South Africa's February hot starts at World Jrs

Team Updates

Michael February shocks top seed on opening day of Oakley ASP World Junior Championships Bali

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 6 October, 2012 : - - The 2012 Oakley ASP World Junior Championships Bali got off to a flying start at Echo Beach, Canggu earlier today with the world's best 20-and-under surfers keen to stamp their authority on this event that will crown the 2012 ASP World Junior Champions. South Africa’s Michael February caused the upset of the opening day when he defeated the event's top seed Keanu Asing (HAW) and local trials runner-up Nyoman Satria (IND) by posting one of the day's highest heat totals.

"That was the first surf I've had out here at Canggu this year," February said. "I got a couple of good ones so I'm really happy. This place is well known for its air sections and the wind was good too.”

The lanky 19-year-old from Kommetjie produced an outstanding performance in the tricky one to 1.5 metre waves, taking the lead after just four minutes and building his heat total throughout the 25 minute encounter. When the siren sounded to end proceedings February had 16.67 points, the third highest heat total of the day, with Asing needing a perfect 10 point ride to take the lead and Satria needing a combination of two rides.

“I saw that I was up against Keanu (Asing) and I was kind of nervous, but all of the heats are hard in this competition,” February commented. “That win gives me a lot of confidence going into the next round." The heat victory sees ‘M Feb’ advance directly to Round 3 while those finishing second and third will have to contest sudden death man-on-man Round 2 clashes where the winner advances and the loser is eliminated from the event.

The rest of the South African contingent did not fare as well with Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga), Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh), Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay) and Davey Brand (Kommetjie) all relegated to Round 2 match-ups. Brazilian Peterson Crisanto(BRA) put on a dominating performance in his opening heat, reading the waves perfectly and using his aerial attack to score a near perfect two wave heat-total of 19.00 (out of a possible 20).

Vicente Romero (ESP), Brazilian born but Spanish raised, scored a near perfect 9.93 (out of a possible 10) for a beautifully surfed wave with powerful carves and a massive aerial. Romero defeated defending ASP World Junior Champion Caio Ibelli (BRA) with a total of 17.03 points.

The girl’s event is likely to get underway in Bali tomorrow morning. South Africa is represented by Bianca Buitendag (George), who is the top seed for this event and recently qualified for the 2013 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour by finishing No. 2 on the ASP Star rankings, and Sarah Baum (Durban), who ended the year ranked No. 17 out of 165.

A call on who will be competing tomorrow will be made at 7am (1am SA Time).

www.aspworldtour.com
http://oakleyprojunior.com

Source: Life's a Beach

Author: Paul Botha

Tags: South Africa, Mikey February, Oakley World Junior Champs

Team: Surfersvillage