Day three is in the bag at the 2014 Hurley SA Junior Champs and what a cracker it was. The judges had had their hands full throughout, often dealing with three great surfers on three great waves at the same time.
Lower Point showing off on Day 3 of the 2014 Hurley SA Junior Champs.
At the crack of dawn the lineup was already packed. And as the sun glowed red, the surfers made the most of the pumping conditions before competition got underway. Things kicked off quickly and KZN’s Bevan Willis opened up his account with some man sized turns in the Under 17 Boys division to dominate the first heat of Day 3.
Bevan Willis, carving his way to Round 5.
Eastern Province’s Jerry Van Wyk drew some great lines in the second heat to score a 6.5 and a 7.75, but unfortunately couldn’t make it past the dominant form of Jordy Maree, who narrowly put an end to Jerry’s good run in the competition.
Jerry Van Wyk was ripping, but his competition came to an end on Day 3.
One of the day’s most loaded heats and certainly the biggest upset had to be during Heat 2 of Round 3 in the Under 15 Boys division. Adin Masencamp (BOL), Calvin Goor (KZN Central), Tayne Thompson (BOR) and last year’s winner, Ethan Fletcher (WP) faced-off in a tough encounter. Ethan and Adin were holding onto a comfortable lead for most of the heat, but Calvin caught an outside bomb in the dying moments to clinch second place with an excellent 8.5 – knocking Ethan out of the running and squashing his dreams of defending his title.
KZN’s Calvin Goor eliminated last year’s winner, Ethan Fletcher (WP).
SKZN’s Koby Oberholzer showed fine form to win Heat 5 of Round 3, which was followed-up shortly after by local ripper, Sebastian Williams, who put on a solid performance to win the next heat. After nailing an excellent 8.5, Sebastian went on to back it up by posting another solid 7.25, powering out some extended top turns resembling a miniature impression of Jordy. It’s clear to see that this guy has put in his fair share of hours in the JBay lineup, and is definitely considered as one of the favourites in contention for the win.
Eyes on the prize for local Under 15 Boys favourite, Sebastian Williams.
Another closely watched heat was Heat 1 of Round 4 in the Under 17 Boys division, where two-time event winner, Matt McGillivray, turned things up a notch to take the win over Jordy Maree (WP) – firing up the crowd with some top notch surfing and earning some major home crowd support in the process.
Matt McGillivray is still on track to claim his hat trick in 2014.
If all that wasn’t enough, KZN’s Shane Sykes came out firing on all cylinders for Heat 5 of Round 4, where he beat Michael Monk (BOR), Brendan Stockigt (BOR) and Milan Van Rhyn (BOL) to take a convincing win with a 9.0 backed by a 7.5. This earned Shane the highest single scoring wave, as well as the highest heat total of the contest thus far.
Check out Day 2 and Day 3 highlights in this clip below:
Get all the results from Day 3 at surfingsouthafrica.co.za, or check out the official press release below.
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COMPETITORS REVEL IN CLASSIC OVERHEAD CONDITIONS ON DAY 3 OF THE HURLEY SA JUNIOR CHAMPS AT JEFFREYS BAY
Pictured: Shane Sykes (KZNC) posted the highest score on Day 3 of the 2014 Hurley SA Junior Champs at Jeffreys Bay, finishing his ride by boosting this aerial manoeuvre.
The country’s best young surfers revelled in classic overhead waves that peeled down the fabled rock-lined Lower Point in Jeffreys Bay on Day 3 of the 2014 Hurley SA Junior Champs on Friday.
The powerful new swell that arrived overnight produced 1 to 2 metre waves groomed by light winds that provided the ideal template for the competitors aged 17-and-under to showcase their talent. There were spectacular performances and several upsets in the battle for prestigious individual national titles and team points.
Shane Sykes, the KwaZulu-Natal Central top seed, was the standout of the day. Continuing the momentum from his victory at Seal Point last weekend, Sykes was surfing faster and more radically than his U17 Boys opponents. He posted the highest single ride score of the day (9.0 out of a possible 10) in his Round 4 encounter by tearing up a long J-Bay wall and ended with a huge aerial that makes him a frontrunner for the Red Bull Best Air award.
Sykes advanced to the last 12 in the division along with runner-up Michael Monk (Border).
Others who produced impressive performances in the U17 Boys included defending champion Matt McGillivray (EP), Ntando Msibi (Dev Academy), Matthew Sills (SKZN) and Sykes’ teammates Richard Kidd and Bevan Willis from KZNC, all of whom won their heats.
The biggest upset of the day came in the U15 Boys where Adin Masencamp (Boland) won his Round 3 heat and 2013 champion Ethan Fletcher (WP) was eliminated from the event when Calvin Goor (KZNC) caught one of biggest set waves of the day, punctuated his ride with huge manoeuvres and earned an 8.5 that relegated Fletcher to third place.
“The waves are so good out there,” said Masencamp. ”Coming off a win at the recent Billabong Junior Series event I was feeling pretty confident and had no real strategy. I just wanted to catch some of the lined-up set waves and ended up getting a 7 and a 7.75 so I was stoked!”
Jake Elkington, Ford van Jaarsveldt and Joe Webster (all WP), Sebastian Williams and Jose Faulkner (both EP), Luke Malherbe (Border) and Koby Oberholzer (KZNC) were the others who progressed to the last 16 in the U15 Boys with heat wins.
The potent early morning waves had the administrators and parents of U13 Boys and Girls watching anxiously, and the jetski recue craft close at hand, while the competitors in the youngest division took to the surf. But their fears were allayed as the youngsters were fearless in the face of the intimidating conditions.
Kelly Medly (KZNC), who weighs barely 30 Kgs, deserves special mention as she paddled out to back only to be washed onto the rocks by one of the bigger sets of the day. She then courageously rode two waves on the inside to win her heat and move into the quarterfinals.
The battle for the coveted Freedom Cup, awarded to the provincial team that accumulates the highest points across all divisions, is hotting up as each team had several competitors eliminated with just two days to go before the champions are crowned on Sunday.
Solid but slightly smaller waves and light winds are predicted for Saturday with clean offshore winds expected for the final day.
In addition to the prestige of securing a place in South African surfing history, surfers will also be competing for several special awards totalling more than R12 000. These include the Red Bull Best Air, Oakley Highest Heat Score, Island Tribe Best Tube, Skullcandy Team Spirit Award and two surfboards shaped by Matt Biolos from Mayhem.
All Aboard Travel (www.all-aboard.co.za) will be giving one lucky surfer a flight to join a photo-shoot surf trip with Zigzag Surf Mag (www.zigzag.co.za) that will see them featured in one of the magazine’s photo editorials.
The Hurley SA Junior Champs can be followed via:
Facebook:
Hurley South Africa | www.facebook.com/Hurley.ZA
Twitter (Official):
Hurley SA | @HurleyZA | www.twitter.com/HurleyZA
Twitter (Results Only):
SA Junior Champs | @SAJuniorChamps | www.twitter.com/sajuniorchamps
Websites:
Daily results will be posted on www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za
As part of Surfing South Africa’s commitment to transformation, the South African Development Academy team is participating thanks to a grant from Sport and Recreation South Africa.
The Hurley SA Junior Champs is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa (SSA) which is recognised by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and Sport and Recreation SA as the national governing body for the sport. SSA is a member of the International Surfing Association (ISA), the world’s governing body for surfing.
The 2014 Hurley SA Junior Champs is supported by Red Bull, Vans, Skullcandy, Neff, Island Tribe, Oakley, All Aboard Travel, Christian Surfers, Zigzag, Supertubes Foundation and Surfing South Africa.
