Elation and upsets at junior champs in JBay

Elation and upsets, high scores and low marked the opening day of Hurley SA Junior Champs at Jeffreys Bay today.

 Pristine conditions and a solid one metre swell peeling down the Point at Jeffreys Bay produced an ideal canvas for South Africa’s hottest young surfers to produce their best.

 Provincial teams from all over South Africa and supporters cheered their teammates in the natural amphitheatre created by the dunes overlooking the waves. 

All U17, U15 and U13 Boy’s Round 1 heats were completed. Spectators were treated  to a feast of progressive surfing as top performers posted scores in the excellent range (over 8.0 out of 10), combining speed, power, flow and  rides with radical manoeuvres.

 The opening encounter of the day produced a major upset when defending U17 boy’s champion, Josh Smit from the KwaZulu-Natal Central team, was relegated to Round 2 after finishing third behind heat winner Hilton Pelser (Boland) and Benji Brand (WP) who both progressed directly to Round 3.

 Competitors from the host association, Eastern Province, made full use of their local knowledge, racking up victories in four of the five U17 heats they contested with Stephano Jantjies particularly impressive.

The U15s brought even more energy to proceedings and the battle between 2011 Surfer of the contest Jordy Maree (WP) and Stef Burrows (Boland) produced dynamic surfing with Maree just prevailing thanks to his vertical backhand attack on the head high waves.

 EP top seed Matt McGillivray was on fire, taking an early lead in the hunt for the R3 000 Citroën Highest Heat Score with a tally of 15.50 out of 20 before being overtaken later in the day by Adin Masencamp (Boland) who posted a total of 16.75 that included the day’s highest single ride of 8.75 in his heat win over arch rival Ethan Fletcher (WP) in the U13 division.

 The Hurley SA Junior Champs runs until Sunday when the 2012 SA champions will be announced

The 2012 Hurley SA Junior Champs is supported by Citroën Port Elizabeth, Skullcandy, Red Bull, Zigzag and All Aboard Travel.

(edited)

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