Chad du Toit wins Billabong Pro Junior title at Herold’s Bay

Chad du Toit (Berea, Durban) won the internationally rated ASP Grade-One Billabong Pro Junior men’s title at Herold’s Bay today, defeating Nick Godfrey (Cape St Francis) in powerful 1.5 metre surf that provided the country’s best 20-and-under surfers with excellent opportunities to display their talents.

Du Toit, 20, the 2009 ASP Africa Pro Junior champion and top seed in the event, started the final brightly by racking up mid-range scores of 6.5 and 6.0 out of 10. Godfrey stayed in contention with a 5.5 before du Toit sealed victory in his final Pro Junior event in home waters, producing a near-perfect ride of 9.75 for four massive top to bottom carves on an overhead wave with eight minutes remaining.

An emotional du Toit dedicated his win to his Grandfather who passed away recently before collecting his US $2 000 (R14 800) prize-purse plus 1 000 points which elevated him to second spot on the yearend ASP Africa Pro Junior Rankings, behind 2010 ASP Africa Pro Junior Champion and Billabong team rider Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay), who did not compete in this event.

Du Toit also clinched one of the three coveted invitations to compete on the inaugural ASP World Junior Tour which starts in Bali next month and crowns the ASP World Junior Champion in Sydney, Australia, in January.

The remaining two invitations went to Dale Staples (St Francis Bay), winner of the Billabong Pro Junior Dolphin Coast event in April, who finished third in the rankings, and Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga), who despite recovering from an ankle injury that saw him eliminated early in this event, retained his No. 4 spot when du Toit ousted Matt Bromley (Kommetjie) in their semifinal clash. It was just reward as it was de Vries’ victory over Klee Strachan in the final of this event last year that handed du Toit his 2009 ASP Africa Pro Junior title.

Bromley and Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay) finished equal third at Herold’s Bay while Shawn Dennis (Durban), Davey Brand (Kommetjie), Haydn MacNicol (Scottburgh) and David van Zyl (Glenashley) placed equal fifth following quarterfinal defeats yesterday.

The finals of the Pro Surf Tour (PST) events again demonstrated the strength in depth of surfing in this country, serving up phenomenal performances from the future surf stars in brilliant sunshine but testing surf conditions.

Jordan Maree (Kalk Bay) annexed the U12 boys’ title in a high-scoring final in which nearly 30 waves were surfed in the 25 minute heat. Maree racked up scores of 6.25 and an excellent 8.75 to relegate Adin Masencamp (Somerset West) to the runner-up berth with Donovan Wichmann (Marina da Gama) claiming third spot and Ford van Jaarsveld (Kommetjie) in fourth.

Benji Brand made full use of the thousands of wave he has ripped in the lefts at his home break of Long Beach in Kommetjie to post scores of 8.0 and 6.5 and claim the U14 boys’ title at Herold’s Bay. Max Armstrong from nearby Scarborough stayed within striking distance but had to settle for second place while Shane Sykes (Salt Rock) and Steffen Burrows (Strand) were left combo’d in third and fourth places respectively.

Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh), recently nicknamed ‘Rock Star’ by his peers, dominated the U16 boys final thanks largely to an outstanding 8.75. Dylan Lightfoot took the runner-up spot ahead of exhausted fellow Jeffreys Bay surfer Steven Sawyer, who had just exited the water after his Pro Junior semifinal loss, and Benji Brand, who had simply stayed in the surf after his U14 final victory.

Prestwich, who won yesterday’s U16 trials for the VonZipper Air Show, pocketed the R2 000 winner-takes-all prize-purse for the surfer completing the best aerial manoeuvre in the 30 minute finale that featured a dozen of the country’s best high-flying competitors today.

Chantelle Rautenbach (Melkbosstrand) won the Billabong Pro Junior Women’s event at Victoria Bay on Friday, defeating Sarah Baum (Athlone Park) in the final to earn R2 000 and a valuable 1 000 points on the Pro Surf Tour (PST) rankings.

There are daily video and picture uploads for each day of the event on www.billabong.com/za and the heat results can be followed as they happen throughout the event on Twitter and Facebook (Username- BillabongSA).

Anyone wanting to be included onto the Billabong Junior Series event SMS notification database can send their name and mobile number to brendon.kegel@billabong.co.za

The Pro Surf Tour (PST) events in the Billabong Junior Series are sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA), the national controlling body for the sport, while the internationally rated Pro Junior men’s event is sanctioned by ASP Africa, the regional office for ASP International.

The series is proudly supported by Von Zipper, Kustom and Nixon and fueled by Monster Energy.

Pro Junior men

1.  Chad du Toit (Berea)                             $2 000 + Nixon watch + Monster Energy

2.  Nick Godfrey (Cape St Francis)           $   900 + Sector 9 skateboard

=3.  Matt Bromley (Kommetjie)                  $   550

=3.  Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay)            $   550

=5.  Shawn Dennis (Durban)                    $   250

=5.  Davey Brand (Kommetjie)                  $   250

=5.  Haydn MacNicol (Scottburgh)            $   250

=5.  David van Zyl (Glenashley)                $   250

U16 boys

1.  Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh)              R2 000 + Nixon watch

2.  Dylan Lightfoot (Jeffreys Bay)              R1 200 + Von Zipper eyewear

3.  Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay)              R   800 + Kustom footwear

4.  Benji Brand (Kommetjie)                      R   500

U14 boys

1.  Benji Brand (Kommetjie)                      R1 500 + Nixon watch

2.  Max Armstrong (Scarborough)             R1 000 + Von Zipper eyewear

3.  Shane Sykes (Salt Rock)                      R   600 + Kustom footwear

4.  Steffen Burrows (Strand)                      R   400

U12 boys

1.  Jordan Maree (Kalk Bay)                                   R1 000 + Nixon watch

2.  Adin Masencamp (Somerset West)                R   750 + Von Zipper eyewear

3.  Donovan Wichmann (Marina da Gama)        R   500 + Kustom footwear

4.  Ford van Jaarsveld (Kommetjie)                      R   250

Von Zipper Air Show

1.  Slade Prestwich (Scottburgh)              R2 000