Billabong Junior Series Africa #2

Surfing South Africa
Victoria Bay, Southern Cape South Africa
7 - 10 August 2008

Billabong Junior Series underway in varied conditions at Victoria Bay

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 7 August, 2008 : - - The fourth of five stops on the 2008 Billabong Junior Series got underway at Victoria Bay in the Southern Cape today with the competitors in the early rounds of the Pro Juniors (U20), U12 and U14 divisions facing varied conditions throughout the day.

Round 1 of the Pro Juniors started out in one metre glassy surf that rose in size as the onshore wind freshened for the U12’s before ending the day’s proceedings in solid 1.5 to two metre waves and offshore winds. Qhamani Bam from Bluewater Bay had the honour of winning the first heat of the event with fellow Port Elizabeth surfer Donovan Zoetmulder putting on an excellent display of high performance surfing to win Heat No. 4.

The next to star was Philip Visagie from Tableview, Cape Town who demonstrated a great variety of manoeuvres on the long right-breaking waves to clinch heat No. 5 before Matt Pallet (Durban North) recorded the highest heat tally of the opening round of the Pro Juniors with 12.50 out of a possible 20 for his top two rides.

Max Armstrong (Kommetjie), the U12 series champion in 2006 and a previous winner at Vic Bay, posted a dynamic performance to rack up 7.5 and 8.0 point rides in setting the bar for those in the youngest division, progressing directly to Round 3 along with runner-up Donovan Wichman (Marina da Gama, CT).

Matthew McGillivray (Port Elizabeth) won the second heat while Vic Bay local Johnny Hollis (George) snatched victory from Jonah Paarman (Kommetjie) in the last seconds of heat No. 3, and Jason JJ Harris (Scottburgh) clinched heat No. 4.

Daniel Buitendag from nearby George was the star of the opening round of the U14’s, showing outstanding local knowledge by catching the best waves as the swell got bigger and riding them impressively to earn 8.0 and 6.0 scores from the judges.

Buitendag was joined in Round 2, where they will come up against the top eight seeds in the division, by fellow heat winners Brandon Benjamin (Retreat, CT), Nicholas Notten (St James, CT) and Daniel Jeggels (Jeffreys Bay), along with their respective runners-up.

With the swell predicted to rise significantly over the next two days, organisers opted to run Round 3 of the U12’s and Armstrong was again the standout performer, earning the day’s highest single ride score of 8.5 out of 10 to advance along with second placed Jonah Paarman (Kommetjie).

Joining them in the semifinals will be the Wichman brothers, Donovan and Dylan, who won heats No. 2 and 3, their respective runners-up , McGillivray and Hollis, and Jordan Maree (Kalk Bay) and JJ Harris who finished first and second in heat No. 4.

See www.billabong.com/za for all the results and the latest images and news from the event. The recently launched webpage also features athlete profiles, a photo gallery from previous events, local and international video footage, competitions and much more.

The provisional schedule for Day 2 on Friday sees the opening round of the U16’s followed by the U14 Round 2, the U12 semifinals and ending with Round 2 of the Pro Juniors.

Preparations are also in full swing for the Billabong Braaivleis National Championship finals on Saturday evening. Braaimasters are selecting their teams, menus are being prepared and special ingredients purchased for what promises to be the highlight social function of the event.

The Billabong Junior Series is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport. Ratings points earned in each series event also count towards the annual SSA Pro Surf Tour (PST) rankings. The series is proudly supported by First National Bank, Palmers, Kustom and Von Zipper.

Previous reports:
# 1 : Huge entry for stop #4 of Billabong Jnr Series at Victoria
# 2 : Coming soon
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

www.billabong.com
www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

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