Billabong Junior Series Final Event

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

Dale Staples lights up Jeffreys Bay on Day 2 of Billabong Junior Series

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 19 September, 2008 : - - Dale Staples lit up the excellent surf at The Point in Jeffreys Bay on Day 2 of the fifth and final event in the 2008 Billabong Junior Series on Friday, posting a near perfect score of 9.25 out of 10 for a deep tube ride.

Competing in the Pro Junior (U20) Round of 32, the JBay local from nearby St Francis Bay disappeared from sight behind a curtain of water only to emerge 20 metres down the line and then jam in a number of critical manoeuvres to claim the highest score of the event.

Staples did not have things all his own way, however, and needed a sold 8.0 ride to clinch the heat victory over 5th seed Clinton Gravett (East London). Gravett racked up rides of 8.25 and 7.5 in the ideal one to 1.3 metre waves to advance to the last 16 in the ASP Africa sanctioned, R37 500 Pro Junior event along with Staples.

Clean but gusty offshore winds groomed the rising swell as it peeled down the rocky point while the top seeds in the Pro Junior (U20) and U16 boys started their respective challenges for the prestigious series titles.

Top seeds Klee Strachan (Winkelspruit) and Nick Godfrey (Cape St Francis) recorded comfortable heat victories but 3rd seed Chad du Toit (Berea, Durban) was eliminated in a major upset when he was relegated to third place behind heat winner Mark Shepperson (Umdloti) and Brendon Gibbens (Kommetjie).

Fourth seed Casey Grant (Scottburgh) and 7th seed Rudy Palmboom (Bluff) are both safely through to the next round while seeds No. 6 and 8, Kyle Lane (Umhlanga) and Kyle Lane (Queensburgh), both finished fourth in their opening encounters and along with du Toit, are effectively out of contention for the four coveted invitations to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia in January.

The invitations go to the top four on the yearend ASP Africa Pro Junior rankings and with the Strachan, Godfrey, Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay) and Grant, the top four coming into this, the final event, all still in contention for higher honours at JBay, it is going to take something very special from the lower ranked contenders to deny those four a start in the world’s most prestigious junior event..

The Round of 32 in the U16 boys division started with JC Susan (Melkbosstrand) posting back-to-back heat victories. After winning the last heat of the Pro Junior Round of 48, the lanky 16 year-old simply stayed in water and then cruised to victory in the first U16 heat as well.

Series champion elect Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga) displayed why he has already wrapped up the U16 title with another outstanding performance to move confidently into the last 16.

Others to shine included Jean du Plessis (East London), who relegated 2nd seed Devin Lane (Umhlanga) to second place; JBay local Remi Peterson, who rocketed from third to first place on the last wave of his heat, and fellow heat winners Jacob Mellish (Somerset West) and David van Zyl (Durban).

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A vastly improved showing from Chaim Simmons saw the well built teenager from Port Elizabeth take the heat win over Davey Brand (Kommetjie) while Jeandre Blignaut (Melkbos), Bradley van Zyl (Kommetjie) and Leon du Preez (Melkbos) finished in that order to eliminate Bianca Buitendag (George), the only girl in the event and a heat winner yesterday.

The day’s proceedings wrapped up with the U14 Von Zipper Air Show which turned into a ding-dong aerial shoot-out between Jeffreys Bay goofy-footers Dylan Lightfoot and Steven Sawyer. After the lead had changed hands five times, it was Lightfoot who progressed to Sunday’s final where the winner takes home R2 000 for the best completed aerial manoeuvre.

A slight decrease in swell size, light rain and light variable winds are forecast for Saturday. The provisional schedule shows a full day of action with the Pro Junior Round of 16 followed by the quarterfinals of the U16’s and U14’s before the eight Pro Junior girls take to the water in one-on-one heats competing for an invitation to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships and the FNB sponsored R12 000 that goes towards the airfare to Australia.

The action continues with Round 3 of the U12 boys and the girls’ semifinals before concluding with the U16 boys Von Zipper Air Show. The Grand Final of the Billabong National Braaivleis Challenge then takes to the beach with five teams already entered and frantically preparing their secret recipes and ingredients to feed the masses.

See www.billabong.com/za for all the results and the latest images and news from the event. The webpage also features athlete profiles, a photo gallery from this and 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 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 : Finale of Billabong Jnr. Series underway at Jeffreys Bay
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

www.billabong.com/za

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