2007 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships

International Surfing Association
Costa de Caparica, Portugal
4 - 13 May 2007

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

Better surf but bad luck for South Africa on Day Four of the Quiksilver ISA World Juniors

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 10 May, 2007 : - - There was better surf on Day Four of the 2007 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships but plenty of bad luck for the South Africans as they saw two of their number eliminated in the blazing heat at Mata Beach, Costa Da Caparica, Portugal yesterday. 

The good news is that Tarryn Chudleigh and Nikita Robb remain in the qualifying section of the draw after two good performances in the crisp 2-3 foot surf on Day Four. 

Chudleigh was the star of the team as she dominated her round three qualifier to eclipse second placed Alize Armaud of France 12.17 to 6.40. She now moves on to round four, where team mate Nikita Robb will join her after earning a narrow second place to Diana de Souza of Brazil in a nailbiting encounter.

According to Robb, who is surfing in her fourth ISA World Junior Championships, " that was the toughest heat I have had in this contest so far" but she is under no illusion and knows that her heats will get more difficult over the next few days.

Chudleigh, the current Under 16 SA Champion and Robb, the SA Under 18 champion, are the only two South Africans still in the qualifying section of the draw. They will come up against each other and two Americans, Courtney Conloque and Sage Ericson, in the second heat of the round four qualifying heats on Friday.

Another South African to give  a good account of herself in qualifying round three was Chantelle Rautenbach, but heat winner Laura Enever of Australia and Sage Ericson outscored her in the dying moments and a Rautenbach will now move into the fourth repercharge round. Unfortunately Tanika Hoffman, the fourth member of the South African girl's group, placed third in her repercharge heat and was eliminated from the event.

In the Under 18 third qualifying round, Chad du Toit fought hard against Tonino Benson of Hawaii and contest sensation Marc Lacomare of France but had to settle for third, just 0,36 points behind the Hawaiian. He now goes to repercharge round six while Klee Strachan is in round four and Kyle Lane still needs to surf through round three.

Another South African to leave the event yesterday was Lungani Memani, who caught plenty of waves in his heat but failed to find the quality rides that he needed to overcome heat winner Omer Levin of Israel and Nicholas Von Rupp of Germany.

Matthew Bromley's winning streak faltered in his fourth round qualifier where he needed just 0,24 points to squeak into second place ahead of Matt Hewitt of New Zealand. It was not to be and his third place means a visit to repercharge round six, but the Cape Town surfer sees this as a challenge and remains upbeat about his chances.

Dale Staples, the only other Under 16 South African to surf on Day four, outclassed his opponents in his heat and is now into the third repercharge round while Nicky Godfrey and Shaun Joubert are in round four. Thursdays rounds feature Strachan, Lane, Staples, Godfrey, Joubert and Rautenbach on what will be a make or break day for the South African Team.

Live webcasting, heat results, press releases and photos are available on www.quiksilver.com/isa and www.isasurf.org There are updated photos of the Parade of Nations and the first four days of competition on www.wpsurfing.co.za.  All local press releases will be posted on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za daily.

The 2007 South African Junior team's attendance at the ISA World Junior Championships is funded by the National Lottery.

Team South Africa  www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za
# 1 : South African team gets good start at ISA World Juniors
# 2 : South African team blazes at ISA World Juniors on day 2
# 3 : Tough day at the office for South Africa at Quik ISA Jnrs.
# 4 : Coming soon  

www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

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