Virgin Mobile Trials 

Trials Event for Men's 6 Star WQS Prime
New Pier Durban South Africa
13 -  20 April 2008

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

Virgin Mobile Trials Held In Small Surf At Quiksilver Pro Durban

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 13 April, 2008 : - - Durban – Small surf characterised day three of the Quiksilver Pro Durban as the Virgin Mobile Trials hit the water. Despite the small surf, good to excellent scores were recorded, with some New Pier locals showing the gathered crowds some top-end surfing.

The first surfer to hit his stride was Hilton Lawrence from Durban in his heat against fellow Durbanite Ryan Bisset and Komunity Project runner-up Lungani Memani from Port Alfred. Lawrence opened up his account with a good 7 point ride with a nice bowling right-hander that slipped past the other competitors.

Then he turned on the pressure as he performed a series of critical moves on the best wave of the heat to score an 8.5 (out of a possible ten) to get a heat total of 15.5 (out of a possible 20) and a comfortable heat victory.

Hilton Lawrence : photo Quiksilver/Ewing

“I decided not to bother with any of the inside waves. The only waves that looked any good were the set waves, so I was patient and waited for them,” said a happy Lawrence on the beach afterwards. “On the high-scorer I managed to finish my ride with a little air on the inside, that the judges seemed to like, so I’m happy with the result.”

Heat three of the second round of trials was a battle of the old-school New Pier locals, with one outsider joining them. Simon Nicholson, Paul Canning and Shane Thorne are all long-time New Pier locals and friends, with years of experience at the break under their belts. Dale Staples from St. Francis was the fourth contender in the heat. Dale, who suffered an interference call in the heat, came in fourth place.

Former World Tour stalwart Canning struggled with the small waves on his backhand and was eliminated from the event in third place. Simon Nicholson, former Quiksilver Goodwave winner at the New Pier, showed some fast surfing and polished  moves to come in second, and the perennial New Pier standout Shane Thorne used his weight to smash some big off-the-top manoeuvres  in the small waves to power through to a victory.

Ryan Bisset : photo Quiksilver/Ewing

“I just kept my inside position,” said Shane of his heat strategy. “I fought for the good waves and managed to get two of them. The first one was a nice walled up wave that let me do a bunch of good turns on it. Then I waited, on the inside again, and scooped that second good one just at the end of the heat.”

In one of the last heats of the day Stanley Badger turned the tables on his opponents and stuck to the lefts breaking towards the pier to win his heat comfortably. “That’s the first heat I’ve ever won going left at New Pier,” said Stanley. “With the southerly wind making the right-handers really soft and giving the lefts a bit of a lip I tried one or two, and they seemed like the best waves by far. The rip along the pier is also helping the lefts.”

The final 8 surfers in the Virgin Mobile Trials will be included in the main event, which starts tomorrow morning. There are small waves due again tomorrow, with light and variable winds. The new swell is expected to start arriving on Tuesday.

Check the Live Action

Previous reports:
# 1 : Quiksilver Pro Durban highest rated WQS in South Africa
# 2 : Quiksilver Pro Durban 6-Star Prime set to run at New Pier
# 3 : Quiksilver Pro Durban hosts Komunity Project Future Stars
# 4 : Science Fiction technology airs with Quiksilver Pro Durban 

# 5 : Quiksilver Pro Durban attracting world's top WQS surfers
# 6 : ASP grade 2 Quiksilver Pro Junior contestants gearing up
# 7 : Bo Shabalala wins Kommunity Project Future Stars event
# 8 : Quiksilver Pro Junior scores small perfection at New Pier

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