Quiksilver Riders Blog

Quiksilver King Of The Groms contender Slade Prestwich © Luke Patterson

Top Junior Surfers Have Sights Set On Victory at The Quiksilver Pro Junior and King Of The Groms

Durban – With the Quiksilver Pro Junior and the Quiksilver King Of The Groms just around the corner, the country’s top junior surfers are gearing up for some serious competitive surfing and are on the hunt for victory.

2010 South African Junior Team Captain Beyrick De Vries is one of the top seeds for the Quiksilver Pro Junior, but he will have his work cut out for him, as the rest of the field in this highly competitive group of surfers will be snapping at his heels for a win. Shaun Joubert from Mossel Bay has been performing well of late, Durban surfer Chad Du Toit has been traveling extensively and racking up some good results abroad, and dark horse Nic Godfrey from Cape St Francis is frothing for a victory. Brendon Gibben from Kommetjie and Dale Staples from St Francis Bay cannot be discounted either, with both having good experience at competition at this level as well as both with big wins behind them. The event minisite is now live at: www.quikprojunior.co.za where you can find out more about these surfers.

The winner of the Quiksilver Pro Junior will take home US$ 2,500 (R20 000) and 1500 valuable ASP points.

In the Quiksilver King Of The Groms competition there are two hotly contested divisions, U16 and U14, with the winner of the U16 division heading off to compete in the International King Of The Groms event to be held in France. This contest will be held in conjunction with the Quiksilver Pro France World Tour event in September. There is also a massive R19 500 in prize money up for grabs for these two divisions with the U16 winner taking R5 000. Favourites for the Quiksilver King Of The Groms in Durban are Slade Prestwich from Scottburgh, as well as goofy-footer Steven Sawyer from Jeffrey’s Bay, Diran Zakarian from Melkbosstrand, and Dylan Lightfoot from St Francis Bay. Others in with a chance are Jarred Veldhuis and Benji Brand, both hailing from that hotbed of junior surfing, Kommetjie in Cape Town. The King Of The Groms event is sanctioned by Surfing South Africa and will count towards crowning the PST (Pro Surf Tour) champions for 2010.

In amongst the fierce competition going down, there will also be a speciality ‘Expression Session’ taking place, with two awards and two prizes. The first award is the ‘Red Bull Got Wings Award’. This is an award that will go to the surfer that performs the biggest and best aerial maneuver in the Expression Session, and it comes with a R1,500 prize. The second is the ‘Resolution Best Wave Award’ that will go to the surfer that surfs the best on any single wave in the Expression Session. There will also be a R1,500 prize for this award.

Every competitor in the Quiksilver Pro Junior and the Quiksilver King Of The Groms will also receive a free ticket to go watch the Ultimate Wave Tahiti at the IMAX Theatre in Gateway. The movie features Kelly Slater and Raimana Van Bastolaer surfing one of the planet’s most challenging waves, Tahiti’s Teahupo’o.

The Quiksilver Pro Junior and the Quiksilver King Of The Groms is brought to you by Durban and Resolution. Other sponsors include ASP, Surfing South Africa, Supersport and Red Bull.

Quiksilver Pro Junior 2010 presented by Durban and Resolution – North Beach: 2-4 April

Durban – Quiksilver South Africa is proud to announce the upcoming Grade 2 ASP Quiksilver Pro Junior surfing event which will take place in Durban this Easter. The event is set to be held at North Beach and will run from the 2nd to the 4th of April 2010. The event will be bolstered by the addition of the Quiksilver King Of The Groms divisions as well as a “Future Stars” division.

The Quiksilver Pro Junior is for surfers under the age of 20 and will have a total of US$ 10,000 in prize money (R75, 000). The event will showcase a full contingent of junior surfers including the likes of on-form SA Junior Team Captain Beyrick De Vries from Durban, Brendon Gibbens and Matt Bromley, both from Kommetjie, Shaun Joubert from Mossel Bay and Dale Staples and Nick Godfrey from St Francis Bay. Durban stalwarts Chad Du Toit and Shawn Dennis will also be representing at the event which should see a strong field of over 60 of the country’s best junior surfers on Durban’s Golden Mile.

The Quiksilver King Of The Groms event is made up of two division, the premier U16 division and an U14 division. The winner of the U16 premier division will take home R5, 000 and will go with his coach to compete in the international King Of The Groms event in France in September during the Quiksilver Pro World Tour event, all paid for by Quiksilver. The winner of the International King Of The Groms event in France is rewarded with a wildcard into the Quiksilver Pro France and Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast World Tour events in 2011. The Quiksilver King Of The Groms is a SSA Sanctioned PST event and will have R19,500 in prize money on offer.

The Future Stars event will feature 8 surfers who have come through the Surfing South Africa transformation and development surfing program, who will get a chance to surf off for a spot in the Pro Junior main event. Quiksilver and Surfing South Africa decided that this event would be the perfect platform to showcase the progress that SSA has made with the transformation of the sport of surfing in South Africa.

Quiksilver South Africa Marketing Manager Dane Patterson is upbeat about the upcoming event “We are very excited about staging a Pro Junior event of this magnitude in April,” said Patterson of the event. “There is a currently a wealth of junior surfers around South Africa doing big things at the moment and to be able to get them all on Durban’s newly renovated beachfront together and competing for some serious prize money is going to be unreal. With the winner of the main event taking home US$ 2,500 and the U16 King of the Groms winner receiving a trip to France we are certain that there will be a show of some fierce and attractive surfing.”

All event information, results, videos, photo’s and surfer profiles can be found at the event mini-site after the 15th of March: www.quikprojunior.co.za

Entries are open at: www.aspafrica.com (U20) and www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za (U16 and U14).

yoooooo.

So after a week of flat waves in Narrabeen, Sydney, some windswell has finally arrived, not huge but surfable and contestable. So far the Zaffa crew are 50% through, unfortunately Kyle lane and Casey ” Cdog” Grant, battled to find waves in their heats and are in round two.

I drew the brazilian phenom, Gabrielle Madina who most of you have seen in the King of the groms final in france this year where he scored two perfect tens to win the final, however he battled to find a good wave and i managed to post a 6.67 and a low four to take the win, skip round two secure my self a spot in round three. The other south african was Klee Skei Strachan who managed to pull off a last minute miracle and jump to first, so he will find himself in round three too.

Chad du toit is yet to surf his round one heat. i will keep you guys updated as to how he does tomorrow.

Unfortunately both the girls, Sarah Baum and Bianca Buitandag were not able to find the requirements in order to progress straight into round 3 but you can bet your bottom dollar that all the south africans in round 2 will give it horns and more than likely find a spot in round three!

cheers for now
beyrick