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East Londoner Greg Emslie’s ten years of international experience on the ASP World Tour proved too strong for the opposition in the Mr Price Western Province Open at Long Beach, Cape Town at the weekend when the 33-year-old father of two surfed to victory in the first Pro Surf Tour (PST) event of the year.
By eclipsing Durbanite Warwick Wright in the hotly contested Men’s final Emslie now leads the local PST rankings.
“It was a fun event for me, everything worked well and I peaked at the right time in the final,” said Emslie who announced his retirement from the ASP World Tour in December 2009 and will now focus his efforts on the PST and assist Surfing South Africa with its national coaching and development programmes.
“The final was very competitive and Warwick especially was in great form. After beating him (Warwick) in the final he came up to me and said that he’d get me in the next one… so there is already a healthy rivalry on the PST and it’s good for the sport.
And hopefully with more PST events being added to the calendar we can give birth to more surfers like Jordy Smith and future world champions. I love surfing against the younger surfers and I’ve said to them that if they ever need any help or advice I’m here to help.”
Cape Townian Matt Bromley secured third place in both the Open Mens and the Pro Junior finals with fellow Cape Townian Jaco Steyn in fourth.
In the Pro Junior division Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga Rocks, KZN) scored a convincing victory over Cape Townians Dave Brand, Matt Bromley and Mikey February respectively. De Vries was in a league of his own with his new school manoeuveres that scored high with the judges despite experimenting with his equipment throughout the weekend.
“I came down to Cape Town with a number of surfboards not knowing what to expect as I have never surfed Long Beach. I ended up riding four different boards today and luckily I rode the best one in the final,” said de Vries who featured in the final of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships in New Zealand last month.
The gifted 16-year-old natural footer who has his heart set on competing on the ASP World Tour will be competing in as many local events this year before competing in selected ASP World Qualifying Series events for 2010.
“This year I want to focus on my surfing to be the best I can be,” added de Vries. “That’s why these events are so important. Just that 10 percent extra confidence you gain from them. They help with your contest strategy and they are a great stepping to stone to international events.”
Open Women’s winner Durbanite Sarah Baum who also featured in the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships in New Zealand last month (she won a bronze medal) beat Bianca Buitendag (George), Tanika Hoffman (Cape Town) and Sabrina Scott (Cape Town) respectively.
“I have had a great start to the year with my result in New Zealand and the win here and hopefully it will be a good year ahead,” said Baum, 16, who heads to Australia next week and will take part in the six star rated Drug Aware Pro at Margaret River.
The Mr Price Western Province Open enjoyed two perfect days of waves and weather in the Mother City and featured 65 of South Africa’s top ranked surfers in the Pro Junior (U20), Open Girls and Open Mens divisions.
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