Billabong Junior Series Final Event

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

Bianca Buitendag and the Brand brothers shine on Day 3 of the Billabong Junior Series

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 20 September, 2008 : - - Bianca Buitendag and the Brand brothers, Davey and Benji, were the standouts in excellent one to 1.3 metre surf at Jeffreys Bay on Day 3 of the final event in the 2008 Billabong Junior Series. 

Buitendag was the talk of the event after advancing to the final of the specialty girls event, posting an excellent ride of 9.0 points out of a possible 10, the second highest of the event to date, in defeating current WQS No. 27 Nikita Robb (East London) in their semifinal encounter.

The teenager from George, who turned 15 just 10  days ago, beat Heidi Palmboom (Bluff) in Round 1 and will be up against Sarah Baum (Athlone Park) in the finale, with the winner earning an invite to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia in January, plus R12 000 sponsored by First National Bank towards her air ticket.

Baum, 14, overcame two national team members on her way to the final, outpointing Chantelle Rautenbach (Melkbosstrand) in Round 1 and then getting a narrow decision over Billabong Girls Get Out There Pro Junior series champion Tarryn Chudleigh (Kommetjie) in the semis.

Benji Brand, 12, continued his phenomenal record of posting the highest heat total of the day despite being in the youngest division in the event. In Round 3 of the U12 boys Benji accumulated 16.0 points out of 20, made up of rides of 8.75 and 7.25, riding on his backhand on the right breaking point waves.

Davey Brand, 14, convincingly won his U16 quarterfinal with a brilliant display of vertical manoeuvres after narrowly losing out in the Round of 16 in the Pro Junior (U20) boys, and then led throughout the U16 Von Zipper Air Show before being pipped for a place in Sunday’s Air Show grand final in the dying moments.

Sibling rivalry will be at stake when the Staples brothers Dale, 17, and Dane, 15, from St Francis Bay are pitted against each other in the man-on-man quarterfinals of the Pro Junior division. Dale advanced in the runner-up spot behind Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay) in today’s Round of 16 while Dane won his heat ahead of top seed Klee Strachan (Winkelspruit), with the pair eliminating highly rated Clinton Gravett (East London).

Joubert and Strachan will fight out the first quarterfinal with an on-form Brendon Gibbens (Kommetjie) matched against defending series and event champion Rudy Palmboom (Bluff) in the third quarter and second seed Nick Godfrey (Cape St Francis) taking on Chris Leppan (Umhlanga) in the fourth.

The quarterfinals of the U16 boys saw JC Susan (Melkbos) and Bradley van Zyl (Kommetjie) advance from the first heat before Davey Brand dominated a highly competitive heat with top seed Beyrick de Vries progressing in second place. Jean du Plessis (East London), JBay local Remi Peterson, Jacob Mellish (Somerset West) and David van Zyl (Durban) will contest the second semi on Sunday.

Top seed Jarryd Veldhuis (Kommetjie) is safely through to the U14 semifinals, along with quarterfinal heat winners Dylan Lightfoot, Steven Sawyer (both Jeffreys Bay) and Slade Prestwich (Park Rynie) and their respective runners-up, including Sarah Baum who is bidding to join Heidi Palmboom as the only girl to win an U14 boys event.

Round 3 of the U12 boys resulted in Max Armstrong (Kommetjie), Jordy Maree (Kalk Bay) and Jason Harris (Scottburgh) joining Benji Brand in advancing to the semis as heat winners along with the runner-up in each heat.

The day’s proceedings were completed with the U16 Von Zipper Air Show where Jacob Mellish snatched a spot in Sunday’s grand final, and a chance to pocket the R2 000 winner-takes-all purse, when he completed a spectacular one-handed reverse 360 air.

The finale of the five-event, R230 000 Billabong Junior Series wraps up at Jeffreys Bay on Sunday when the 12th annual series champions in the Pro Junior, U16, U14 and U12 divisions will be crowned.

The R37 500 Pro Junior boys event doubles as the fourth and final event on the ASP Africa series and the top four on the yearend Pro Junior ratings will be awarded highly prized invitations to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia in January, an event won by former series champion Jordy Smith (Durban) in 2006.

Similar swell size but onshore winds are forecast for the final day. 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.

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 : Dale Staples lights up Day 2 of Billabong Junior at JBay
# 4 : Coming soon  

www.billabong.com/za

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