SA Juniors defeats Kiwi juniors in a freindly surf-off before the ISA World Junior Champs

The 2010 South African Junior Surfing Team started their campaign for gold at the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships in New Zealand by successfully defending the Lotto SANZ Challenge trophy, the traditional one-day warm up event between South Africa and New Zealand.

Competing in difficult-to-ride small waves at the World Championship contest site at Piha, Team SA scored a narrow points victory over the host nation to retain the unique hand crafted trophy made from semi precious New Zealand stone and South African yellow wood that they also won in Ecuador last year.

New caps Steven Sawyer (Jeffreys Bay) and Jarred Veldhuis (Kommetjie) settled their nerves in their first foray in international competition by securing a morale boosting one-two finish in the U16 boys division, leaving New Zealanders Ben Poulter and Elliot Paerata – Reid in third and fourth places respectively.

Alex Dive (NZ) clinched victory in an U18 boys final that saw SA team captain Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga) grab the runner-up position with the Kommetjie duo of Mikey February and Davey Brand filling the third and fourth spots.

New Zealand’s Sarah Mason took the win in the U18 girls final followed by Team SA vice captain, Bianca Buitendag (George), who earned the runner-up berth ahead of NZ’s Alexis Poulter and Jayda Martin – Fitzharris, who finished in that order.

The Lotto SANZ Challenge is used by the two nations as a final training session in the build up to the Quiksilver World Junior Surfing Championship and this was the seventh edition it has been contested. The 2010 South African Junior Surfing Team is supported by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF), clothed by Quiksilver and received additional support from Skullcandy and Power Balance.

The 2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships will get under way tomorrow (Wednesday 20 January) with the Parade of Nations and Sands of the World Ceremony. During this traditional parade a representative from each nation will deposit sand from their country's beaches into a specially constructed box.

This Sands of the World ceremony symbolises the gathering of all the "tribes" which make up the surfing world. South Africa will deposit sand from beaches in the Western and Eastern Cape and KZN.

Competition will start at 8.00am on the 21st January at Piha Beach, Auckland.

Live webcasting of the Parade, Sands of the World Ceremony and the surfing at each of the two podiums will be available from January 20 on isasurf.org and Surfing South Africa will post a daily Press Release and photos focusing on the progress of the South Africans on surfingsouthafrica.co.za.

Surfing South Africa is the organisation recognised by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, (SASCOC) Sport and Recreation South Africa (SRSA) and the International Surfing Association (ISA) as the governing body for the sport in South Africa.

The International Surfing Association is recognised by the International Olympic Committee and is the governing body for World Surfing. Fernando Aguerre (Argentina) is the President, Alan Atkins (Australia), Robin de Kock (South Africa), Mike Gerard (USA) and Kieran Sieralta (Peru) are the four Vice Presidents.