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The South African Masters surfing team netted a six medal haul at the ISA World Masters Surfing Championship which concluded in clean, well shaped two metre waves at Santa Catalina in Panama yesterday (Saturday). The medals comprised three Gold, one Silver and two Bronze with Heather Clark (Women’s Masters) and Chris Knutsen (Grand Kahunas) successfully defending their titles while Andrew Banks (Masters) won his first ISA World title. Brothers Andre and David Malherbe earned Bronze in the Grand Masters and Kahunas respectively while Team South Africa took the Silver medal behind Australia in the team event.
The battle for the team title went down to the last heat of the event, the Masters final, where despite Banks winning the Gold, the two Aussies finished second and third to dash SA’s hopes of a third consecutive Team Gold by a mere 260 points – 10 456 to 10 196.
An elated Banks (Port Shepstone) clinched the Masters (o/35) title with an outstanding heat total of 17.57 out of 20, taking the lead in the final with an 8.50 and then grabbing the Gold with a 9.07 that left Silver medalist Brett Banister needing 8.98 while fellow Aussie Dean Hall and defending two-time champion Juan Ashton (PUR) were combo’d.
“I feel extremely happy, this is the reason why I came here,” Banks said. “This is what I was praying for, and I was not going to be happy with second place. It was a tough final and I gave it my all for my late brother, Robbie - I surf for him.”
Heather Clark (Port Shepstone) has won every heat she has entered in her two appearances in the ISA World Masters Surfing Championship. She completed remarkable recovery from a life-threatening motor accident last October to secure her second consecutive ISA Women’s Masters (o/35) Gold medal. In the final she scored 17.86 (a pair of 8.93 rides) that left Andrea Lopes (BRA) in second, Patricia Rossi (TAH) in third and Sandra English (AUS) in fourth.
“It was hard because all the surfers in the final are really good and we all got waves over the 6.00 point range,” Clark said after being mobbed by her teammates on the beach. “I had support in the water, at the beach and I wanted really bad to get my second world title.”
Durban’s Chris Knutsen won his second successive Grand Kahunas (o/50) ISA World Title and third Gold medal overall after winning the Kahunas division in the 2007 edition in Puerto Rico. The 53 year-old displayed smart wave selection and his customary huge manoeuvres to post the only perfect 10-point ride of the entire event in yesterday’s final. Backing that up with an 8.5, ‘Knutto’ left Javier Huarcaya (PER) in second, Kenneth Myers (PAN) in third and Javier Gorbea (PUR) in fourth.
“I came here trying to win a third ISA World Title, a hat trick, and I managed to pull it off,” an emotional Knutsen said. “I think God gave me the waves as it was amazing to get a 10. I caught the wave and it looked like it was going to be a good one. I just rode it the best I could and luckily it worked out well for me. I am so happy, this happens because if you really love what you do, and I love surfing, you can only get better.”
Andre Malherbe (East London) completed a gutsy run in the event, placing third in the Grand Masters (0/40) division behind three-time Gold medalist Juan Ashton (PUR) and Glen Pringle (AUS) after dropping into the repecharge rounds early on and having to battle through six heats of cutthroat competition just to reach the Grand final.
Brother David Malherbe (Coffee Bay) also earned a Bronze medal, one better than his Copper medal in Puerto Rico, when he placed third in the Kahunas (o/45) final yesterday, behind Rod Baldwin, Australia’s only individual Gold medalist, and Sergio Penna (BRA).
Wayne Monk (East London) placed equal 9th overall in the Masters division, Rob Moore-Boyle finished 7th in the Grand Masters and fellow Durbanite and SA team captain Marc Wright just missed out on the final and the opportunity to defend the Kahunas title he won in Peru in 2008, placing 6th overall in Panama
The Closing Ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Panama, Ricardo Martinelli, as well as the Vice President, Minister of Tourism and Minister of Economy, who assisted ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, in awarding the medals.
Showing great interest in surfing, the President of Panama told the visiting surfers, “Tell everybody about the perfect waves we have and come here, you are more than welcome,” before ensuring the ISA President committed to bringing another international event to Panama in the summer of 2011.
ISA President Fernando Aguerre closed the event by saying, “I want to thank the Panamanian people, the government and the private sector for their commitment with this sport. This is the most exciting part of the event, the medals ceremony, but it is also the part when we remember everything, the rainy days, the wind, the great waves, the broken boards, and the emotions. We want to let all the Panamanians know that we leave your country with our hearts filled with great memories.”
The ISA World Masters Surfing Championship will be held again next year in a soon to be announced location.
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Banks with flag colour coded boardshorts
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Team Medallists
Gold: Australia – 10456 points
Silver: South Africa – 10196 points
Bronze: Brazil – 8770 points
Copper: Puerto Rico – 8684 points
Masters
Gold: Andrew Banks (RSA)
Silver: Brett Bannister (AUS)
Bronze: Dean Hall (AUS)
Copper: Juan Ashton (PUR)
Grand Masters
Gold: Juan Ashton (PUR)
Silver: Glen Pringle (AUS)
Bronze: Andre Malherbe (RSA)
Copper: Ricardo Villanueva (PUR)
Kahunas
Gold: Rod Baldwin (AUS)
Silver: Sergio Penna (BRA)
Bronze: David Malherbe (RSA)
Copper: Martín Jerí (PER)
Grand Kahunas
Gold: Chris Knutsen (RSA)
Silver: Javier Huarcaya (PER)
Bronze: Kenneth Myers (PAN)
Copper: Javier Gorbea (PUR)
Women Masters
Gold: Heather Clark (RSA)
Silver: Andrea Lopes (BRA)
Bronze: Patricia Rossi (TAH)
Copper: Sandra English (AUS)
Final Team Standings:
1: AUSTRALIA
2: SOUTH AFRICA
3: BRAZIL
4: PUERTO RICO
5: PERU
6: VENEZUELA
7: ARGENTINA
8: FRANCE
9: PANAMA
10: COSTA RICA
11: MEXICO
12: ITALY
13: URUGUAY
14: REP.DOMINICAN
15: JAMAICA
16: NEW ZEALAND
17: GUATEMALA
18: TAHITI
19: EL SALVADOR
20: GERMANY
21: IRELAND
Videos, photos, results and contest news in both English and Spanish can be found at www.panamaisaworldmasters.com. Further details 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 was made possible thanks to a R150 000 grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).
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