Ben Poulter - Image ISA/Parkin

The Rip Curl New Zealand Junior Surfing Team surfed through another massive day of action at the 2012 DaKine ISA World Junior Surfing Championship being held at Playa Venao, Panama with some exceptional performances coming out of the Kiwi camp.

Stand out surfers on Day One, Elliot Paerata – Reid (Piha) and Mac Christie (Mnt) had further success in their round two heats Paerata – Reid notching up an emphatic heat win while Christie placed second to progress in his heat and move through to the last 32 surfers in the Qualifying Round.

Paerata – Reid showed how to surf a perfect heat getting two good scores early in his match up.  This left his opponents pushing hard to catch up and consequently forcing them to make uncharacteristic errors.

“I saw a lot of rights before I went out so that is what I targeted and I got that early 5.5 point ride which was good and then I got that left straight after that which bettered my first wave and set me up for the final 15 minutes” said Paerata – Reid who progressed alongside Australian surfer Jacob Wilcox.

“There is a continual rivalry with the Australians in any sport we play against each other so to beat the Jacob today was good.  He still did what he had to do and progressed through the heat with me so that is good for him too.”

Paerata – Reid finished with a 12.0 point heat total.

Harrison Whiteside - Image ISA/Rommel

 

Christie also came up against an Australian opponent in the form of Eli Steele.  However it was Christie who progressed behind Will Davey (Great Britain) forcing the Australian surfer into the repecharge rounds.

Earlier in the day Ben Poulter (Rag) finally got his campaign underway and wasted no time in sending a couple of shots across the bows of the more favoured surfers from the powerhouse nations.  Poulter surfed to a 13.60 point heat total completing a series of big forehand hacks that impressed everyone.

“It was a little hard on the nerves having to wait an extra day to compete but I’m happy because the waves were good when I surfed” said Poulter who added “Getting over to Panama early has helped a lot for our team’s preparation and certainly my own.  I’m pretty confident surfing the wave now and I am also very confident with my equipment.”

The New Zealand girls also hit the water for the first time with success coming by the way of Ella Williams (WGM), Jayda Martin – Fitzharris (Gis) and Jasmine Smith (Gis) who all placed second in their heats.

All three surfers will be in action again on day three of the event.  Team captain and four time New Zealand representative Jayda Martin – Fitzharris is excited about her upcoming battle where she will face surfers from Japan, Brazil and Tahiti.

“I now have my first heat nerves out of the way and want to put in a big heat in the next round to further my cause at the event” said Martin – Fitzharris.

The team did suffer three casualties on day two.  Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata) was relegated to the repecharge round of the Under 18 Boys Division after a very wave starved heat.  Korbin Hutchings (Gis) suffered the same fate in the second round of the Under 16 Boys Division while Alethea Lock (Chch) also suffered a first round loss in the Under 18 Girls Division.

All three surfers will have day three off before they hit the water again to contest the do or die repechage rounds.

The swell is expected to increase further for day three of surfing.  Please see below for New Zealand results from Day two of the 2012 DaKine ISA World Junior Surfing Championship presented by Billabong.

Under 18 Boys Qualifying Round 1
Heat 26
1- Ben Poulter (NZL), 2- Yan Daberkow (BRA), 3- Joao Marco Maffini (ITA), 4- Michael Darling (CAN)

Under 18 Boys Qualifying Round 2
Heat 4
1- Will Davey (UK) 2- Mackenzie (NZL) 3-Eli Steele (AUS) 4-Harold Zunino (VEN)
Heat 6
1-Tom Cloarec (FRA) 2-Joshua Smit (RSA) 3-Juan Satti (ARG) 4-Paul Moretti (NZL)


Under 16 Boys Qualifying Round 1
Heat 26
1- Vitor Bernardo (BRA), 2- Harrison Whiteside (NZL), 3- Orlando Ortega (PAN), 4- Guadalupe Sandoval (GUA)

Under 16 Boys Qualifying Round 2
Heat 4
1-Elliot Paerata-Reid (NZL) 2-Jacob Wilcox (AUS) 3- Daniel Edghill (BAR) 4- Max Payne (UK)
Heat 6
1-Nomme Mignot (FRA) 2-Leon Glatzer (GER) 3-Korbin Hutchings (NZL) 4-Dane Mackie (BAR)

Under 18 Girls Qualifying Round 1
Heat 8
1-Ellie-Jean Coffey (AUS) 2-Jayda M-Fitzharris(NZL) 3- Isabela Morgner (ECU)
Heat 12
1-Kirsten Ogden (AUS) Jasmine Smith (NZL) M. Christina Sanchez (ECU)
Heat 14
1-Tatiana W.Webb (HAW) 2- Asaya Brusa (MEX) 3- Alethea Lock (NZL)
Heat 16
1- Bronte Macaulay (AUS), 2- Ella Williams (NZL), 3- M Garcia Sanchez (ECU)

Day three will see all three divisions contested on the main podium. Surfing kicks off each day at 1:00am New Zealand time.  Aproximate times for Kiwi heats are below.  Korbin Hutchings, Alethea Lock and Paul Moretti will not be surfing on Day 3.

Podium 1 (Webcast and live scores)
Under 18 Girls Qualifying Round 1 Heats 17-20
Under 16 Boys Qualifying Round 2 Heats 9-16
Under 18 Girls Qualifying Round 2 Heat 1-6
Under 18 Boys Qualifying Round 3 Heats 1-8

3:20am Jordan Griffin
3:40am Harrison Whiteside
5:20am Jayda Martin – Fitzharris
6:00am Jasmine Smith
6:40am Ella Williams
7:00am Mac Christie

Podium 2 (Live scores only)
Under 18 Girls Qualifying Round 1 Heats 21-24
Under 18 Boys Qualifying Round 2 Heats 9-16
Under 18 Girls Qualifying Round 2 Heats 7-12
Under 16 Boys Qualifying Round 3 Heats 1-8 

3:20am Tane Wallis
4:00am Ben Poulter
3:20am Jordan Griffin
3:40am Harrison Whiteside
7:20am Elliot Paerata – Reid

You can check out the live event website for up to date information, images, video and live action. 

You can also follow the progress of the team through the eyes of team coach Jason Ruddell and his blog.

The World Junior Surfing Championship is an annual event having been held since 2003.  New Zealand has competed at the event since its inception as well as competing at the World Grommet Titles as it was formerly known since 1989.  In 2011 the New Zealand team placed tenth at the event when it was held in Peru.

Further Information
For further information on the Rip Curl New Zealand Junior Surfing Team please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.

Imagery
High resolution action images of the event will be available to media free of charge upon request.

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