Billabong Junior Series Final Event

Surfing South Africa
The Point, J-Bay South Africa
18 - 21 September 2008

Finale of Billabong Junior Series gets underway at Jeffreys  Bay

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 18 September, 2008 : - - The fifth and final event on the 2008 Billabong Junior Series took to the surf at The Point in Jeffreys today with the competitors in reveling in the 0.6 to one metre waves and basking in the warm sunshine.

The final of the U12 division from the fourth event at Victoria Bay event last month, which was held over because the waves were huge, was completed before the opening rounds of all the boys’ divisions were run with the country’s first U12 aerial contest ending the day’s proceedings.

Three of the girls who will be competing on the weekend for an invitation and R12 000 towards their airfare to participate in the Billabong ASP Junior World Championships in Australia in January, took the opportunity to test their talents against the boys, and all three progressed to the next round.

Faye Zoetmulder (Port Elizabeth) benefited from two withdrawals in her opening encounter in the Pro Juniors (U20) to advance to the Round of 48 while Sarah Baum (Athlone Park) in the U14’s and Bianca Buitendag (George) in the U16’s were full value for meritorious victories in four person heats, leaving half a dozen bruised egos among their male opponents.

Benji Brand from Kommetjie was again the standout of the opening day. The stocky 12 year-old posted the highest heat tally, 13.50 points out of 20, in winning his U12 heat and then went on to claim first place in his Round of 64 heat in the Pro Juniors to move into the last 48 against competitors up to eight years older than he is.

Other heat winners in the ASP Africa sanctioned, R37 500 Grade 1 rated Pro Junior event included Bradley van Zyl (Kommetjie), Craig Johnson (Durban), Indi Rooken-Smith (Mossel Bay) and Jeandre Blignaut (Melkbosstrand).

JC Susan (Melkbos), David Kelly (Port Alfred) and Dougie Stuart-White (Cape St Francis) joined Buitendag as Round 1 heat winners in the U16 division while Tobias Schroeder (Jeffreys Bay) and Capetonians Nicholas Notten (St James) and Brandon Benjamin (Retreat) joined Baum by winning their U14 match-ups.

Max Armstrong (Kommetjie), Jordy Maree (Kalk Bay) and Mathew McGillivray (Port Elizabeth), all of whom contested the earlier U12 final, again demonstrated their prowess by posting heat victories in Round 1 of U12’s in the JBay event.

It was a very amped group of U12’s who took to the surf at the end of the day to compete in the first of four Von Zipper Air Shows. After 20 minutes of hops, skips and jumps in the rising surf, it was Armstrong who boosted himself into the air with clear daylight between his board and the wave.

Landing successfully, Armstrong clinched a berth in the final VZ Air Show on Sunday where the competitor performing the best aerial manoeuvre will pocket the R2 000 winner-takes-all payout.  Strong offshore wind and overhead waves are forecast for Friday when the Pro Junior Rounds of 48 and 32 will be run along with the U16 Round of 32 before the day ends with the U14 Von Zipper Air Show.

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.

ASP Africa sanctions the Pro Junior divisions at the final stop on the 2008 Billabong Junior Series with the points counting towards the annual ASP Africa titles. The top four on the year-end Pro Junior boys’ ratings receive sought after invitations to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Sydney, Australia, in January 2009.

The U16, U14 and U12 divisions are 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.

The 2008 Billabong Junior Series started at St Mikes (21-23 February) before moving to Durban (25-27 April), Cape Town (9-11 May) and Victoria Bay in the Southern Cape (7-10 August). It concludes in Jeffreys Bay (18-21 September) where the series champions will be crowned for the 12th successive year.

Previous reports:
# 1 : Klee Strachan leads as Billabong Jr Series closes at JBay
# 2 : Coming soon
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

www.billabong.com/za

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