Ant McColl & Proctor seesaw for Kiwi title

Hyundai Longboard Tour Event #5

Surfing New Zealand
Mount Maunganui  New Zealand
1 - 2 March 2013

Front Runners Encounter Early Match Up

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 1 March, 2013 : - - Front runners on the 2013 Hyundai Tour ratings had an early encounter today when Daniel Procter (Gis) and Ant McColl (Mnt/Tara) unexpectedly found themselves contesting the same quarterfinal heat. It was Procter that got the edge in the heat with McColl progressing into the semifinals behind Procter in second place.

The fifth and final event of the 2013 Hyundai Tour is being held at Mount Maunganui and today saw some sensational conditions early on with 1.5m waves and offshore winds. The swell decreased throughout the day making for difficult conditions later the afternoon.

Procter who is the current ratings leader and McColl, ranked second, will go head to head for the second time at the event early on Sunday before potentially meeting each other for a third time in the final should the both progress. First the two surfers will have to get past two local surfers in Owen Barnes and Cale Tolley in the semifinal tomorrow.

Procter needs to equal or better McColl's result at the event to claim his first Hyundai Tour title while McColl needs to finish one place higher than Procter to claim his first title.

In other key match ups on the first day of the event, winner of the Sandy Bay and Taranaki legs of the tour, Thomas Kibblewhite (Red Beach), had a very close encounter narrowly progressing through to the semifinals in second place behind Zen Wallis (Piha).

Kibblewhite held second throughout the heat but was challenged on the final hooter by Jamie Andrews (Tara) who rode a great wave that came up less than 0.5 points short of causing a major upset. Kibblewhite keeps his chances alive of becoming the first surfer to ever win three straight events on the Hyundai Tour.

2011 Hyundai Tour Champion Dylan Barnfield (Ohope) was the other surfer to win through to the semifinals after winning his heat over Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata)

The Stand Up Paddleboard Division contested two rounds of heats early with the usual suspects moving through to the semifinals. Daniel Kereopa (Rag) dominated his heats to ensure he will claim the Tour for the second year running regardless of the results. Likewise the chasing pack kept their race going for the minor placings with Shayne Baxter (Chch), Armie Armstrong (Rag) and Karlos Aarsen (WGM) all moving through to the semifinals.

Craig Anderson (Mnt), front runner in the Over 40s Longboard Division dominated the first round scoring 12.33 points to move into the semifinals. Brian Moore (Auck), Justin Bamberry (Auck) and local surfer James Atutahi (Mnt) also won their heats to keep their hopes alive on the final day of the event.

Surf conditions are expected to remain the same for Saturday with a slightly decreasing 1.0m swell and light variable winds.

Action will take place on from 8:00am at Tay Street. The finals will take place from 2:00pm. The Logger Division will take place prior to the finals with the King of the Waves Race at 10:30am and the Long Distance Race at 2:00pm.

Overall the Hyundai Tour boasts $12,000 in prize money which is boosted to $20,000 with another $8,000 distributed to boardrider clubs and community groups at locations the tour frequents.

Hyundai have teamed up with Global Surf Industries and Starboard to provide boards to raffle off at each event location. All proceeds from this weekend's raffles go back to the Taranaki Scholastic Surfing Team.

www.surfingnz.co.nz

Source: Surfing New Zealand

Author: Ben Kennings

Tags: SUP, Hyundai Tour, New Zealand

Longboard: Surfersvillage