Young Aussie to Face Tough Task In Kelly Slater Surfers Battle Small Waves As Monster Swell Looms
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 6 April, 2006 : - - Surfers were forced to battle small wave conditions on day four of the Vodafone Open at Newcastle Beach today as they vied for top seeded round berths when the likes of 7 times world champion Kelly Slater (Florida, USA) and Mark Occhilupo (Gold Coast, Aus) will enter the 4 star World Qualifying Series (WQS) event.
Slater and Occhilupo are just two of the big name surfers who arrived to town today with their big wave boards in tow, a radical change expected to see 3 to 4 metre waves by Sunday’s final day of surfing action. 22-year-old Port Stevens surfer Nick Coghlan will face the toughest heat of his career tomorrow when he matches up against seven times world champion Slater at the Vodafone Open.
Awarded a wildcard into the top seeded round courtesy of the event organizers, Coghlan is a former top Australian junior competitor forging a name for himself on the WQS. “I never thought I would ever get a chance to surf against Kelly Slater,” said Coghlan. “It is going to be one of the most high profile heats of the round, if not the event so just to be a part of that is amazing.”
“Imagine being known as the guy who beat Kelly, it would be huge, especially for my local area,” said Coghlan. “It is a huge opportunity, I have been training really hard over the last few weeks and I will go into it as a confidence booster if nothing else.” While the men took the morning off, the first round of the Newcastle Women’s Pro took to the water.
Rebecca Woods : photo Robertson/Vodafone Open
NewCastle Womens Classic kicks off in small conditons
World tour competitors Rebecca Woods (Copacabana) and Serena Brooke (Gold Coast) upstaged their male counterparts today with Woods posting the highest total heat score of 17.67 and Brooke posting the mornings highest wave score of 9.33 in their opening heats. The pair had been training on the NSW north coast and entered the Newcastle Women’s Pro following the cancellation of the SPC WCT event in Victoria which was scheduled to run next week.
Two times Newcastle women’s pro champion Woods showed no signs of the shoulder injury that kept her out of competition for the latter part of 2006, making her intentions clear of a win at Newcastle. “It’s great for the young girls to come in and have a go against some of the seeded girls,” said Woods. “This is sort of like my second home so to come out and have a good heat is always a good start. It’s a great event and the sponsors are really backing us now so it’s good.”
“Coming back from injury is always difficult but also mentally for me because I started peaking in CT’s last year and got a few thirds, starting getting on the ball and was really excited,” said Woods. “The next second I couldn’t even lift my arm. To get that taken away from me was really disappointing so it’s just good to come back and start enjoying it again”.
Both Woods and Brooke moved comfortably through to the girl’s second round scheduled for tomorrow. Woods will surf against a trio of talented juniors in Mischa Davis (NZ), Jaimee Wheatley (Geraldton) and Amy Stewart (Jan Juc) while Brooke will surf against former world number two and defending event champion Lynette MacKenzie (Maroubra), ASP Australasian Junior Series leader Airini Mason and French surfer Caroline Sarran.
With half of the women’s round two heats staged the opening two quarter finals were decided. The Gold Coasts Sheridan Shields, Sunshine Coaster Rebecca Oakley, Byron Bay’s Laurina McGrath and French surfer Charlotte Caton all through to quarter final one. Quarter final two will see Avoca’s Amee Donohoe up against Byron Bay’s Carly Smith, Wollongong’s Yvonne Byron and Samantha Joy.
When the men’s competition resumed at the round of 126, Sunshine Coaster Ryan Campbell progressed through his first heat of competition in a low scoring affair over Kyle Garson (USA), Justin Mujica (PRT) and Australian Matt Thompson.
The small goofy footer was well suited to lackluster reforms on offer at the Vodafone Open today. His two scoring rides of 4.67 and 6.83 out of a possible 10 were more than enough to see him through in first place.
“It’s a pretty nervous round that one, you can either come close to having a thousand dollars or you get nothing,” said Campbell. “I had a couple of low scores and tried to better them. I ended up with a high six but I still wasn’t safe.”
“The waves were terrible this morning and I didn’t think they would run it but it has picked up throughout the day and there are a couple of fun ones now,” said Campbell. “It’s meant to pick up again for the weekend and the first round had great waves at Merewether so we could be back there.”
Gold Coast surfer Corey Ziems (Currumbin) booked himself a spot in tomorrows top seeded round thanks to a strong heat win over Hawaiian TJ Baron, with Anthony Walsh (Lennox Head) and Matt Bemrose (Curl Curl) eliminated. Opening with a 6.17 before scoring the heat high 7.67, Ziems was in control for the majority of the 20-minute-exchange, surfing fast and fluid in the tiny surf.
In tomorrows round of 64 he will surf against Dustin Cuizon (Haw) world number nine Tom Whitaker (Bronte) and Luke Hitchings (Bronte). Not so lucky was fellow Gold Coaster Dion Agius (Currumbin) who was ousted in his opening heat this afternoon.
The day’s top heat was a remake of the ASP World Junior Title final at Narrabeen in January. Junior champ Kekoa Bacalso (Haw) and runner up Tahitian surfer Michel Bourez traded nine point rides in their round of 96 heat this afternoon, showing the strong Newcastle crowd why they are the two best 21 year old surfers on earth.
Both progressing with ease through to tomorrows top seeded round of 64 over Hira Terinatoofa (PYF) and Darren Turner (Aus), Bacalso and Bourez showed in no uncertain terms that they are the inform surfers of the event.
The 2006 Vodafone Surfest is being dedicated to Newcastle legend and retired WCT stalwart Luke Egan. While his close friends and past foes will be hitting the water tomorrow in the main seeded round, Egan is confident that the weekend’s massive predicted swell will turn it on.
“There’s a famous day from around here from years and years ago. It was at Merewether and it was 10, 12 feet it was perfect and I dare say Surfest is about due for one of them,” said Egan. “It’s great to see the caliber of surfers coming to Newcastle for the Vodafone Open, the surf’s going to come up and the weekend’s looking extra special, could even be a relocation to Merewether.”
Despite possessing more insight into the world’s best surfers than most, Egan remained relatively tight lipped about who would be hot favourite for the title at Newcastle this year.
“Um, no not yet, I’m not sure, I think you have to wait till all the top seeds have surfed in any WQS or WCT event before you can make a prediction but we’ll see how Kelly’s looking tomorrow,” said Egan. “If he look’s like he really wants to win he’ll be hard and Occy is coming straight of a win at Margaret River so he’s pretty pumped.”
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World champions hit water at Vodafone Surfest
SIX world champions boasting 17 world crowns between them will join forces for a surfing "expression session" set down for Newcastle Beach this Sunday. Kelly Slater (seven titles), Mark Richards (four), Tom Carroll (two), Damien Hardman (two), Mark Occhilupo (one) and Barton Lynch (one) will take part in the half-hour display to honour surfing great and hometown hero Luke Egan as part of the Vodafone Surfest presented by Billabong.
Others hand-picked by Egan for the session include his father, legendary board shaper Sam Egan, former pro tour stalwarts Matt Hoy and Simon Law, Merewether surf club stalwart Gary Back, Newcastle City Council lifeguard Darren Toomey and former Australian amateur surf team captain Roger Clements.patt
The involvement of Slater and Occhilupo in the expression session will depend on how they fare in the Vodafone Open - that is, they will rule themselves out if either makes it through to the final of the four-star World Qualifying Series event worth $US 75,000.
The 21st annual Vodafone Surfest has been dedicated to Egan, who is arguably the best surfer to never win a world title, with his best result being a narrow second to Hawaiian Sunny Garcia in 2001. Now based on the Gold Coast, the 36-year-old retired from the international circuit last year after twenty years on the surfing tour, holding the record for the most top 30 finishes in history. He now works as marketing manager for surfwear giant Billabong.
A good mate of Egan's - the world's greatest rugby league player, Andrew Johns - this morning ruled himself out of being able to take part in the expression session. Johns, who is battling a neck injury that kept him out of the Newcastle Knights' loss to New Zealand last Sunday, told Egan this morning that he would not be surfing on Sunday.
For the second time in as many weeks, huge swells are predicted to belt the NSW coast this weekend. Organisers have put plans in place to move the event to Merewether if the predicted southerly swell jeopardises the safety of competitors.
The Vodafone Open is the main event of the Vodafone Surfest presented by Billabong is supported by the NSW Major Events Board, NSW Tourism, NBN Television, NEW FM and The Herald.
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