Team News

International Surfing Association
Santa Catalina, Panama
29 August - 5 September 2010

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc  |  Slideshow 1  2  3

South Africa on track to claim historic third team title at ISA World Masters Surfing Championships

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 3 September, 2010 : - - Team South Africa remains on track to claim a historic third successive team title at the ISA World Masters Surfing Championships in Panama after the completion of the fifth day of competition yesterday (Thursday) when the finalists in the qualifying streams of the Masters, Grand Masters and Kahunas were determined.

In their various divisions with four South Africans and Australians yet to lose a heat, followed by three each from Puerto Rico, Peru and Brazil and one each from Panama, France and Tahiti.
 
In the Masters (o/35) division, Andrew Banks (Port Shepstone) advanced to the qualifying final along with heat winner Carlos Santos (BRA). These two will be up against two-time defending champion Juan Ashton (PUR) and Dean Hall (AUS) who relegated Wayne Monk (East London) to the repecharge rounds.
 
The top two in the qualifying finals advance to the Grand Final where they are guaranteed medals and a shot at clinching the World Masters title.
 
In the Grand Masters (o/40) division, Rob Moore-Boyle (Durban) couldn’t find the high scoring waves and joined Andre Malherbe (East London) in Heat 2 of repecharge Round 4. Malherbe, who has fought his way through two rounds of sudden-death repecharge heats already, posted a strong second place finish behind defending champion Magoo de la Rosa (PER) yesterday.
 
David, the elder of the Malherbe brothers, continued his rich vein of form at the event by winning his Kahunas (o/45) Round 3 heat yesterday, finishing ahead of Rod Baldwin (AUS) with SA team captain and defending ISA World Kahunas champion Marc Wright (Durban) in third place.
 
Malherbe and Baldwin will take on Sergio Penna and Martin Jeri (PER) for a place in the Grand final while Wright now has to fight his way through three cutthroat repecharge heats to reach the Grand final and the opportunity to defend his crown.
 
Defending world champions Heather Clark (Port Shepstone) in the Women’s Masters (o/35) and Chris Knutsen (Durban) in the Grand Kahunas (o/50) did not need to compete yesterday as they have already reached the qualifying final in their respective divisions.
 
All of the 52 surfers from 14 countries remaining in the ISA World Masters Championships will be in action today. Action at Santa Catalina in Panama will get underway at 7:00am (2pm in South Africa) with the following schedule:
 
 ISA World Masters Surfing Championships
Schedule for Friday 3 September (South Africans in Brackets)
2 HEATS MASTERS REPERCHARGE 4                       (Wayne Monk)
2 HEATS KAHUNAS REPERCHARGE 4                      (Marc Wright)                                  
2 HEATS GRAND MASTERS REPERCHARGE 4       (Andre Malherbe & Rob Moore-Boyle)
1 HEATS MASTERS QUALIFY 4                                     (Andrew Banks)
1 HEATS KAHUNAS QUALIFY 4                                     (David Malherbe)
1 HEATS GRAND MASTERS QUALIFY 4
1 HEATS GRAND KAHUNA QUALIFY 3                                    (Chris Knutsen)
1 HEATS WOMEN MASTERS QUALIFY 3                     (Heather Clark)
1 HEATS GRAND KAHUNAS REPERCHARGE 3
1 HEATS WOMEN MASTERS REPERCHARGE 3
1 HEATS MASTERS REPERCHARGE 5                       (TBD)
1 HEATS KAHUNAS REPERCHARGE 5                      (TBD)
1 HEATS GRAND MASTERS REPERCHARGE 5       (TBD)

Country standings after five days of competition:
1: SOUTH AFRICA
1: AUSTRALIA
1: BRAZIL
4: PERU
5: PUERTO RICO
6: ARGENTINA
7: VENEZUELA
8: COSTA RICA
9: PANAMA
10: FRANCE
11: MEXICO
12: ITALY
13:REP.DOMINCAN
14: JAMAICA
15: URUGUAY
16: NEW ZEALAND
17: GUATEMALA
18: TAHITI
18: EL SALVADOR
20: GERMANY
20: IRELAND
 
All the action from the event, including live webcasts, daily videos, photos, results and contest news in both English and Spanish can be found at www.panamaisaworldmasters.com.
 
Event updates are also available through the ISA Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts.
 
The SA Masters Team preparations and attendance at the 2010 ISA World Masters Championships is made possible thanks to a R150 000 grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).

         
   Slideshow 1                             Slideshow 2                             Slideshow 3

Previous reports:
# 1 : Panama to host the 2010 ISA World Masters Champs
# 2 : Panama gears up for ISA World Masters Champs 
# 3 : Solid swell on tap for Panama ISA World Masters 

# 4 : Panama ISA World Masters Champs site goes live  
# 5 : Santa Catalina awakens with arrival of UN of surfing
# 6 : Parade of Nations opens Panama ISA World Masters 

# 7 : Perfect surf kicks off the Panama ISA World Masters 
# 8 : Sth Africa dominates Panama ISA World Masters Day 2
# 9 : Swell stays on for Panama ISA World Masters Day 3

# 10 : Andre Malherbe still in contention at World Masters

www.isasurf.org
www.panamaisaworldmasters.com

About The Panama ISA World Masters Surfing Championship
The Panama ISA World Masters Surfing Championship is being held for the first time at Santa Cataina in Panama. It is the second World Championship to be held in mainland Central America since the 2009 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games that took place in Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica. Santa Catalina is known for its huge barreling rights. Panama won the hosting bid over other candidate nations due to its great commitment to a better surfing future, a first-class and well-structured Organizer/Host, a coast packed with consistent waves and also to promote surfing in the region.

Panama is located in the center of the Western Hemisphere, it's borders are: to the North, the Caribbean Sea; to the East, the Republic of Colombia; to the South, the Pacific Ocean, and to the West, the Republic of Costa Rica. Panama is the link between Central America and South America, an isthmus of 80 km. wide in its narrower section, and traversed by the Panama Canal which handles 5% of the entire world's production.

More info: www.visitpanama.com

About the International Surfing Association (ISA)
The International Surfing Association (ISA) is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the World Governing Authority for Surfing. It was originally founded as the International Surfing Federation in 1964 and has been running world championships since 1964 and the Junior World Championships since 1980. 

ISA membership includes the surfing National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of over 60 countries on six continents. Its headquarters are located in San Diego, California. It is presided by Fernando Aguerre, first elected in 1994 in Rio, and re-elected six times since.  The ISA's four Vice Presidents are Alan Atkins (Aus), Robin de Kock (SAfr), Mike Gerard (USA) & Karín Sierralta (Peru).

More info: www.isasurf.org

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