the previous three events this year..

Parkinson, the 2004 Trestles champ, currently heads the ASP World Tour rankings after winning three of the first five events and holds a substantial 1 404 point lead over CJ Hobgood (USA). But nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater is the man they all have to beat at the famed Californian break. Slater has been in the final for the last five years, winning three times, including the last two.

The Hurley Pro Trestles will host the world’s top 45 plus wildcards Brett Simpson (USA), 24, winner of July’s WQS 6-Star Hurley U.S. Open in Huntington Beach, former ASP World No. 2 Rob Machado (USA), 36, and reigning ASP World Junior Champion Kai Barger (HAW), 19.

The event starts on Sunday 13 September and will be covered live via a comprehensive webcast available at www.hurley.com/hurleypro/

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Rosanne Hodge back in action on ASP Women’s World Tour at end of the month

Rosanne Hodge, in her third season as SA’s lone presence on the ASP Women’s World Tour, will be back in action at the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic at Dee Why in Sydney, Australia from September 30 – 5 October.

The East Londoner will be itching to pull on a contest vest again at the most lucrative event on the women’s tour after a five month break since the last event at Bells Beach. She will be determined to improve on the pair of ninth place finishes that see her ranked equal 13th and outside the top 10 who automatically re-qualify for the 2010 tour.

Two-time and reigning ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) heads the ratings after winning the opening event in her home surf on the Gold Coast, followed by Bells winner Silvana Lima (Brazil). The world’s top 17 females will be joined by wildcard and defending event champion Tyler Wright (AUS) who became the youngest winner of an ASP World Tour event at age 14 last year, and seven-time world champion and event founder Layne Beachley (AUS), 37.

For further information visit www.aspworldtour.com

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For more 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
Tel: +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Fax: +27 (0) 86 684 6250
Mobile: +27 (0) 82 423 1964
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.

 

Pictured: Dale Staples shows the form that earned him the Billabong Junior Series Pro Junior title at Victoria Bay Photo: Clinton Theron / Billabong

2009 Billabong Junior Series
South Africa’s premier national junior surfing series
Scottburgh, Jeffreys Bay & Victoria Bay
April – September 2009

The 2009 Billabong Junior Series champions will be crowned at Victoria Bay next month when the third and final event in South Africa’s premier national tour for surfers aged 20-and-under is staged at the picturesque Southern Cape point-break from 23-26 September.

The 13^th annual series champions in the Pro Junior (U20) men and women, U16, U14 and U12 boys’ divisions will join an elite group of surfers such as Jordy Smith, Royden Bryson, Ricky Basnett and David Weare who honed their competitive repertoires on the Billabong Junior Series before going on to qualify for the ASP Dream Tour.

The Vic Bay event will also determine the 2009 ASP Africa Pro Junior champions and features an ASP Grade 2, R80 000 Pro Junior men’s event and an ASP Grade 1, R20 000 Pro Junior women’s event. The top four men and top woman on the yearend ASP Africa ratings receive sought after invitations to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia in January, the event that launched the careers of the likes of Joel Parkinson (AUS), Andy Irons (HAW) and Adriano de Souza (BRA).

Casey Grant (Scottburgh), winner of the first Billabong Pro Junior event of 2009 at his home-break in April, leads both the series and ASP Africa rankings going into the most important Pro Junior event of the year. Grant will be hard pressed to retain his lead by the outstanding current crop of local chargers that include local standout Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay), who took the title at the Pro Junior event at Port Alfred in May and has been winning nationally rated events at Victoria Bay since his days in U12’s.

Others with the talent and form to challenge for honours include former Vic Bay winner Dale Staples (St Francis Bay), who recently finished third in the Billabong Pro Junior Bali against a world-class field, national junior surfing team captain Matthew Bromley and fellow Kommetjie ripper Brendon Gibbens and the likes of Chad du Toit (Durban) and Kyle Lane (Umhlanga).

Vic Bay local Bianca Buitendag, who triumphed in the first series event at Scottburgh, has the talent and local knowledge to clinch the event title and the series crown at her home-break, while ASP Africa ratings leader Sarah Baum (Athlone Park) will be hoping to earn the invitation to Australia for the second successive year.

Both will be eyeing the form of multiple event champion Tarryn Chudleigh (Kommetjie) who campaigned on the ASP Women’s World Qualifying Series (WQS) earlier this year and missed the Pro Junior women’s events in SA. Kirsty Delport (Durban), Heidi Palmboom (Bluff) and Tanika Hoffman (Kommetjie) are all potential event champions.

The highly competitive U16 boys’ division is wide open with the likes of recently crowned King of the Groms champion Davey Brand and fellow Kommetjie rippers Michael February, Jarred Veldhuis and Daniel Wilson strong contenders. They are joined by point-break experts such as Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay) and Dane Staples (St Francis Bay) along with Scottburgh event winner David van Zyl (Glenashley), all of whom are red hot performers.

Benji Brand (Kommetjie), Slade Prestwich (Park Rynie), Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand) and Max Armstrong (Scarborough) head a particularly exciting group of U14 boys with Daniel Buitendag, winner of the Billabong Occy Grom Comp at Jeffreys Bay in July, bound to be in the mix at his home break.

The youngest division, the U12 boys, produces incredible surfing from the likes of Jordy Maree (Kalk Bay), Shane Sykes (Salt Rock), Ethan Fletcher (Kommetjie) and the fast improving Donovan Wichmann (Marina da Gama), the winner in J-Bay. Matthew McGillivray (PE), Steffen Burrows (Strand) and Jonah Paarman (Kommetjie) will also make their presence felt at Vic Bay.

The event will also feature the dazzling Von Zipper Air Show where selected contestants are rewarded for their expertise in performing aerial manoeuvres above the lip of the wave with the top performer earning the winner-takes-all R2 000 prize-purse.

Video footage, 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 on the channels of SuperSport.

The 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 events are sanctioned by ASP Africa, the regional office for ASP International.

The series is proudly supported by First National Bank, Von Zipper and Kustom.

Online entries for the PST events can be made at www.billabong.com while the ASP events must be entered via www.aspafrica.com Please note that the closing date for the ASP Africa sanctioned Pro Junior events is next Tuesday, 25 August, while the PST events close two weeks prior to the event dates.

Billabong Events & Contest Coordinator Laureen Payne can be contacted for queries at 042 200 2600 or laureen.payne@billabong.co.za

The 2009 Billabong Junior Series started in Scottburgh (8-11 April) and continued with the inaugural Occy Grom Comp in Jeffreys Bay (9-15 July) before concluding at Victoria Bay (23-26 September) where the series champions will be crowned for the 13^th time.

ends

Issued on behalf of:

Billabong South Africa

Tel:                   042 200 2600
Fax:                  042 293 2478
Email:               laureen.payne@billabong.co.za

Compiled & Issued by:

Life’s a Beach Communications 
PO Box 48272, Kommetjie, 7976 South Africa
Tel / Fax:     +27 (0) 21 783 4965
Mobile:        +27 (0) 82 423 1964
Email:          lifesabeach@mweb.co.za