Team Africa News

Brandon Jackson 3rd in O’Neill Cold Water Classic Canada : Jumps to No. 15 on WQS

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 2 November, 2009 : - - Durbanite Brandon Jackson finished third in the 6-Star rated Oakley Cold Water Classic Canada at Tofino on Vancouver Island on Saturday to jump from No. 20 to No. 15 on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) rankings. 

Jackson, 22, from Durban North, started the final day by marching past Mark Matthews (AUS) in their quarterfinal encounter but came up short against Jay Thompson (AUS), the first alternate for the 2009 ASP World Tour, in a semifinal match-up held in stormy 1-1.5 metre waves. 

“I’m really stoked on the aspect that I got 1800 points out of this result,” Jackson said. “I was hoping to get 1600, it’s a super bonus. To surf all week and not get the win is tough, but I’m really stoked on the outcome.” 

The result earned Jackson US $5 000 (approx. R37 000) and 1 875 precious ratings points which replaced the 875 points he was carrying as his seventh best score of the year. The net gain of 1 000 points elevated him into contention for a spot amongst the world’s Top 45 ranked surfers on the 2010 ASP World Tour. 

The event produced a fairy-tale finish when local Tofino surfer Peter Devries trounced the world-class lineup of international stars to become the first Canadian to win a WQS event, in the first WQS event to be staged in Canada. Devries started in Round 1 and won every heat bar his Round of 48 match-up, leaving runner-up Jay Thompson in comboland from the 10 minute mark in the final, to collect the US$20 000 winner’s paycheque. 

Four 6-Star Prime rated WQS events remain on the 2009 WQS schedule, two of them overlapping this week as events take place simultaneously in the Canary Islands and in Santa Cruz, California, and the final two at Haleiwa and Sunset Beach in Hawaii. 

Jackson has opted to compete in the Santa Cruz event at Steamer Lane, the fifth and final leg of the O’Neill Cold Water Classic Series, and will be hoping to continue his rich vein of form in the second half of 2009 to wrap up qualification before the notoriously difficult Hawaiian contests. 

Meanwhile fellow Durbanite Travis Logie did not manage to improve his ratings total in Canada, finishing equal 37th and slipping from No.10 to No. 11 when he was overtaken by Dusty Payne (HAW) in the rankings. Logie has chosen to jet back across Canada and the North Atlantic to compete in the Santa Pro on Lanzarote Island in the Canaries where he hopes the world-class left of San Juan will give him better opportunities to improve his ranking before the Hawaiian leg.  

Logie will be joined in the Canaries by Durbanites Warwick Wright and Antonio Bortoletto along with Capetonian Royden Bryson, who at No. 31 can still force his way into contention for a top 15 finish if he can reach the final and benefit from the 40% increase in ratings points awarded in 6-Star Prime rated events. 

Capetonians Dave Richards and Sean Holmes and Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga) will start from Round 1 in the Californian event while Rudy Palmboom (Bluff), Damien Fahrenfort (California) and Jordy Smith (Durban) will join Jackson in starting in Round 2. Smith is the No. 2 seed for the event which he won in 2007. 

For more information on the ASP Africa members, including profiles and rankings, visit www.aspafrica.com

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