Dale Staples : photo Silver Bullet Productions

Billabong Junior Series

Surfing South Africa
Victoria Bay South Africa
9 - 12 August 2007

Dale Staples upstages older rivals to win Billabong Junior Series at Vic Bay

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 12 August, 2007 : - - Dale Staples upstaged his older rivals to win the premier Pro Junior (U20) boys’ division of the Billabong Junior Series event at Victoria Bay in the Southern Cape on Sunday, defeating a game but exhausted Nick Godfrey in a one-sided final.

In powerful 1.3 to two metre (4-6 foot) waves with a light onshore wind, Staples took full advantage of his shock elimination in the Under 16 boys division on Thursday to focus solely on the Pro Junior crown.

This paid off in the final where he took the early lead with an 8.0 ride while Godfrey, who had just completed the U16 boys final where he also finished runner-up, struggled in the conditions and eventually left the water with two minutes remaining needing a near perfect 9.5 point ride for victory

The two 16 year-old near neighbours – Staples from St Francis Bay and Godfrey from Cape St Francis – cut a swathe through the country’s best 20 year-old and younger surf stars on their way to the final. Godfrey beat Brett Shearer (Kommetjie) in the quarters and then convincingly out surfed current U20 series ratings leader Rudy Palmboom Bluff in their semifinal.

Slade Prestwich : photo Silver Bullet Productions

Staples took out Josh Redman (Umdloti) in their quarterfinal match-up before squeaking through his semifinal encounter with Wesley Grey (Kommetjie) to go on to pocket the R3 500 winner’s payout and 1 000 ratings points that saw him jump from 10th to fourth spot in the series rankings and into contention for the five man squad invited to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia in January.

The Pro Junior (U20) girls event went the way of Vic Bay local Bianca Buitendag who was on fire throughout the event, scoring at least one 7.5 point ride in every heat. The outstanding 13 year-old from George, who also made the final here last year, snatched victory two minutes before the end of the heat, scoring a 6.8 to overtake an improved Faye Zoetmulder (Port Elizabeth).

Adele Nortje from nearby Mossel Bay posted her best series result to date by taking third place ahead of Holly Armstrong (Kommetjie). Tarryn Chudleigh (Kommetjie), who has dominated the series by winning the first three events, will have to wait another year to qualify for her first final Vic Bay, but still left the event smiling after wrapping up the 2007 girls’ series title despite placing seventh today.

The ultra competitive U16 boys’ division produced a classic final with all four competitors separated by less than a point when the siren went to end the duel. The lead switched hands after virtually every ride before Mathew Bromley (Kommetjie) grabbed his first series event win of the year, fractions of a point ahead of Godfrey with Brendon Gibbens (Kommetjie) in third and Beyrick de Vries dropping from first to fourth in the last minute.

Davey Brand : photo Silver Bullet Productions

Davey Brand posted another superlative display of contest surfing to clinch his second straight U14 event title, winning every heat he contested in the U14’s and reaching the last 16 in the Pro Juniors. The 13 year-old, who along with brother Benji and family spends half his year in Kommetjie and the other half in Hawaii, missed the first two events of the 2007 series but has opened up the race for the U14 series title with his back-to-back victories.

Dane Staples ensured that the last event in Jeffreys Bay next month will be a tense affair by grabbing his third runner-up finish while rankings leader Michael February (Kommetjie) ended third with Steven Sawyer, another point-break expert from Jeffreys Bay, having an indifferent final after blazing through the earlier rounds.

The U12 division paddled out into what were triple-overhead waves for them and it was Slade Prestwich from Scottburgh who called on all his experience gained surfing the point breaks of Southern KZN to come away with the title. Taking an early lead, Prestwich dominated the final, leaving Benji Brand needing a near-perfect score in second

Newcomer Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand) reached his third successive final and added another third place to the runner-up and third places he has already bagged since making his debut at the Durban event in March while reigning series and defending event champ Max Armstrong was relegated to fourth place this year.

The spectacular Von Zipper Air Show produced its usual crop of thrills and spills as the dozen selected aerial experts battled for the winner-takes-all R1 800 purse in the overhead waves. It took a ‘Superman Air’ to break the deadlock and Chad du Toit (Durban) took home the cash.

The Kustom awards of R500 plus a pair of Kustom footwear for the best performances by local competitors went to Daniel Buitendag (George) and Adele Nortje. A stoked Steven Sawyer earned the coveted Zigzag Blowing Up award of R1 000 and a replica hand-grenade trophy for scoring a 9.0 point ride in every heat he was in, bar the U14 final.

Event Results

Pro Junior (U/20) Boys
1.  Dale Staples (St Francis Bay)                           R3 500
2.  Nicholas Godfrey (Cape St Francis)                 R2 500
=3rd     Rudy Palmboom Jnr (Bluff)                        R1 650
=3rd    Wesley Grey (Kommetjie)                           R1 650
=5th    Josh Redman (Umdloti)                               R   800
=5th    Brandon Roberts (Sun Valley, CT)             R   800
=5th    Brett Shearer (Kommetjie)                          R   800
=5th    Brandon Jackson (Durban North)              R   800

Pro Junior (U/20) Girls
1.  Bianca Buitendag (George)                              R2 000
2.  Faye Zoetmulder (Port Elizabeth)                     R   900
3.  Adele Nortje (Mossel Bay)                               R   600
4.  Holly Armstrong (Kommetjie)                            R   500

U/16 Boys
1.  Matthew Bromley (Kommetjie)                          R2 000
2.  Nicholas Godfrey (Cape St Francis)                R1 000
3.  Brendon Gibbens (Kommetjie)                          R   750
4.  Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga)                           R   550

U/14 Boys
1.  Davey Brand (Kommetjie)                                 R1 500
2.  Dane Staples (St Francis Bay)                         R   850
3.  Michael February (Kommetjie)                          R   550
4.  Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay)                       R   350

U/12 Boys
1.  Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh)                         R1 000
2.  Benji Brand (Kommetjie)                                   R   750
3.  Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand)                       R   500
4.  Max Armstrong (Kommetjie)                             R   350

Von Zipper Air Show
Chad du Toit (Durban)                                           R1 800

Zigzag Performance Award
Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay)                            R1 000

Kustomised Awards
Boys – Daniel Buitendag (George)                       R500 + Kustom Shoes
Girls – Adele Nortje (Mossel Bay)                        R500 + Kustom Shoes

The Billabong Junior Series is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport in this country, and proudly supported by First National Bank, Palmers, Kustom, Von Zipper, Red Bull and Silver Bullet Productions

The 2007 series started at St Mikes in February followed by Durban (March 29-April 1), Cape Town (May 17-20) and Victoria Bay (August 9-12). The 11th annual series champions will be crowned in the legendary surf Mecca of Jeffreys Bay next month (September 21-24).

Previous reports:
# 1 : Billabong Junior Series Victoria Bay set to kick off Aug 9
# 2 : Billabong Junior Series rolling into Victoria Bay Thursday
# 3 : Billabong Junior Series Victoria Bay kicks off in great surf
# 4 : Girls go ballistic on day #2 at Billabong Jr Series Vic Bay
# 5 : South Africa's Billabong Junior Series scores on day #3

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