Billabong Junior Series

Surfing South Africa
Scottburgh, South Africa
8 - 11 April 2009 

Casey Grant takes Pro Junior title in Billabong Junior Series at Scottburgh

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 11 April, 2009 : - - Local Scottburgh surfer Casey Grant held on to win the Pro Junior boys title in the first Billabong Junior Series event of 2009, defeating Brendon Gibbens (Kommetjie) in a high scoring final that went right down to the wire at his home break on Saturday.

On an absolutely epic day of competition surfing in front of a packed Easter Saturday holiday crowd, the country’s top 20-and-under surfers went ballistic in the punchy one to 1.3 metre light onshore waves that provided the ideal conditions for high performance manoeuvres, barrel rides and aerials.

Grant, the fourth seed for the event, took full advantage of his local knowledge to race into an early lead in the man-on-man final of the R50 000 ASP Grade 1 event, registering scores of 6.5 and 8.0 in the first six minutes which put Gibbens in a combination situation needing to improve on both his counting rides. While a 6.50 by Gibbens was enough to get out of comboland, Grant posted another 8.0 to leave the Capetonian requiring a near perfect 9.50 with 10 minutes remaining.

Both surfers continued to record good scores and with two minutes left Gibbens threw caution to the wind and smashed two huge manoeuvres on an overhead wave, including a gravity defying lip-bash, that earned 9.25 to set up a tense finale. Ultimately Grant triumphed by 16.0 to 15.75 to pocket the US $2 000 (approx R19 000) winner’s paycheque and the ratings lead in the Pro Junior division of the Billabong Junior Series and the ASP Africa rankings, with the latter determining the four man squad who receive invitations to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Sydney next January.

Equal third were Chad du Toit (Durban), convincingly beaten when Gibbens racked up scores of 8.0 and 7.75 in their semifinal clash, and Matthew Bromley (Kommetjie), ousted by Grant who accumulated 7.0 and 8.5 in the first four minutes of their semi for a 15.5 to 13.0 point victory and a place in the final.

The U16 boys’ final produced equal excitement with Jordan Couzinet (Reunion Island) grabbing the early lead before Davey Brand (Kommetjie), covered from head to foot in Mercurochrome after being washed over the rocks by a freak set yesterday, took control of proceedings with a total of 13.85 out of 20.

But with six minutes left on the clock David van Zyl (Glenashley, Durban) rocketed in contention with a 7.5 and three minutes later took a heat winning lead thanks to a action packed ride that earned 8.75. And right on the siren Michael February (Kommetjie) added a 6.10 to the 7.75 already in the bag to snatch second place from Brand

There was also late drama in the U14 boys’ final with local Slade Prestwich taking an early lead before Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand) took over and looked set for victory with a heat tally of 13.50. But inside the last minute Benji Brand (Kommetjie), needing 6.45, made the most of what did not look like one of the better waves, milking it right to the beach to earn 7.25 and a 14.30 winning total. Max Armstrong (Kommetjie) showed his best form in winning his semifinal and finished fourth in the final.

The U12 boys’ final set the tone for the finals that followed as the pre-teen rippers took to the waves with gusto. Matthew McGillivray (Port Elizabeth) was the first to show his class but newcomer Shane Sykes from Salt Rock, north of Durban, made light work of the lead when he absolutely shredded a wave with three minutes to go to earn 9.50 out of 10, the highest single ride score of the entire event. Not to be outdone, Jordy Maree (Kalk Bay) turned on the magic to earn 7.25 on his last ride to overtake McGillivray for second place with Steffen Burrows ending fourth.

The Von Zipper Air Show that followed the finals was arguably the best competitive display of aerial surfing witnessed in SA with more than 30 high flying manoeuvres successfully completed in 30 minutes.

The debate on who had won the R2 000 winner-takes-all prize-purse went on after the heat had ended with February, Bromley, Mikey Venter (Warner Beach), Jacob Mellish (Somerset West), Dale Staples (St Francis Bay) and Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay) all in contention. Eventually the nod went to Staples whose incredibly high aerial left those on the beach in gasping in disbelief when he landed safely and rode the wave out.

Between the semis and the finals a well attended paddle-out was held in memory of Aaron Moore who passed away tragically last month. Dozens of surfers formed a circle out beyond the break and everyone on the beach observed a minute’s silence in a fitting tribute to a fine contest surfer before the contest got underway again with the spectacular finals.

Video footage, images, results and news from each day of the event are available at www.billabong.com . A TV documentary of all the action produced by Silver Bullet Productions will be broadcast on the various channels of SuperSport.

The PST events in the Billabong Junior Series are sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport, while the internationally rated Pro Junior boys’ event is sanctioned by ASP Africa, the regional office for the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) International.

The Billabong Junior Series is proudly supported by First National Bank, Von Zipper and Kustom. Online entries for the PST events in the series can be made at www.billabong.com while the ASP events must be entered via www.aspafrica.com

Billabong Events & Contest Coordinator Laureen Payne can be contacted for queries at 042 200 2600 or laureen.payne@billabong.co.za

The 2009 Billabong Junior Series continues with the inaugural Occy Grom Comp for U12, U14 and U16 boys in Jeffreys Bay (9-15 July) before the series concludes at Victoria Bay (23-26 September) where the series champions will be crowned for the 13th time.

Billabong Junior Series Scottburgh, KwaZulu-Natal South Coast

Results

Pro Junior boys
1.  Casey Grant (Scottburgh)
2.  Brendon Gibbens (Kommetjie)
=3.  Chad du Toit (Durban)
=3.  Matthew Bromley (Kommetjie)
=5.  Kyle Lane (Umhlanga)
=5.  Jaco Steyn (Melkbosstrand)
=5.  Hadyn MacNicol (Scottburgh)
=5.  Kyle Beach (Queensburgh)

U16 boys
1.  David van Zyl (Glenashley)
2.  Michael February (Kommetjie)
3.  Davey Brand (Kommetjie)
4.  Jordan Couzinet (Reunion Island)

U14 boys
1.  Benji Brand (Kommetjie)
2.  Diran Zakarian (Melkbosstrand)
3.  Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh)
4.  Max Armstrong (Kommetjie)

U12 boys
1.  Shane Sykes (Salt Rock)
2.  Jordan Maree (Kalk Bay)
3.  Matthew McGillivray (Port Elizabeth)
4.  Steffen Burrows (Strand)

Von Zipper Air Show
1.  Dale Staples (St Francis Bay)

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Previous reports:
# 1 : Brand bros star on Day 2 of Billabong Junior Scottbrugh
# 2 : Bianca Buitendag nabs Billabong Junior Scottburgh title 

www.billabong.com
www.aspafrica.com

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