Yes, it was offshore once again in Nicaragua, meaning rippable waves for the nearly 300 competitors at the 2013 DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Champs.
The first SA casualties of the seven day battle for an ISA World Junior Surfing Champs gold medal were registered on Day 4, with three of the 12-strong SA Team failing to advance out of their repercharge heats.
Anoush Zakarian (U16 Girls) from Melkbos was the first to fall, when she failed to advance from her Repercharge Round 2 heat. Anoush was followed by J-Bay’s Gina Smith, who lost out in Repercharge Round 3 of the Under 18 Girls, before the KZN South Coast’s Josh Smit (U18 Boys) finished 4th in his Repercharge Round 4 heat to join Anoush and Gina on the cheerleading squad.
Josh Smit gave it his all in Repercharge Round 4, but dropped out of the competition on Day 4.
Team captain Dylan Lightfoot also had a slip-up, when he fell victim to a low-scoring heat in qualifying Round 3, but luckily he only dropped to the repercharge rounds, where he quickly made amends with a heat win to advance to Repercharge Round 5.
Under 18 Boys Benji Brand and Diran Zakarian surfed well in Round 3 Qualifying to remain in the hunt for a gold medal, when they finished first and second respectively in their heats to advance to Round 4.
Warner Beach’s Chanelle Botha carved her way to the next round in the Girls Under 16 division.
After dropping to the repercharge rounds the previous day, Warner Beach’s Chanelle Botha managed to milk the fun waves at Playa Jiquiliste for enough points to see her comfortably into Repercharge Round 4, while Durban’s Nicole Pallet dropped into the Under 18 Girls repercharge rounds after finishing 4th in her Qualifying Round 3 heat.
That leaves just one surfer we’ve yet to mention. Cape Town’s Jordy Maree has been ripping in Nicaragua, registering another heat win and staying in contention in the Under 16 Boys qualifying rounds.
Jordy Maree has been banging lips all event, and is through to Qualifying Round 4 of the Under 16 Boys division.
For all the results, provisional team standings and photos from Day 4 of the DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Championships check out www.isawjsc.com
Official press release below.
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PERFECT 10’S AND EPIC WAVES FOR THE WORLD’S BEST JUNIORS IN NICARAGUA
Australia’s Kai Hing earned the first perfect 10-point ride of the DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Playa Jiquiliste, Nicaragua. Photo: ISA/Rommel Gonzales
Day 4 of the DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Championship Presented by Billabong was an Action-Packed Day
Nicaragua delivers epic surf for Day 4 of the DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Championship (WJSC). The swell, as predicted by Surfline, arrived this morning with waves in the chest to head-high range with some overhead sets.
The first perfect 10-point ride of the event was awarded to Australia’s Kai Hing, who launched a huge air-360. Hing generated great speed down the line and as he approached the closed-out section, he took flight, rotated 360 degrees in the air, and landed perfectly.
The morning started with clean conditions and calm offshore winds. The tide was low and the waves were hollow. As the tide increased throughout the day, the offshore winds got stronger and the surf got even better. The surfers were getting barreled, launching huge airs and doing powerful turns.
“What an incredible day of competition! The performance level of these boys and girls is truly amazing,” remarked ISA President Fernando Aguerre. “The waves were insane today. Nicaragua’s unique offshore wind delivered some of the best conditions I have seen at an ISA World Championship. As we approach the finals, the action is getting better every day. Don’t miss a second of the live webcast. We are all just very happy to be enjoying the Nicaraguan Magic.”
Day 4 of the DAKINE ISA WJSC featured Qualifying Round 3 and Repechage 2 through 4 of the world’s best Junior surfers.
Today’s best surfer in the Boys Under-18 was Andy Criere from France, who in a high-scoring match scored 15.40 defeating Hawaii’s Koa Smith (12.46), Josh Moniz (HAW, 12.27), and Felipe Suarez (ARG, 8.70). In this heat, Criere earned two individual waves of 6.5 and 8.83, awarding him the victory over his fellow contestants.
Other standouts in this division included Japan’s Naomi Kobayashi, USA’s Cam Richards, South Africa’s Benji Brand, and Hawaii’s Kain Daly, getting one step closer to the final advancing on to Qualifying Round 4.
In the Boys Under-16, with a perfect 10, Australia’s Kai Hing got the wave of the event in a nerve-wracking heat. Hing boosted with an amazing air-360 that he landed perfectly.
Even though Hing was given an interference against one of his rivals, causing his second best scoring wave to be cut by half the points, he still managed to advance in first place.
In the Girls Under-18 division, Ella Williams from New Zealand was the best of the day. After falling to the Repechage, Ella earned 15.10 points defeating Ellen Harding (GBR, 6.13), Johanny Alfonso (PAN, 5.76) and Maite de Alava (URU, 1.00).
Costa Rica’s Leilani McGonagle is charging towards the Grand Final through the Repechage Rounds. Photo: ISA/Michael Tweddle
Hawaiian Mahina Maeda had the best performance in the Girls Under-16 division. She scored 15.83 defeating Frankie Harrer (USA, 9.67), Isabella Nichols (AUS, 8.20) and Minami Koyama (JPN, 3.23).
For a full list of today’s results, click here – http://isawjsc.com/results/
The 2013 DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Championship resumes Thursday at 7:40am with The Morning Show hosted by Chris Ernst, and with guests from Team South Africa, Ireland, and Argentina.
Following that, the competition will feature:
Main Podium:
3 Heats Qualify 4 Boys U-18
8 Heats Repechage 4 Boys U-16
3 Heats Repechage 4 Girls U-18
3 Heats Repechage 5 Boys U-18
3 Heats Repechage 4 Girls U-16
4 Heats Qualify 4 Boys U-16
4 Heats Repechage 5 Boys U-16
The live webcast of the entire 2013 DAKINE ISA World Junior Surfing Championship is available on www.isawjsc.com
Here is the scheduled for Day 5:
Thursday, 7:40am Playa Jiquiliste, Nicaragua
Thursday, 5:40am West Coast USA
Thursday, 2:40pm Western Europe
Thursday, 11:40pm Sydney, Australia
