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Internationally Ranked Kiwi’s Return For Domestic Action This Weekend |
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Written by Ben Kennings
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Wednesday, 22 February 2012 |
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| Billy Stairmand - Image ASP / Robertson |
After an exceptional third placing at the Australian Open two days ago, Billy Stairmand (Rag) returns to New Zealand to compete at the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro at Gisborne this coming weekend (25 – 26 February).
The O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro
is the third of four events on the New Zealand Pro Series.
Stairmand, who also won the
National Championships at Piha in January surfed to third at the Australian
Open at Manly Beach,
Sydney securing
one of his best ever results at international level. The explosive natural footer now finds
himself ranked 22nd in the world as he starts a new year with the
ambition of qualifying for the Association of Surfing Professionals World Title
Series.
“I am so stoked with the result in
the weekend” Stairmand said. “I surfed a
lower rated event at Burleigh Heads a couple of weeks ago then this event at
Manly which was huge. I wanted to start
the year well and had my eye on at least a quarterfinals or semifinals finish
and achieved that” he added.
Stairmand wants that good run of
results to continue this weekend as he heads to Gisborne alongside several
other surfers returning from Australia. Stairmand fully understands the importance of
keeping his performances sharp during his two week stint back in New Zealand and
this event is the perfect platform to do that.
Fellow returning surfers Richard
Christie (Mah) and Matt Hewitt (Mnt) have also confirmed their entries for this
weekend with the three surfers expected to raise the level of surfing
considerably.
Christie is currently ranked 72nd with
Hewitt in 81st after he surfed to 37th place at Manly. Gisborne local Jay Quinn who now resides in Australia is ranked 52nd giving New Zealand
four surfers ranked inside the top 100 for the first time in over a decade. However Quinn, the defending champion of the
O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro, will remain in Australia and will not compete this
weekend.
Also returning for the event this
weekend will be the younger Kiwi’s competing on the ASP Australasia Pro Junior
Series. They will be led by hometown
surfer Johnny Hicks, Alex Dive (Mnt) and Ben Poulter (Rag), all four surfers
having missed the most recent New Zealand Pro Series event held at Whangamata.
Current New Zealand Pro Series
ratings leader Bobby Hansen (Gis) will be willing to front up to the returning
surfers after having won the most recent event.
Hansen obliterated his opponents at the Billabong Pro at Whangamata and
the challenge of these top ranked surfers returning will certainly raise the performance
of Hansen.
Likewise, top ranked local surfers
Tim O’Connor (Mnt), Larry Fisher (Rag), Chris Malone (Gis) and Keone Campbell (Tara) will all want to put in strong performances to
retain their top six rankings.
Seventeen year old Whangamata
surfer Ella Williams finds herself going into this weekend’s event as the top
ranked female surfer. Williams claimed
her maiden victory at the last event of the series and a win this weekend would
prove that she belongs at the top of New Zealand surfing. National Champion Thandi Durham - Tipene
(Tara) will want to bounce back from her fourth placing at the last event while
2011 New Zealand Pro Series winner and three time defending event champion
Jessica Santorik (Rag) will hunt out her first win of the year.
The youngsters in the Under 20
Men’s will get a shake up with the return of Hicks, Dive and Poulter who will
all be expected to pull in solid results come Sunday. The first event of the series saw a new group
of surfers come to the fore with the likes of Sean Kettle (Tara),
Dune Kennings and Elliot Paerata – Reid (Piha) all aged seventeen or younger
making the final. The challenge to gain
a finals berth will be a lot harder come this weekend.
Small waves are forecast for the
weekend with a building south swell increasing on Sunday. Competition kicks off at 8:00am each morning
with the venue for each day to be confirmed once swell forecasts are assessed.
Past event champions:
Open Men
2006 - Zennor Wernham (Rag)
07/08 - Maz Quinn (Gis)
08/09 - Bobby Hansen (Gis)
09/10 - Billy Stairmand (Rag)
10/11 - Jay Quinn (Gis)
Open Women
2006 - Paige Hareb (Tara)
07/08 - Daisy Thomas (Chch)
08/09 - Jessica Santorik (Rag)
09/10 - Jessica Santorik (Rag)
10/11 - Jessica Santorik (Rag)
Junior (U/18) Men
2006 - Richard Christie (Gis)
07/08 - Matt Hewitt (Mnt)
08/09 - Sean Peggs (Tairua)
09/10 - Paco Divers (Sandy Bay)
10/11 - Tane Wallis (Piha)
New Zealand Pro Series rankings after two of four events:
Open Men’s
1, Bobby Hansen (Gis)
2, Larry Fisher (Rag)
3, Tim O'Connor (Mnt)
4, Matt Scorringe (Whmata)
5, Chris Malone (Gis)
6, Keone Campbell (Tara)
7, Leon Santorik (Rag)
8, Zen Wallis (Piha)
9, Dune Kennings (Whmata)
10, Ben Kennings (Whmata)
Open Women’s
1, Ella Williams (Whmata)
2, Thandi Tipene (Tara)
3, Jessica Santorik (Rag)
4, Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis)
5, Jasmine Smith (Gis)
Under 20 Men’s
1, Sean Kettle (Tara)
2, Tane Wallis (Piha)
3, Dune Kennings (Whmata)
4, Adam Grimson (Gis)
5, Waretini Wano (Piha)
5, Levi Stewart (Waihi Bch)
Please see below for details of the final event on the New Zealand Pro
Series:
Rip Curl Pro pres by Nature Valley –
16-18 March, Raglan
Entry into the events can be completed at Surfing
New Zealand under events. Complete
the entry process online or download entry forms and send them in.
Further
Information
For further information on the O’Neill Sequence Surf
Shop Pro please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or
email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High resolution action images of the surfing at all events on the New Zealand
Pro Series 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.
Partners
Generous support from O’Neill, Sequence Surf Shop, New Zealand
Community Trust and Gisborne Boardriders club has made this event possible.
Surfing New Zealand Newsletter
If you want to keep updated with surfing information delivered right to your
inbox then sign up to the SNZ
Newsletter.
Follow Surfing New Zealand and
the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro
Live results will be feed live to the SNZ website via twitter so stay tuned
with up to date results. Alternatively
follow the action via the SNZ
Facebook and SNZ Twitter.
Surfing New Zealand
are proudly partnered by
Hyundai
SPARC
Smokefree
Ends
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HEADLINES |
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FEATURED SURFER |
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VOTE NOW |
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LATEST RESULTS |
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SOL SURF SERIES |
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NZ Pro Series |
1 Bobby Hansen (Gis)
2 Tim O'Connor (Mnt)
3 Larry Fisher (Rag)
4 Chris Malone (Gis)
5 Mike Banks (Rag)
6 Blair Stewart (Gis)
7 Matt Scorringe (WGM)
8 Zen Wallis (Piha)
9 Luke Hughes (Rag)
10 Ben Kennings (WGM)
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| 2012 NZ Pro Series Ratings |
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GROMMET SERIES |
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U16 Boys |
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1 Elliot Paerata
2 Dune Kennings
3 Mckenzie Bowden
4 Jordan Griffin
5 Mahorahora McLeod
6 Joe Palmer
7 Caleb Braithwaite
8 Matt McGreggor
9
Harrison Whiteside
10 Ryan Renall
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U16 Girls |
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1 Gabriela Sansom
2 Jasmine Smith
3 Dayna Story
4 Claudia Fraser
5 Bianca Sansom |
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NZ Grom Ratings |
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