Quiksilver King of the Groms

Fistral Beach, Newquay Cornwall
4 - 5 July 2009

Bournemouth’s Miles Lee Hargraves takes the Quiksilver King of the Groms

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 7 July, 2009 : - - Fourteen year old Miles Lee Hargraves is crowned Quiksilver King of the Grom UK. Miles excelled in the contest with his solid surfing which has earned him a place in the European final  in the Basque spot, Zarautz, Spain on the 7th & 8th August. Last year Miles won the U14’s which bagged him a spot in the European final which was held in Capbreton in France.

Up for grabs at the European  Final will be a place in the International Final, due to take place for the second consecutive year on the beaches of Hossegor, Seignosse, Capbreton and Saint Jean de Luz during the Quiksilver Pro France from 23 September to 4 October. Places are precious and only the top two from the European Final at Zarautz will go through to the international event.

The contest saw some big names exit early. Miles surprisingly bowed out of his U14’s semi final which came as a shock as he had won this category in the previous year. He’ll be joined in Europe by Bude’s Jobe Harris who came second in the Under 16s category and won the U14’s.  Jobe showed great potential with his mature surfing style.

Winners of the Irish and Jersey legs,   Conner Maquire and Alex Vibert will be joining the Newquay ‘Kings’.  The Under 16s final saw some good surfing in the solid 4ft high tide Fistral. Miles Lee Hargarves dominated the final with Jobe Harris  second,  Luke Dillon and Zack Lawton took third and fourth places respectively. 

The Under 14s saw Jobe Harris, Simon Trebilcock, Dylan Scotney and Dale Foster fighting it out, however it was Jobe Harris who topped the scores to take the title.

 Given that there’s an ever growing pool of female talent in Britain, the BSA took the opportunity to run a girls section for the second year and Sophie Sainsbury, Jemima Knight, Lucy Campbell and Gabi Rowe fought hard for the honour of becoming the British ‘Queen’ with Gabi Rowe gaining the first position and the title for the second consecutive year. Lucy Campbell was leading the final but Gabi’s patience paid off when she got the highest scoring wave of the heat in the dying minutes.

The Expression Session saw the younger generation shine through with Harry Timson pulling a front side Aerial taking the title from Liam Turner Grab Tailside’s. Liam Turner stood out during the whole contest with his progressive style. Laura Crane is a future star to watch with her impressive surfing.

The Quiksilver King of the Groms is where the stars of the future are born. Originally known as the Pro Junior (won by Miky Picon in his early days) when it was first created some 17 years ago, the competition changed names and became the Grommets Trophy (won by Jérémy Florès), before changing again in 2006, since when it has been called the Quiksilver King of the Groms. 

The overall male winner receives an apprentice package that most surfers can only ever dream of: a wildcard enabling him, along with his chaperone, to compete in the trials for two events on the Men's World Championship Tour: the Quiksilver Pro France 2009 and the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast 2010 (Australia).

Contest director Joanne Hillman of the British Surfing Association said “It was great t to see the new young talent coming through this year; there were a lot of new names in the final. Hopefully this will give them a boost of confidence in future contests. I would like to thanks Fistral beach surf hire for letting us run the contest, also a big thanks to Meena and Spencer from Quicksilver for their help over the weekend.”

Spencer Hargraves of Quiksilver UK said, “The weather and conditions were very unpredictable this weekend but the standard of surfing from the groms was consistently high over the course of the two days.  We have some really strong talent here in Britain and there’s every chance that either Miles or Jobe could go all the way.  We wish them all the very best of luck for their heats in Spain later this year and I just want to say a big thanks to the BSA for all their support this weekend.”

Results:

Girls
1. Gabi Rowe
2. Lucy Campbell
3. Sophie Sainsbury
4.  Jemima Knight

Under 12
1. Harry De Roth
2. Rhys Barfield
3. Will Bailey
4. Max Payne

Under 14:
1. Jobe Harris
2. Simon Trebilcock
3. Dylan Scotney
4. Dale Foster

Under 16:
1. Miles Lee- Hargarves
2. Jobe Harris
3. Luke Dillion
4. Zack Lawton

www.britsurf.co.uk
www.quiksilver-europe.com

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Jo Hillman

Groms - Surfersvillage

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