Davey Brand pipped Dylan Lightfoot to the Billabong Pro Junior Mens title.
Cape St Francis – In perfect four-foot pointbreak surf, Davey Brand won the Pro Junior Boys final against Dylan Lightfoot with two excellent scoring rides. Jeffreys Bay local Lightfoot was chasing a small score but couldn’t find it amongst the excellent waves, and the win went to Brand. Slade Prestwich and Benji Brand were tied in third place. “This has been my best event of the year,” said Davey. “I’m just so stoked that my parents were here to see it.”
The Billabong Pro Junior in Seal Point offered US $5 000 (approx. R42 000) in prize-money with $2 000 plus 250 ranking points going to the winner of the men’s event and the women’s winner receiving $1 000 of the total $2 000 prize-purse.
In the Pro Junior Girls it was the two friends Bianca Buitendag and Sarah Baum, with Bianca taking the top spot. Emma Smith and Tanika Hoffman were tied in third place.
The U12 Boys was won by a very stoked Max Elkington in a tight final, with Koby Oberholzer, Brage Jongensen and Angelo Faulkner taking the minor spots.
Davey Brand’s powerful backhand served him well at Seal Point.
The U14 Boys was a hard-fought final with the surfers showing incredible maturity in their surfing. Koby Oberholzer, son of the legendary Frankie Oberholzer and surfing in his second final in a row, got a great barrel in the final in his bid for victory, but the end results were Jordan Maree in first, Koby in second, Donovan Wichmann in third and Adin Nasencamp in fourth.
With perfect waves reeling down Seal Point, the U16 Girl’s final took to the water, and the final placings were Tahra Uren in first, Britney Linder in second, Anoush Zakarian in third and Inge Mclaren in fourth.
The U16 Boys final was another close battle, with a very hungry Matt McGillivray fighting all the way to the end, including a set wave on which he performed four radical turns for a score of 7.35 and the eventual heat win. He was followed by Benji Brand in second, Shane Sykes in third and Jordan Maree in fourth.
Before the finals went down it was time for the boys to take to the skies in the Red Bull Air Show. As the waves pumped through, and after a bunch of big attempts, it was Mikey February who took the R2k for a big forehand air reverse.
The DaKine Highest heat Score Of The Event award and R2k went to Bianca Buitendag with heat score of 17.9
Bianca Buitendag has been on an incredible roll lately – it didn’t stop at Seal Point.
Citroën Port Elizabeth, getting involved in their first ever surf event, awarded the Citroën Surfer Of The Event award and R2k to Koby Oberholzer for an amazing performance throughout the three day contest and two second places in two consecutive finals.
“This has been an incredible weekend of surfing,” said Billabong South Africa marketing manager Chad D’Arcy. “We were blessed with great waves for the first two days and excellent surf for the final day, and great surf is what makes a good event.”
Qualifying for the ASP World Junior Championships in Bali in October will be Beyrick De Vries, Mikey February, Slade Prestwich, Davey Brand and Dylan Lightfoot in the Men’s division, and Bianca Buitendag and Sarah Baum in the Girl’s division.
For video and image highlights, check out http://billabongprojunior.co.za
Billabong Pro Junior Results:
Pro Junior Men:
1st: Davey Brand
2nd: Dylan Lightfoot
= 3rd: Slade Prestwich
= 3rd: Benji Brand
Pro Junior Girls:
1st: Bianca Buitendag
2nd: Sarah Baum
= 3rd: Emma Smith
= 3rd: Tanika Hoffman
Under 16 Boys
1st: Matt McGillivray
2nd: Benji Brand
3rd: Shane Sykes
4th: Jordan Maree
Under 16 Girls:
1st: Tahra Uhren
2nd: Britney Linder
3rd: Anoush Zakarian
4th: Inge McLaren
Under 14 Boys:
1st: Jordan Maree
2nd: Koby Oberholzer
3rd: Donavan Wichmann
4th: Adin Masencamp
Under 12 Boys:
1st: Max Elkington
2nd: Koby Oberholzer
3rd: Brage Jongensen
4th: Angelo Faulkner
