Micheal Fitzharris : photo courtesy Surfing New Zealand

Hyundai National Surfing Championships 2006

Surfing New Zealand
The Bluff, Ninety Mile Beach, Northland
7 - 14 January 2006

DEFENDING CHAMPION FITZHARRIS PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES IN THE HYUNDAI LONGBOARD

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 9 January, 2006 : - - Defending National Longboard Champion Michael Fitzharris (Gis) showed the rest of the Longboard field how it is done today (Monday) while contesting the first round of the division.  Surfing in the first heat of the day, Fitzharris scored a whopping 15.50 out of twenty on the way to the heat win and progression into the quarter finals. 

The 2006 Hyundai National Surfing Championships is the first stop of six on the 2006 Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour and with the event having a five star rating, valuable points are on offer for all contenders.  The establishment of the 2006 tour has created a greater level of interest in the longboarding division and a significant increase in entry numbers. 

Fitzharris was not alone in impressing the judges as several of the top seeds went on to win their first round heats.  Phil Morris (Auck) and Daniel Proctor (Gis) both won their heats with scores of 11.0 and 10.05 respectively.  Number three seed Kelly Ryan progressed in second place behind a barnstorming performance from Hawkes Bay surfer Brendon Young who posted 13.0 points to win his heat. 

The unseeded Daniel Kereopa (Rag) had all fellow competitors watching closely to see if he could make the transition from his preferred shortboard to the longer version.  Kereopa didn’t fail to impress going for some huge turns in the punchy close outs on the inside.  However, falling on several waves, Kereopa only managed one excellent scoring ride of 8.25 but still won his heat.  Kereopa will now meet Ryan in the quarters alongside Brendon Young and young Matt Cockayne who is a highly touted up and comer. 

In the Over 35 Men’s Seth Matthews (Tara) put on an excellent display of surfing on his way to going one better than his runner up performance in the 2005 Nationals.  The powerful Matthews scored 11.25 in his first heat, the score only being matched by Shawn Collier (Gis) who won heat three.  In the final heat of the round Auckland’s Rick Lasch rounded out the winners circle beating Christchurch’s Glenn Shuker into second.   

The Over 40s, 45s and 50s as well as the Under 14 Boys are scheduled to be contested late this afternoon.  A building swell is already starting to show on the beach and combined with rumours of big swells in the Otago region, organisers are confident the event will be relocated back to the points for Tuesday.  If conditions permit, the Open Men’s will re enter the fray with all top seeds scheduled to surf early on Tuesday morning. 

Previous reports:
# 1 : Hyundai Surfing Championships draws top NZ surfers 
# 2 : Pines turns it on for Hyundai National Surfing Champs  
# 3 : Jay Quinn leads hot round 2 action at NZ Nat'l Champs
# 4 : Coming soon  
# 5 : Coming soon
# 6 : Coming soon
# 7 : Coming soon  

Complete lists of all National Champions are lavailable at;– www.surfingnz.co.nz/history.htm. 

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Ben Kennings
benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz

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