2005 Billabong Junior Series

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

Heatdraw/Results

Basnett does it again in Billabong Junior Series

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 4 April, 2005 : - - Ricky Basnett from Durban’s Bluff won his second successive Billabong Junior Series U20 boys title, and his third of the year, by employing his unique repertoire of dynamic surfing to again relegate fellow Durbanite Brandon Jackson to the runner-up slot in messy one to 1.3 metre (3-4 foot) waves at new Pier in Durban on Sunday.

Pounded by powerful waves throughout its three day duration, the event started in treacherous double-overhead, onshore surf on Friday that was groomed to perfect overhead tubes by Saturday’s stiff offshore winds. The final day started with glassy conditions that gradually deteriorated as the onshore wind again made its presence felt.

Despite only being seeded into round two because he missed most of last year’s series events, Basnett (19), the 2001 U20 champion and currently rated #85 on the World Tour ratings, stormed through round after round, including scoring a perfect 10 point ride on Saturday and overcoming reigning two-time U20 series champ Jordy Smith, before clinching the title. 

The semi-final man-on-man match-up between Basnett and the internationally acclaimed Smith (17) was a thriller as Basnett built a commanding lead made up of 9.0 and 8.0 point rides that left Smith needing a 10 point ride to match him. With minutes remaining Smith simply annihilated a wave in an explosive display of radical surfing only to be awarded 9.65 points and Basnett marched into the final. 

Jackson (18), starting in the fourth round along with top seed Dave Richards (Kommetjie), Smith and Shaun Payne (St Francis Bay), reached his second consecutive series final by defeating Payne, who also recorded a perfect score on Saturday, in their semi-final encounter. 

International experience was also a factor in the Pro Junior girls division where Rosanne Hodge convincingly beat fellow East Londoner and national junior teammate Nikita Robb. Hodge was on fire, racking up the two highest scoring rides of the final – an 8.5 and a 6.0 – while her opponents struggled to come to terms with the tricky conditions.  

The level of confidence shown by the girls in the overhead surf was encouraging for the future of SA surfing however, with Nicole Annells (Warner Beach) and Gabrielle Kool (Gillitts, KZN) taking third and fourth places respectively while Tammy-Lee Smith (Salt Rock, KZN) was the high point scorer of the division, totaling 15.5 points for her top two rides in Saturday’s quarter-finals. 

Kyle Lane (Umhlanga) joined Basnett as a the only two-time winner in 2005 when he repeated his U16 boys victory at the first series event at St Mikes with a workmanlike performance that saw him outscore last years division runner-up Klee Strachan (Fish Hoek) by 12.0 points to 10.0. First time finalists Devon Mundow (Kloof, KZN) and Shawn Dennis (Scottburgh) secured the minor places ahead of a highly competitive field of 32. 

Matthew Bromley continued the emergence of Kommetjie based surfers on the national scene by capturing the U14 title despite consistent performances from three of the finalists from the first event. Dale Staples (St Francis Bay) was again the runner-up while St Mikes winner Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay) dropped to third when he could not produce another high scoring ride to go with his heat-best 7.0, and Brendon Gibbens (Bishopscourt, CTN) slipped one place to fourth. 

The U12 final was see-saw battle between brothers Benjamin and David Brand from Kommetjie with the title going to the younger Benjamin, who won the U10 title at the Grommet Games in PE last week and is affectionately known as ‘Occy’ due to the similarity of his stocky build and identical ‘goofy-foot’ stance of 1999 world surfing champ Mark ‘Occy’ Occhilupo (Aus). 

David, winner of the U12 title in PE and also at the first series event at St Mikes, was pipped at the post by 11.50 vs. 11.25 in the final to take the runner-up spot from fellow Kommetjie charger Michael February. Dane Staples had to settle for a second successive fourth place finish. 

Brandon Jackson pocketed an additional R1 800 when he triumphed in the winner-takes-all Von Zipper Air Show where competitors are scored for the manoeuvres successfully completed after ‘boosting’ themselves and their surfboards into the air from face of the wave. 

The coveted Zigzag ‘Blowing Up’ award of R1 000 and a ‘hard-to-take-on-the- flight-home’ replica hand-grenade trophy went to Josh Redman (Umdloti) for one of the longest and deepest tube rides ever seen at New Pier, a venue renowned for its deep barrels. 

Diminutive Heidi Palmboom (Bluff), who entered both the U20 girls and U12 boys divisions and surfed a total of six heats in the intimidating conditions before being eliminated, was awarded the Kustom Award for the best performance by a local girl. The boy’s award went to Wesley O’Driscoll from La Lucia who won his second and third round heats in the U20 boys before being sidelined Payne and Jackson. 

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 fifth and 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 shared by the top three in each division and 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 2005 Billabong Junior Series started at St Mikes on the KZN South Coast in February and the third event will be staged at Big Bay in Cape Town (20-22 May) followed by 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 # 2, Dairy Beach, Durban 

Event Results 

Von Zipper Air Show
Brandon Jackson (Durban North) R1 800

Zigzag ‘Blowing Up’ Award
1. Josh Redman (Umdloti, KZN) R1 000

Kustom Awards for Best Local Surfers
Boys – Wesley O’Driscoll (La Lucia, KZN)
Girls – Heidi Palmboom (Bluff, KZN)

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