Heather Clark and Gavin Roberts : photo Lizzard  

Lizzard Nandos Surf Pro
Presented by Weekend Witness

Men's 1 Star WQS Event #14
Grade 1 ASP Junior Men's Event
SSA Women’s 2A Pro division
North Beach Durban South Africa
15 - 18 May 2008

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

Lizzard Nando’s Surf Pro Wildcards Announced

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 May, 2008 : - - The Lizzard Nando’s Surf Pro, presented by the Weekend Witness, takes place at Durban’s North Beach from 15-18 May. This internationally rated event includes a 1 Star Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Africa World Qualifying Series Men’s contest, a Grade 1 Pro Junior International, and Women’s 2A Pro division with a total of R121 500 ($15 000) prize money on offer.

Lizzard riders Shawn Dennis (Durban) and Mark Shepperson (Umdloti) are two young up-and-comers who have been selected as wildcard entrants into the main men’s event.

As a result, these promising youngsters get an automatic seeding into the round of 48, and a chance to prove themselves against WQS campaigners and top seeds for the event like David Weare (Durban), Greg Emslie (East London), Gavin Roberts (Scottburgh) and Antonio Bortoletto (Durban).

Mike Frew, Lizzard’s marketing manager, speaks highly of Dennis and Shepperson, the two wildcards for the Lizzard event, when he describes them as “two of our top juniors”. Although still relatively young, Dennis continues to exhibit much potential, as is evident in his selection for the SA Junior Squad. Shepperson has also been signaling his intent of late, with a strong second place at the Durban edition of the Billabong Junior series.

Both wildcards will be up against a very strong men’s open field, however, with most of SA’s WQS hopefuls taking part. Two-time Lizzard champion Dave Weare has had an amazing start to the South African Pro Surf Tour (PST) season, with back-to-back wins in the first two events.

A victory for Weare in this event will not only secure him a deserved local triple, but will also go a long way in validating his bid for a return to the elite mens World Championship Tour (WCT). After winning the Quiksilver Pro WQS in Durban a few weeks ago, and placing a very credible third in the coldest WQS event on the calendar in Scotland, Weare has moved up into third position on the WQS.

With Americans Austin Ware and Patrick Gudauskas leading Weare on the WQS standings, he will look to his experience of his local breaks to give him the edge in the looming Lizzard Nando’s WQS event.

This annual surf event, now in its sixth year, has changed venue from New Pier back to the popular surfing spot of North Beach in Durban where the inaugural Lizzard Surf Pro took place. Mike Frew, Lizzard’s Marketing Manager, said they “are very excited about the new venue as it promises a clean, natural amphitheatre with all the facilities”.

The Lizzard website, www.lizzardsurf.net, has a page dedicated to the contest where pictures, daily updates and future press releases will be available. The supporting sponsors for the event are Bavaria, Nestle Pure Life Water, and Bokomo. The event is organised by Nerve Events.

Previous reports:
# 1 : North Beach Durban set to host Lizzard Nandos Surf Pro
# 2 : Coming soon
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

www.lizzardsurf.net
www.aspworldtour.com

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Rob Evans/Olivia Jones

WQS Contests - Surfersvillage