46th annual Hyundai National Surfing Championships
Presented by Quiksilver

Surfing New Zealand
Gisborne New Zealand
12 - 19 January 2008

Jay Quinn doubles up at Hyundai National Surf Champs

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 19 January, 2008 : - - On Saturday Jay Quinn stamped his mark on New Zealand surfing when he won his first open men’s national title at the Hyundai National Surfing Championships presented by Quiksilver. 

Along with the most prestigious title in New Zealand surfing he also won the longboard division to make it a double. Quinn has long been regarded as New Zealand’s most explosive free surfer and his title today was won with the exact surfing he is renowned for.  Jay led the charge for Gisborne on a day when they claimed seven of the ten titles on offer.

Quinn has previously won four national titles in age group divisions but none will be sweeter than today’s in the premier open men’s division.  The win comes at a critical time of his career.  Quinn wants to make a serious impact on the world stage and this potentially gives him the confidence to make his mark on the world stage in 2008 where he continues to work hard in a bid to qualify for the elite ASP World Tour. 

“This is the best start to the year for me.  It is something that I have been wanting for a long time so hopefully I can consolidate on this result” commented Quinn.

Solid 1.5m – 2.0m beach break conditions greeted competitors at Kaiaua Bay located north of Tolaga Bay on the East Coast.  However the conditions did not hinder Jay’s performance or his confidence “The conditions out there almost suited me.  I mean I would much prefer to surf out there than at small 1-2ft Makorori Beach” stated Quinn.

Glenn Shuker : photo NZ Surfing Magazine

A 15.5 total heat score secured the win for Quinn in a close battle between all four surfers.  His first 7.0 point ride comprised of two vertical backhand re-entries and he then backed that up with a long righthander that allowed him to complete a series of big forehand turns to post 8.0.  But the two scores did not come easily “I fell on my first couple of waves and then I was a bit all over the place before I got that good left.  I

 saw Matty (Scorringe) getting some good waves so I started to stress until I got that good right.  Then I finally heard my placing and from there it was a matter of wishing the time away.”

Eventual runner up Matt Scorringe (WGM) required an 8.86 to steal the lead after Quinn locked in his two best waves but that did not deter him from sticking to his plans of taking to the air to get the huge scores required.  Scorringe pulled one big air to post a 6.5 point ride but on a second air twice the size the wind caught him blowing away his chances of a victory. 

The result however is Scorringe’s best to date and while his post final comments were “yeah stoked but yeah…you know, what if” he will look back on what is an excellent result.  Nothing went the way of third placed Bobby Hansen (Gis) who fell on several critical turns but he still managed to stay in contact with Quinn and Scorringe. 

Hansen will rue a missed chance after perhaps peaking in the quarter and semifinals on Friday.  Fourth placed surfer Zennor Wernham (Rag) finished with a heat total of 11.80 to again remain in the title hunt throughout the 25 minutes.  Wernham searched for the good waves but the luck factor ran high today and you had to find the right waves to get the big scores.  Those waves were the ones that eluded Wernham.

Quinn’s win means that he joins his brother as the winners of the first two events on the Corona Crown Series for 2007/08.  Maz still leads the Corona Crown Series ratings with his first at the first event and fifth at this National Champs.

Earlier Quinn fought it out for a last minute win in the longboard division pipping a clearly devastated Thomas Kibblewhite (Auck).  Quinn stroked into his last wave with 15 seconds remaining requiring a 5.41 point ride.  Three big hacks later and the victory was his scoring a 5.9.  It came at the expense of Kibblewhite who was oh so close after leading for much of the final. 

Dylan Barnfield (Ohope) finished in third scoring 11.40 – only 0.25 behind Kibblewhite.  With his third placing he takes the lead on the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour with Daniel Kereopa dropping back to second place after two of the seven events this year.  Fourth place in the final was Trent Dickey (Auck) who posted 9.75 points in the final.

Angie Koops (Kaikoura) smashed the Women’s final leaving the other three surfers ‘combo’d’ (requiring a combination of scores of 10.0 points).  Koops Scored 15.0 to win the final with 8.0 and 7.0 point rides. 

The final was a first for Koops who has specifically travelled back from Australia to contest the event.  While in Australia Koops has been studying at Southern Cross University completing a sports management/surfing studies course.  Her increased time in the water and good waves she has been experiencing has most definitely aided her surfing.

Koops had impressed the judges all week consistently surfing to the highest scores in her heat.  Her domination of the final today was a continuation of her form.

In second place was Daisy Thomas (Chch) scoring an 8.15 point total heat total.  Thomas was another standout throughout the week but the tough conditions today proved too challenging and luck was not on her side in her bid to find the best waves.  Auckland’s Mischa Davis placed third in the final with fellow Auckland surfer young Rosa Thompson in fourth.

Sean Peggs (Tairua) caused somewhat of an upset to win the Under 18 Men’s final.  While Peggs has been a New Zealand representative for the past two years he often goes unnoticed as he moves through to finals berths in event after event.

Today after having done all the ground work, he put in an exceptional finals performance to win with a 17.45 total heat score.  Peggs surfing was far from going unnoticed in the final when he on his last two waves he posted an 8.50 and then an 8.95.  On the big bowly lefthanders on offer Peggs attacked the lip completing big forehand re-entries and close out floaters.  His 8.95 included two fast paced ‘new school’ re-entries that blew everyone away.

Second place getter Johnny Hicks held the lead at the three quarter mark of the final after posting a 9.25 for three big forehand turns.  But once Peggs nailed his two scores he left Hicks as the closest challenger requiring an 8.21 for the win and the gap proved insurmountable.   For Hicks it was dejavu after finishing runner up to Alex Dive (Mnt) in the Quiksilver King of the Groms Under 16 Boys on Friday. 

Minor consolation to Hicks was that today he beat Dive who finished third in the Under 18 Boys final.  Dive scored12.20 points to finish third.  Gisborne’s Buck Woods finished in fourth place after taking an early lead but hunting out his preferred righthand waves he went missing midway through the heat and could not make up for lost ground.

2002 National Champion Damon Gunness (Gis) added a fifth national title to his name when he won the Over 28 Men’s Division.  Gunness led the final from the start when he scored 7.25 points on his second scoring ride.  He then backed it up with a 6.10 point ride for a 13.35 point heat total. 

Motu Mataa (Tara) made a last ditched effort for the win but came up short when his last two waves totalled 11.55 points which was only good enough to hold down second place.  Mount Maunganui surfer Mark Dovey placed third with a heat total of 10.45 and Larry Fisher (Rag) finished in fourth.

Matt Groube (Tairua) took the first title of the day away from the Gisborne region when he won the Over 35 Men’s final after Gisborne surfers won the first four in the morning.  Matt Groube secured the win on his last two waves when he locked in consecutive scores of 6.10 and 6.40.  Groube contested four divisions at the Champs but this was the only final he contested. 

His last wave of 6.40 was enough to push Gisborne surfer Clint Daly into second.  Daly posted an 8.25 point ride – the highest of the final.  After falling back into second place Daly went for broke on his last wave going for a huge closeout manoeuvre only to fall once he had landed.  Yet another local surfer, Shawn Collier, finished in third place with Waihi Beach surfer Doug Te Ranga finishing in fourth.

Michelle McCarthy (Gis) tackled the big stuff in the senior women’s division and her gallant effort paid huge dividends posting 6.5 points on one wave to stamp her authority on the final.  The challenging conditions proved difficult for the ladies as they ended up battling lines of whitewash crashing into the shore however it was Janine Williams (WGM) that managed to place second ahead of Sherene McCormick (HBay) in third and Cherie Wallis (Piha) in fourth.

Michael Fitzharris (Gis) continued the run of titles for Gisborne surfers when he claimed the Over 40s Division.  Traditionally a longboard surfer Fitzharris reversed the trend of many shortboard surfers taking up the longer version at this event and gave the shortboarders a run for their money.  In a head to head battle with fellow Gisborne surfer Eddie Daly, Fitzharris snuck the win from under Daly’s nose on his last wave when he scored an excellent 8.25 point ride. 

Daly had led the final from the outset but had to settle for second scoring 13.40 to Fitzharris’ 13.75.  Christchurch surfer Glenn Shuker finished in third place scoring 9.35 with Clinton Ashill (Whangarei) finishing in fourth place after incurring an interference midway through the final.

Gisborne’s eternal grommet John Gisby defended both his Over 50s and Over 45s titles to claim a total of 28 titles – the most in New Zealand surfing history.  First, Gisby scored 16.00 points out of a possible 20 in the Over 50s final.  Gisby was the form surfer all week in both divisions and come the finals day he didn’t disappoint with some great surfing.

Gisby’s highest score was an excellent 8.50 point ride for attacking a big closeout wave in the Over 50s.  Barry MacCulloch (Tairua) held down second at the start of the heat before getting pushed to third by Rod Welch (Gis).  However on his last wave MacCulloch posted a 6.25 point ride to move back into second and claim runner up.  While Gisby defended his Over 50s title, MacCulloch bettered his result after placing fourth in 2007.  Rod Welch (Gis) finished in third with Gary Stevenson (Gis) in fourth.

In the Over 45s Gisby posted yet another high score – 9.25 out of 10 and a 16.25 total to easily win ahead of Glenn Shuker (Chch) in second, Barry MacCulloch (Tairua) in third and Rod Welch (Gis) in fourth.

Late on Friday afternoon the under 18 girls contested their final with Alexis Poulter (Rag) picking up her second title of the week after earlier winning the Under 16 Girls Division.  Poulter always enjoys the big challenging surf and the 1.0m – 1.5m beach break conditions provided just that.  Poulter opened her account with a 6.25 before India Wray-Murane hit back with her own excellent score of 7.0 points. 

Poulter then answered back with an identical 7.0 point ride to extend a good lead.  Wray-Murane required a 6.26 for the win but could only manage a 4.65 on her last wave and was left in second place.  Rosa Thompson (Auck) a triple finalist at the ‘Nationals’ had to settle for third ahead of Nicola Colson-Koster (Auck).

Open Men Finals
Jay Quinn (Gis), 1, Matt Scorringe (WGM), 2, Bobby Hansen (Gis), 3, Zennor Wernham (Rag), 4

Open Women Finals
Angie Koops (Kaik), 1, Daisy Thomas (ChCh), 2, Mischa Davis (Auck), 3, Rosa Thompson (Akl), 4

Under 18 Boys Finals
Sean Peggs (Tairua), 1, Johnny Hicks (Gis), 2, Buck Woods, (Gis), 4, Alex Dive (Mnt), 3

Open Longboard Finals
Jay Quinn (Gis), 1, Thomas Kibblewhite (Auck), 2, Dylan Barnfield (Ohope), 3, Trent Dickey (Auck), 4

Over 28 Men Finals
Damon Gunness (Gis), 1, Motu Mataa (Tara), 2, Mark Dovey (Mnt), 3, Larry Fisher (Piha), 4

Over 35 Men Finals
Matt Groube (Tairua), 1, Clint Daly (Gis), 2, Shawn Collier (Gis), 3, Doug Te Ranga, 4

Over 40 Men Finals
Michael Fitzharris (Gis), 1, Eddie Daly (Gis), 2, Glenn Shuker (ChCh), 3, Clinton Ashill (Whngrei), 4

Over 45 Men Finals
John Gisby (Gis), 1, Glenn Shuker (ChCh), 2, Barry McCulloch (Tai), 3, Rod Welch (Gis), 4

Over 50 Men Finals
John Gisby (Gis), 1, Barry MacCulloch (Tairua), 2, Rod Welch (Gis), 3, Gary Stevenson (Gis), 4

Over 30 Women Final
Michelle McCarthy (Gis), 1, Janine Williams (Whmata), 2, Sherene McCormick (HBay), 3, Cherie Wallis (Piha), 4

The National Champs is the second event on both the Corona Crown Series and the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour. Complete lists of all National Champions are located on the Surfing New Zealand website under History at surfingnz.co.nz. For more information on the event please contact Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz. 

The official event blog for the Hyundai National Surfing Championships presented by Quiksilver will be hosted at surfingnz.co.nz/nationals_blog.htm. Check it out to keep up to date with all the behind the scenes stories, gossip and news that doesn’t make the cut in the media.

Previous reports:
# 1 : NZ's Hyundai Nat. Surfing Champs by Quiksilver all set
# 2 : Hyundai National Surf Champs kick off in New Zealand
# 3 : Top seeds dominate Hyundai National Surfing Champs
# 4 : Mount Maunganui surfers shine at Hyundai Nat. Champs

# 5 : Hyundai National Surf Champs hosting Quiksilver groms
# 6 : Day #6 of Hyundai National Surf Champs sees Over 50s
# 7 : Women going big at the Hyundai National Surf Champs
# 8 : King of the Groms decided at Hyundai National Champs

Surfing New Zealand are proudly partnered by Corona, Hyundai, SPARC & Smokefree.

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www.surfingnz.co.nz/nationals_blog.htm

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