Just four heats were completed today at the Jeffreys Bay Open of Surfing presented by Billabong, that’s because the onshore wind picked-up and started to mess with the waves just as the men hit the water for their quarter final match-ups, of which just two were completed.
Devyn Mattheys got off to a good start, but couldn’t find the waves to keep the momentum going.
Booking themselves a spot in the semi finals were Dale Staples, Brandon Jackson, Casey Grant and Slade Prestwich, while there’s still two more quarter-finals to be surfed to decide who those four will be up against in the semis.
The remaining two quarter finals will feature:
Heat 3: Greg Emslie, Mark Occhilupo; Ricky Basnett; Simon Fish
Heat 4: Llewellyn Whittaker; Dylan Lightfoot; Rudy Palmboom; Matt Bromley
Looks epic in photos, but the morning was inconsistent and organisers held off till 10:00am to kick-off the day’s action.
Action did get off to a delayed start after the morning revealed inconsistent sets trundling their way down from Boneyards. However, by 10:00am things had improved a lot, and organisers sent the ladies out for their opening encounters in their quest for the R5,000 first prize.
In heat 1 PE Local Faye Zoetmulder smashed some helpless Supers lips to score a 7.75pt ride and seal the win ahead of local Emma Smith and Cape Town’s Tanika Hoffman, who both join Faye in the next round.
Faye Zoetmulder smashed her way through to the next round.
Following on from that entertaining match-up, heat 2 paddled out with all five competitors looking to carve their way to the next round. Goofyfooters Sarah Baum and Nikita Robb dug their heels in and managed to generate more speed and drive on their backhand to claim the top two spots, while Bluff local Heidi Palmboom did enough to join them in the semi finals.
Sarah Baum surfed powerfully to win her heat and advance.
Competitors and organisers will reconvene tomorrow to make a call whether to run the remaining heats in the Jeffreys Bay Open of Surfing, which could be in for an entertaining climax.
For all the results follow @JBayOpen on Twitter, or visit Jeffreys Bay Open of Surfing on Facebook for more.
Check out the official press release below
************
Great Waves and High Scores For Day Two Of The Jeffreys Bay Open Of Surfing Presented By Billabong
Dale Staples in Action at Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay
Jeffreys Bay – After a slow start at Supertubes this morning, the waves started pulsing and it was decided to send the Girls First Round into the water. It was a good call, and solid waves started pouring down the point for the girls.
In heat number 1 it was Faye Zoetmulder, Emma Smith and Tanika Hoffman advancing to the quarters, and in heat two it was Sarah Baum, Nikita Robb and Heidi Palmboom who advanced. Zoetmulder was one of the stand-outs of the round, picking up one of the best waves of the morning and executing some critical moves on her backhand for a 7.75 (out of a possible 10) to help her through to a heat win.
The men’s quarter-finals were sent out as a slight onshore started puffing, but the waves were still good and there were some excellent waves being scored. In the first quarter Dale Staples emerged victorious with Casey Grant in second place, eliminating Devyn Matteys and Shane Thorne from the event.
“It was quite tricky out there,” said Staples on the beach afterwards. “There was a bump on the waves with the light onshore, and it was hard to find the right one. I saw that Shane (Thorne) was sitting quite high up the point and seemed to be struggling to find the right ones, so I chose to sit further down. The best waves were the ones that bent out a bit toward the bottom. I was riding my normal equipment out there, my favourite board, and it felt good.”
Dale is looking forward to the rest of the event. “It’s obviously really good to be surfing at Supers. It beats the WQS.”
The final heat was dogged by rapidly increasing onshore winds, and in the tricky conditions it was Brandon Jackson and Slade Prestwich who won through from Ryan Payne and Dan Redman. At the end of the heat the decision was made to call it off for the day, with the next call to be made at first light tomorrow.
There is a R30,000 first prize for the men’s division and a R5,000 first prize for the women’s division, as well as a number of specialty prize categories in the event.
Nixon South Africa have announced that they will be giving away a magnificent Nixon Magnacon watch in their Winner Takes All event to be run during the Jeffreys Bay Open. The WTA is an award that will be going to the Best Tube Ride of the entire event, and the Magnacon is valued at R9000. The Best Tube Ride of the event so far goes to Allan Johns, but there is still plenty of surfing to come.
VonZipper South Africa will reward the surfer who pulls off the Best Air of the event with a VonZipper product pack.
DaKine have put up a prize for the surfer who performs the Most Progressive Move of the event.
Sector9 will be awarding a longboard skateboard and a product pack to the surfer who performs the Best Carve on the walls of Supers in the event.
The Best Wave of the event in the men’s division will receive a FireWire Surfboard, and the Best Wave of the women’s divison will also receive a FireWire Surfboard, both sponsored by Cheron Kraak and Country Feeling Surf Shop.
The Jeffreys Bay Open Of Surfing can be found on Facebook – Jeffreys Bay Open Of Surfing
Score updates can be found throughout the day on the Jeffreys Bay Open Of Surfing Twitter account @JBayOpen
The tournament is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa. Surfing South Africa is recognised by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) as the governing body of the sport in South Africa.
