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Hometown Victory Fitting For McColl |
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Written by Ben Kennings
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Sunday, 19 February 2012 |
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| Ant McColl - Image PhotoCPL |
Local Mount Maunganui surfer Ant McColl claimed his maiden Hyundai Tour victory in his home waters at Tay Street today (Sunday 19thFebruary) in the fourth of five events for the season.
The crowd pleasing victory was played out in a small 1.0m swell groomed by
offshore winds. The final was the
closest of the tour this year with 0.50 points separating first from third.
“Yeah super stoked, I have been doing this for ten years and have never won
anything in the Open so for it to happen today in front of a home crowd I am
over the moon” an almost rattled McColl exclaimed.
McColl staved off Matt Cockayne (Auck) from taking his first title of the
Hyundai Tour while current ratings leader Thomas Kibblewhite (Auck) had to
settle for third.
McColl started the final with a flurry of waves surfing away from the other
three competitors using his local knowledge to full effect scoring a 7.67 on
his first ride and 7.10 on his second.
“The waves were a bit better this afternoon and I just did my own thing and
went over to the side of the area and got a good start and got rid of the
jitters and took it from there and it seemed to go well, I am so stoked” said
McColl who used his trade mark traditional style to rack up a heat score of 14.77
out of a possible 20 points.
Runner up today was New
Zealand representative Matt Cockayne who challenged
for the lead on several occasions, his best assault coming on a lefthander
where he completed the longest hang five then ten of the event. The wave scored 7.67 out of ten but left him
0.27 points short of McColl.
“Ant’s surfed the final of his life and so yeah….I have missed out of all
the finals by one spot this year so it is good to actually make a final and get
second even though I didn’t go all the way.”
Current Hyundai Tour ratings leader Thomas Kibblewhite (Red Beach, Auckland) fought back in
the final with his standard competitive approach on several righthanders with
his best wave of 7.03 coming on his last ride, 0.84 points short of the score
required for the win.
Gisborne surfer Daniel Procter started the final slowly but came back into
the fold at the end with a 6.70 point ride leaving him requiring an 8.08 point
ride.
Despite placing third in the final, Kibblewhite extended his lead on the
Hyundai Tour ratings while Matt Cockayne jumps to second ahead of today’s
winner Ant McColl in third.
After dominating the first day of action, only one Australian surfer made
it through to the final of the Women’s Longboard Division but that was all it
took for them to take the title back across the ditch with Molly Powell
claiming the victory. Powell looked
superior with her soft footwork working the board, her best ride being her last,
scoring 7.60 to the cheers of her travelling companions supporting her from the
sand dunes. Raglan’s Alexis Poulter
placed second in the final ahead of her Kiwi compatriots posting an 8.93 point
heat total to leave current ratings leader Mischa Davis (Piha) in third and
defending Hyundai Tour champion Shelley Jones (Auck) in fourth.
It took local Mount
Maunganui surfer Guy
Rencher three consecutive finals to lock in a win but it came today in
relatively easy fashion over Orewa surfer and current ratings leader Brian
Young. Rencher has worked his way from
fourth in the first event to a second in the third event and finally a first. Brian Young by way of his second placing
retains the number one ranking going into the final event of the year in two
weeks time. Jeff Cox (Mnt) placed third
today ahead of Mal Brady (Mnt) in fourth.
Michael Thomson (Rag) claimed a win back from Mark Hoyle (Orewa) in the
Over 50 Men’s Division, his second of the year after winning at his home break
in early January. Thomson is searching
for his third Hyundai Tour title and his result today gave him the edge over
Mark Hoyle (Orewa) who placed third today behind runner up Viv Treacy (Ocean
Beach). Rupert Newbold, also of Ocean Beach
placed fourth in the final.
Shayne Baxter (Chch) squared the Tour up at two wins a piece with Daniel
Kereopa (Rag) in the Stand Up Paddleboard Division. In a final that had a twist to the end of the
heat, Baxter jumped from third to first preventing Karlos Aarsen (WGM) from
claiming his maiden victory. Baxter
looked the most aggressive throughout the final attacking the short sharp
closeout sections with his typical aggression.
Baxter finished with a score of 10.73 ahead of Aarsen on 10.47 points who
caught the bigger longer rides from out the back but was unable to match the
power of Baxter. Kereopa, winner of two
of the four events this year, had to settle for third place with fellow Raglan
surfer Armie Armstrong (Rag) in fourth.
Late on Saturday Jeremy Stephenson (Auck) claimed his first Stand Up
Paddleboard race win over Armie Armstrong (Rag). The two surfers battled it out over three
laps of the course through the waves but Stephenson managed to sneak onto a
wave on the last lap and come to the shore ahead of Armstrong. Armstrong retains the red jersey as the top
rated paddler while Stephenson sits in second ahead of Shayne Baxter (Chch) in
third.
Please see below for final results from the 2012 Hyundai Tour event completed
at Mount Maunganui today (Sunday 19th
February).
Men’s Longboard Semifinals
Heat 1
Thomas Kibblewhite (Auck), 14, 1, Daniel Proctor
(Gis), 11.47, 2, Owen Barnes (Mnt), 11.23, 3, Dylan Barnfield (Ohope), 10.2, 4
Heat 2
Ant McColl (Mnt), 12.9, 1, Matt Cockayne (Mngwhai),
10.57, 2, Craig Anderson (Mnt), 8.2, 3, Morgyn Bramely (Whtane), 5.73, 4
Men’s Longboard Final
Ant McColl (Mnt), 14.77, 1, Matt Cockayne
(Mngwhai), 14.50, 2, Thomas Kibblewhite (Auck), 13.94, 3, Daniel Proctor (Gis),
12.53, 4
Women’s Longboard Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Mischa Davis (Oratia), 9.17, 1, Ann Snyder (Tau), 6.13, 2, Anna Gooding
(Tau), 2.73, 3, Denise Piper (Whngrei), 2.6, 4
Heat 2
Shelly Jones (Auck), 6.33, 1, Belinda Goodwin (Mt), 4.47, 2, Rebecca Law
(Mangawhai), 4.23, 3, Cheryl Lowe (Mnt), 2.17, 4
Heat 3
Lucy Small (Aust), 10.6, 1, Catherine Watson-Brown (Aust), 6.47, 2, Anna
Jolly (Piha), 5.6, 3, Hannah Howard (Auck), 2.53, 4
Heat 4
Molly Powell (Aust), 10, 1, Alexis Poulter (Rag), 8.6, 2, Sam Suendermann
(Aust), 7.73, 3, Kelsi Efford (Mt), 4, 4
Women’s Longboard Semifinals
Heat 1
Shelly Jones (Auck), 6.53, 1, Mischa Davis (Oratia), 4.03, 2, Belinda
Goodwin (Mt), 2.93, 3, Ann Snyder (Tau), 2.4, 4
Heat 2
Alexis Poulter (Rag), 10.53, 1, Molly Powell (Aust), 8.73, 2, Lucy Small
(Aust), 5.57, 3, Catherine Watson-Brown (Aust), 4.67, 4
Women’s Longboard Final
Molly Powell (Aust), 13.93, 1, Alexis Poulter (Rag), 8.93, 2, Mischa Davis
(Oratia), 7.83, 3, Shelly Jones (Auck), 5.10, 4
Under 18 Boys Semifinals
Heat 1
Hone Douglas (Whtane), 14.17, 1, Sam Poulter (Rag), 7, 2, Jordan Tanner
(Mnt), 4.33, 3, Luke Crouch (Orewa), 3.27, 4
Heat 2
Josh Taylor (Tau), 9.5, 1, Matt Craig (Whtane), 9.3, 2, Ben Poulter (Rag),
7.93, 3, Joseph Stewart (Whtane), 7.67, 4
Under 18 Boys Final
Hone Douglas (Whtane), 13.17, 1, Matt Craig (Whtane), 12.00, 2, Josh Taylor
(Tau), 9.70, 3, Sam Poulter (Rag), 8.23, 4
Over 40 Men’s Semifinal
Heat 1
Jeff Cox (Mnt), 7.67, 1, Mal Brady (Mnt), 7.63, 2, Tatana Heke (Mnt), 7.23,
3, Whare Heke (Mnt), 6.13, 4
Heat 2
Brian Young (Orewa), 13.77, 1, Guy Rencher (Mnt), 7.67, 2, Brian Moore
(Mnt), 7, 3, Shane Crean (Mnt), 4.63, 4
Over 40 Men’s Final
Guy Rencher (Mnt), 11.33, 1, Brian Young (Orewa), 8.00, 2, Jeff Cox (Mnt),
6.07, 3, Mal Brady (Mnt), 5.03, 4
Over 50 Men’s Semifinals
Heat 1
Mark Hoyle (Orewa), 10.73, 1, Rupert Newbold (Whngrei), 6.7, 2, Chris
Spiers (Waihi Beach) TP, 6.5, 3, Scotty Riach (Auck), 4.27, 4
Heat 2
Mike Thomson (Rag), 9.07, 1, Viv Treacy (Ocean Beach), 8.13, 2, Grant
Cochrane (ChCh), 7.1, 3, Nick Minogue (Auck), 3.07, 4
Over 50 Men’s Final
Mike Thomson (Rag), 10.30, 1, Viv Treacy (Ocean Beach), 7.57, 2, Mark Hoyle
(Orewa), 6.97, 3, Rupert Newbold (Whngrei), 6.17, 4
Stand Up Paddleboard Semifinals
Heat 1
Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 13.33, 1, Armie Armstrong (Rag), 11.4, 2, Sean Hovell
(Gis), 6.57, 3, Shane Murrell (Auck), 5.87, 4
Heat 2
Shayne Baxter (ChCh), 9.9, 1, Karlos Aarsen (Whmata), 9.37, 2, Jeremy
Stephenson (Auck), 7, 3, Paul Culpan (Auck), 5.93, 4
Stand Up Paddleboard Final
Shayne Baxter (ChCh), 10.73, 1, Karlos Aarsen (Whmata), 10.47, 2, Daniel
Kereopa (Rag), 10.17, 3, Armie Armstrong (Rag), 7.87, 4
Stand Up Paddleboard Race
Jeremy Stephenson (Auck), 1, Armie Armstrong (Rag), 2, Shayne Baxter (Chch), 3,
Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 4
The remaining event
for the 2012 Hyundai Tour follow:
Hyundai Tour Event 5, 2-3 March, Port Waikato (6-star)
Entry into all events can be completed at Surfing
New Zealand under “events.” Complete
the entry process online or download entry forms and send them in. The 2012 Hyundai Tour is expected to receive
high entry levels at each location, so entries will need to be in well before
the cut off dates to assure participants get a slice of the action.
Further
Information
For further information on the 2012 Hyundai Tour and
the first of five events, please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on
021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz
Imagery
Web clips and newsfeeds will be distributed free of charge from each
event. Please contact Ben Kennings for
further details.
High resolution action images of the surfing at all events on the Hyundai Tour
will be available to media free of charge upon request.
Event Hotline
The Surfing New Zealand
event hotline is 0211134506. This will
be updated daily at approximately 7am with venue, divisions contested and
conditions.
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