2005 Billabong Junior Series

Five event national surfing series
St Mikes, Durban, Cape Town, Victoria Bay & Jeffreys Bay
February – August 2005

KwaZulu Natal surfers take Pro Junior titles in Billabong Junior Series

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 28 February 2005: - - Ricky Basnett from the Bluff and Tammy-Lee Smith from Salt Rock captured the premier Pro Junior (U20) boys and girls titles in the first Billabong Junior Series event of 2005 in near perfect 1.3 to two metre (4-6 foot) waves at St Michaels-on-Sea on the KZN South Coast on Sunday.

KZN surfers also dominated the U16 boys final with Kyle Lane (Umhlanga) emerging triumphant while Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay) was the winner in the U14’s and David Brand led a strong Kommetjie contingent to secure the U12 title.

Basnett (19), rated 85th on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the 2002 series U20 champion, was in outstanding form throughout the event, using his international experience and trademark explosive and innovative surfing to win every heat he contested.

He earned 7.0 and 5.83 point scores for a 12.83 point heat total in the final to relegate Durbanite Brandon Jackson to the runner-up spot in the man-on-man format introduced for the last four in the U20 boys division this year. Jackson had been a standout in earlier rounds, winning the Zigzag Performance award that added R1 000 to his prize-money haul for ‘blowing up’ and recording the event’s best score for a single ride – 9.33 out of 10 – in his semi-final.

Jackson beat Shaun Payne (St Francis Bay), who placed an SA best third in the Billabong World Junior Championships in Australia in January, in their semi-final match-up, while Basnett squeaked into the final by taking out fellow Bluff surfer Scott Venter.

Smith, who flew back from her campaign on the Australasian Pro Junior circuit specifically to participate in this event, was rewarded with a convincing victory over Kommetjie’s Tarryn Chudleigh (15). With the top girl in the series being invited to the 2006 world junior champs for the first time, along with the top four U20 boys, Smith’s jet setting paid off and she heads the ratings from Chudleigh, Sarah Matthews (Cape St Francis) and fourth placed Nikita Robb (East London).

Lane kept the KZN flag flying high when he outscored second placed Jaco Steyn from Bloubergstrand in a tightly contested U16 boy's final. Local South Coast surfers Kyle Whittaker (Umtentweni) and Kyle Beach (Queensburgh) beat the rest of country’s top competitors in their age group to reach the final where they filled third and fourth places respectively.

Joubert, fourth overall in the U14 division last year, stepped up a gear with an outstanding 8.83 point ride in the final to clinch the St Mikes title from Dale Staples (St Francis Bay) who also impressed with an 8.50. Brendon Gibbens (Bishopscourt) showed significant improvement to secure third spot ahead of the dynamic James Woods (Kommetjie).

Kommetjie’s reputation as the epicenter of surfing on the Cape Peninsula was fully endorsed when David Brand, Michael February and the younger Brand, Benjamin, finished first second and third in the U12 boys final. In waves that were considerably overhead for all of the competitors in the youngest division of the series, Dane Staples (St Francis Bay) did well to reach the final, placing fourth.

Rudy Palmboom from the Bluff earned not only the highest but also the second highest score to dominate the winner-takes-all Von Zipper Air Show that is staged on the final day of each series event.

The Kustom Awards for the best local surfers at the event went to Michael Venter, an U12 boy from Warner Beach with Laura Oppel from Uvongo being awarded the girls equivalent.

Every competitor is awarded ratings points based on the position they achieve in each event they compete in and the series winners in the five age categories are determined by their accumulated ratings points after the final event in Jeffreys Bay, where the annual series champions are will be crowned for the ninth successive year in August.

The series prize-pool of R17 500 is split by the top three in each division is supplemented by an additional R17 500 provided by First National Bank (FNB) in the form of fixed deposit accounts. FNB also cover the travel costs of those selected to compete in the Billabong World Junior Championships in Australia annually.

The next event on the 2005 Billabong Junior Series will be staged Durban (1-3 April) followed by Big Bay in Cape Town (20-22 May) and Victoria Bay in the Southern Cape (16-19 June). The series concludes in Jeffreys Bay over the period 5-8 August.

Billabong Junior Series
Event # 1, St Michaels-on-Sea, Southern KZN
Event Results

U/20 Boys
Ricky Basnett (Bluff, KZN) R3 000
Brandon Jackson (Durban) R2 000
=3rd Scott Venter (Bluff, KZN) R1 250
=3rd Shaun Payne (St Francis Bay) R1 250

U/20 Girls
Tammy-Lee Smith (Salt Rock, KZN) R2 000
Tarryn Chudleigh (Kommetjie) R 900
Sarah Matthews (Cape St Francis) R 600
Nikita Robb (East London) R 500

U/16 Boys
Kyle Lane (Umhlanga, KZN) R2 000
Jaco Steyn (Bloubergstrand, CT) R1 000
Kyle Whittaker (Umtentweni, KZN) R 750
Kyle Beach (Queensburgh, KZN) R 550

U/14 Boys
Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay) R1 500
Dale Staples (St Francis Bay) R 850
Brendon Gibbens (Bishopscourt, CT) R 550
James Woods (Kommetjie) R 350

U/12 Boys
David Brand (Kommetjie) R1 000
Michael February (Kommetjie) R 750
Benjamin Brand (Kommetjie) R 500
Dane Staples (St Francis Bay) R 350

Von Zipper Air Show
Rudy Palmboom (Bluff, KZN) R1 800

Zigzag Performance Award
1. Brandon Jackson (Durban) R1 000

Kustom Awards for Best Local Surfers
Boys – Michael Venter (Warner Beach)
Girls – Laura Oppel (Uvongo, KZN)

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