Just two South African surfers remain in individual medal contention after five tough days of competition at the 2015 Vissla ISA World Junior Surfing Champs. Under 18 Boys competitor, Shane Sykes, is still in the Main Event, which has reached Round 5 – just two more heats away from the Final. In the Under 16 Boys division, meanwhile, Sebastian Williams kept his medal hopes alive after he advanced from his Repercharge Round 6 heat.
Shane Sykes has been steadily making his way towards the Under 18 Boys final.
Conditions in Oceanside, California, where the week-long event is taking place, have made things tougher as the competition has progressed. Competitors were treated to great conditions on the opening two days, which offered everyone a good chance of finding a score. With the impressive run of surf stuttering as the days progressed, surfers from all 36 representing nations have found the going tough. South Africa, in particular, lost all but two surfers along the way.
Sebastian Williams is still carrying hopes of a medal in the Under 16 Boys division.
This is how the rest of the team have fared:
Under 18 Boys:
• Ntando Msibi finished third in his Repercharge Round 6 heat to fall out of the competition in 17th place overall.
• Richard Kidd and Michael Monk finished third in their respective Repercharge Round 3 heats for equal 49th overall.
Under 18 Girls:
• Teal Hogg couldn’t find the score she needed to advance from her Repercharge Round 3 heat and dropped out of the event in 25th spot overall.
• Chanelle Botha finished third in Repercharge Round 2 of the Under 18 Girls division to end her campaign in equal 33rd place overall.
Under 16 Boys:
• Luke Malherbe finished third in his Repercharge Round 6 heat to end his tournament in 21st place overall.
• Adin Masencamp was a Repercharge Round 5 casualty for a 25th place finish overall.
• Joshe Faulkner, meanwhile, finished 4th in his Repercharge Round 5 heat to end up 29th overall
Under 16 Girls:
• Olivia Izzard finished third in her Repercharge Round 3 heat for a 25th spot overall finish.
• Sophie Bell needed one more good score to advance from her Repercharge Round 2 heat, but eventually finished 3rd and was eliminated from the event in 33rd place overall.
The team have been rooting for each other all week.
When competition resumes on Day 6 at the 2015 Vissla ISA World Junior Surfing Champs – at approximately 4:00pm SA time – Shane Sykes will be facing Jake Marshall (USA), Weslley Dantas (BRA) and Nommé Mignot (FRA) in Round 5 of the Main Event.
Sebastian Williams will be eyeing out a win over Luke Wrice (AUS), John Mel (USA) and Thomas Debierre (FRA) in Repercharge Round 7 to keep his title hopes alive.
Log on to isaworlds.com/juniors to watch the Vissla ISA World Junior Surfing Champs live.
Or check out the official press release below for all the details.
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SYKES AND WILLIAMS CARRY SOUTH AFRICA’S MEDAL HOPES AT VISSLA ISA WORLD JUNIOR SURFING CHAMPIONSHIP
Shane Sykes displays his air game on the way to a spot in the last eight in the U18 boys’ Main Event at the VSSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship in Oceanside, California.
Team captain Shane Sykes and rising star Sebastian Williams carry South Africa’s hopes for individual medals heading into the final weekend of the VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship at Oceanside in California.
Sykes produced another polished performance in the first heat of the day on the South side of the pier yesterday, leading for the early part of his U18 boys’ Main Event Round 4 encounter before being overtaken by eventual heat winner Colt Ward (USA).
The pair banished Reo Inaba (JAP) and Nolan Repoza (USA) to the repercharge rounds as they advanced to the last eight in the main event stream and are now just two heats away from the Grand Final where they would be guaranteed a gold, silver, bronze or copper medal.
Williams showed steely temperament in the U16 boys’ repecharge rounds, advancing through three heats in each of which he clinched either first second place with his final ride. Having grown up in California and Mexico before moving South Africa, Williams utilised his signature front and backside aerial manoeuvres to earn high scores from the judges.
The rest of the SA team were eliminated from the event on Friday but will continue to show their support for their two teammates, including blowing their vuvuzelas, which was a feature of yesterday’s action on the beach.
In theU18 boys division, Ntando Msibi advanced through two rounds of sudden death repercharge rounds before placing third in his Round 6 match-up. He finished 17th overall in the division, contributing 400 points to the team total.
The U16 boys’ saw Luke Malherbe reach Repercharge Round 6 while Adin Masencamp and Joshe Faulkner bowed out in Round 5 as they ended 21st, 25th and 29th respectively and earned 380, 360 and 340 points for SA.
Teal Hogg’s campaign in the U18 girls came to an end with a 25th place finish and 360 points and Olivia Izzard matched that placing and points contribution in the U16 girls.
With two days to go before the individual and team champions are crowned on Sunday, South Africa has moved up one place to ninth in the provisional team standings. Hosts USA still have all 12 team members in the event while France still have seven, defending team champions Hawaii have six and Australia have four.
The SA team will get another chance at a medal in the ISA Aloha Cup.
South Africa has another chance to earn a medal at the event when the ISA Aloha Cup semi-finals and final are run today. Featuring five person teams from the top eight countries at last year’s ISA World Junior Championships, the Aloha Cup is a form a relay surfing where each team member has to ride two waves and then tag the next surfer in the team, with all the rides being completed within an hour to prevent a time penalty.
See the schedule for Day 6 below with the South African team members and their heat numbers in brackets.
Surfline, the official forecaster predicts 3-4’+ (1.0 to 1.3 metre) wave faces for Saturday. The conditions will be clean in the morning with light winds, trending light onshore in the afternoon.
The VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship runs until Sunday 18 October and the action from both sides of the pier can be followed live at http://isaworlds.com/juniors/en/ starting at approximately 4pm SA time daily. The latest news, results, photographs and video footage are also available on the website.
VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championship
Schedule for Day 6 (Saturday – times displayed are South African time)
South Podium (Live webcast)
5:00pm – 2 heats Boys U-18 Main Event Round 5 (Shane Sykes H2)
5:40pm – 2 heats Girls U-18 Main Event Round 4
6:20pm – 2 heats Boys U-18 Repercharge Round 7
6:50pm – 2 heats Girls U-18 Repercharge Round 5
7:20pm – 2 heats Boys U-18 Repercharge Round 8
7:50pm – 2 heats Girls U-18 Repercharge Round 6
9pm – ISA Aloha Cup Semifinal 1
10pm – ISA Aloha Cup Semifinal 2
11:20pm – ISA Aloha Cup Final
North Podium (Live scoring)
5:00pm – 2 heats Girls U-16 Main Event Round 4
5:40pm – 2 heats Boys U-16 Main Event Round 5
6:20pm – 2 heats Girls U-16 Repercharge Round 5
6:50pm – 2 heats Boys U-16 Repercharge Round 7 (Sebastian Williams H2)
7:20pm – 2 heats Girls U-16 Repercharge Round 6
7:50pm – 2 heats Boys U-16 Repercharge Round 8 (TBD)
Other ways to follow the South African Junior Team’s progress include:
Daily releases: www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za
Surfing South Africa Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/1Gw6ytp
2015 SA Junior Surfing Team website: www.surfingsouthafricateams.co.za
2015 SA Junior Surfing Team Facebook page: http://on.fb.me/1Lg8M1Q
Surfing South Africa is the recognised governing body for the sport and is a member of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and the International Surfing Association (ISA). All South African surfing teams that participate in international events are ratified by the Board of Directors of Surfing South Africa.
