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Young and Old Fire Shots At National Champs |
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Written by Ben Kennings
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Monday, 16 January 2012 |
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| Elliot Paerata - Reid - Image PhotoCPL |
A combination of young and old managed to contest day two of the 2012 Hyundai National Surfing Championships held at Piha today (Monday 16thJanuary) with some of the youngest competitors showing everyone how it is done.
The surf started out poorly but improved throughout the day as the new 2.0m
swell filled in and the wind swung to a more favourable south west direction.
The future generation of New
Zealand surfers in the Under 16 Boys
Division started and finished the day highlighting the improving conditions
with high performance.
Young local stand-out Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha) blazed his quarterfinal
posting the highest heat score of the event to date – 15.33 out of 20 points.
“I am stoked, I didn’t actually realise” Paerata – Reid said when informed of
his event-high performance.
Smashing solid backhand turns on the Piha Bar, Paerata – Reid then
repositioned himself over toward the centre of the beach and appeared to have
control over the break that only a local could.
“I have a huge advantage being at home and today my Dad scoped out the line
up while I was warming up and stretching.
I mean, I know where to sit but he points places out as well and that
helps to confirm everything for me” said Paerata - Reid.
Paerata – Reid was joined by the likes of Dune Kennings (WGM), Harrison
Whiteside (Chch), Korbin Hutchings (Gis) and Mackenzie Bowden (WGM) who all
looked comfortable in the conditions as they size increased in the afternoon.
Other standouts included Matt McGreggor, Mahorahora McLeod (Tara) and Isaac
Kettle (Tara) who also got good rides
throughout the day and made it through to the semifinals. Some of the groms wanted to surf a third
round in the one day with the surf continuing to look good in the afternoon.
“Tomorrow looks real good but I would have been happy to surf the semis
today” said Paerata – Reid who seemed happy either way.
Current Hyundai Tour ratings leader Thomas Kibblewhite (Auck) left it until
the last wave in his semifinal of the Longboard Division to make his move and
advance through to the final in a bid to defend his title.
“It was a hard semifinal until the end, I was scratching for waves but I
snuck a late wave and it ended up being a sick one” said Kibblewhite. His final wave saw him boost over an oncoming
section getting his 9ft board vertical in the process. “I didn’t expect to pop up over that big
section of whitewash but it just happened like that and turned out to be a high
scoring manoeuvre” added Kibblewhite who is gunning for back to back titles.
Kibblewhite found himself trailing Gisborne surfer Michael Fitzharris who
ultimately finished the heat in second place to make his first final since the
2009 National Champs.
“Fitzy and I have competed against each other for years and he has taught me a
lot in the past and he has been ripping the last two days” commented
Kibblewhite on the performance on the elder statesman.
In the first semifinal it was longboard vs shortboard surfers with young
Ben Poulter (Rag) the shortboarder taking on the challenge with the change of
equipment and overcoming the odds to push Daniel Procter (Gis) into second
place, the two surfers both progressing through to the final.
The Stand Up Paddleboard Semifinals were dominated by the two stand out
performers of the discipline - Daniel Kereopa (Rag) and Shayne Baxter (Chch). Both surfers found themselves contesting the
same heat. Kereopa came out on top on
this occasion but the Christchurch
surfer will only use that to fuel the fire when the finals come around later in
the week.
“There is a bit of southern pride in every one of my performances. I get
chicken skin whenever I head out there and that is because I want to represent Christchurch proudly”
said Baxter. “I definitely want to
represent Christchurch
and put a smile on a few faces down there because we have been through some
tough times” said Baxter who expects the conditions to be more favourable for
the stand up paddleboarders later in the week.
In the second semifinal it was the Whangamata pairing of Karl Aarsen and
Lynden Kennings who moved through to the final.
Kereopa, Baxter and Kennings hold the only three national titles
contested in the division so bragging rights will go on the line when the final
is contested.
Earlier in the day the Women’s Longboard Division was contested with Alexis
Poulter (Rag) and Anna Jolly (Piha) winning their heats to move through to the
final.
Conditions for day three are expected to improve further with more
favourable and lighter winds with the swell cleaning up. The premier Open Men’s Division hit the water
on day three with Piha already full with New Zealand’s best who are eager to
get their campaigns underway.
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| Jordan Griffin - Image PhotoCPL |
Mckenzie Bowden - Image PhotoCPL |
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| Sam Bradford - Image PhotoCPL |
Matt Cockayne - Image PhotoCPL |
Please see below for results from Day two of the 2012 Hyundai National Surfing
Championships held at Piha Beach, Auckland today (Monday 16th
January).
Open Longboard Semifinals
Heat 1
Ben Poulter, 11.43, 1, Daniel Proctor (Gis), 10.47,
2, Ant McColl (Mnt), 9.6, 3, Sam Bradford (Pakiri), 8, 4
Heat 2
Thomas Kibblewhite (Auck), 13.67, 1, Michael
Fitzharris (Gis), 13.43, 2, Matt Cockayne (Mngwhai), 9.93, 3, Zen Wallis
(Piha), 9.9, 4
Women’s Longboard Round 1
Heat 1
Belinda Goodwin (Mt), 4.87, 1, Hannah Howard (Auck),
2.83, 2, Sasha Brownlie (Auck), 1.93, 3, Anna Gooding (Tau), 1.67, 4
Heat 2
Mischa Davis (Oratia), 9.67, 1, Alexis Poulter
(Rag), 7.67, 2, Denise Piper (Whngrei), 0.9, 3
Heat 3
Shelly Jones (Auck), 6.37, 1, Anna Jolly (Piha),
6.13, 2, Kelsi Efford (Mt), 4.23, 3
Women’s Longboard Semifinals
Heat 1
Alexis Poulter (Rag), 10.33, 1, Mischa Davis
(Oratia), 9.17, 2, Hannah Howard (Auck), 3.53, 3
Heat 2
Anna Jolly (Piha), 9.33, 1, Belinda Goodwin (Mt),
6.3, 2, Shelly Jones (Auck), 2.53, 3
Stand Up Paddleboard Semifinals
Heat 1
Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 13.5, 1, Shayne Baxter
(ChCh), 10.57, 2, Warwick Gray (Hawaii), 6.83, 3, Annabel Anderson (Auck),
4.13, 4
Heat 2
Karlos Aarsen (Whmata), 12.1, 1, Lynden Kennings
(Whgmata), 10.57, 2, Armie Armstrong (Rag), 7.5, 3, Jeremy Stephenson (Auck),
5.7, 4
Under 16 Boys Round 1
Heat 1
Manu Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 7.33, 1, Joe Palmer
(Kerikeri), 5.5, 2, Max Marshall (Chch), 5.23, 3
Heat 2
Korbin Hutchings (Gis), 12.83, 1, Toa Macdonald
(Waitara), 5.6, 2, Sam Poulter (Rag), 2.03, 3
Heat 3
Harrison Whiteside (ChCh), 11.2, 1, Josh Farr
(Tara), 6.6, 2, Caleb Braithwaite (Whtane), 6.53, 3, Daniel Farr (Tara), 6.1, 4
Heat 4
Dune Kennings (Whmata), 10.6, 1, Isaac Kettle
(Tara), 9.63, 2, Te Rapai Barbarich Love, 6.13, 3
Heat 5
Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha), 13.67, 1, Kehu Butler
(Arataki), 10.17, 2, Callum Chuter (Tau), 4.6, 3
Heat 6
Ryan Renall (Mangawhai), 5.93, 1, McKenzie Bowden
(Whmata), 5.9, 2, Samuel Sands (ChCh), 4.9, 3, Joshua Gibson (Piha), 2.1, 4
Heat 7
Jordan Griffin (Mnt), 11.47, 1, Xavier Campbell
(Dun), 5.43, 2, Taylor Hutchison (Rag), 3.1, 3
Heat 8
Matt McGreggor (Whngrei), 10.67, 1, Mahorahora
McLeod (Waitara), 8.27, 2, Russell Keenan (Waihi Bch), 3.73, 3
Under 16 Boys Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Korbin Hutchings (Gis), 8.83, 1, Isaac Kettle
(Tara), 8.37, 2, Manu Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 6.07, 3, Josh Farr (Tara),
5.67, 4
Heat 2
Dune Kennings (Whmata), 12.17, 1, Harrison
Whiteside (ChCh), 8.7, 2, Joe Palmer (Kerikeri), 6.4, 3, Toa Macdonald
(Waitara), 5.5, 4
Heat 3
Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha), 15.33, 1, Mahorahora
McLeod (Waitara), 8.57, 2, Ryan Renall (Mangawhai), 4.07, 3, Xavier Campbell
(Dun), 3.07, 4
Heat 4
McKenzie Bowden (Whmata), 9.5, 1, Matt McGreggor
(Whngrei), 8.90, 2, Kehu Butler (Arataki), 8.80, 3, Jordan Griffin (Mnt), 7.10,
4
The all
encompassing seven day event runs from the 15th – 21st of
January. Please see below for a guide to
when remaining divisions are expected to be contested.
Day 3 (Tues 17th
Jan) - Open Men, Under 18, 16, 14
Boys
Day 4 (Wed 18th Jan) - Open
Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women’s, All Seniors
Day 5 (Thurs 19th Jan) - Open
Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women’s, All Seniors,
Kneeboard”
Day 6 (Fri 20th Jan) - Open
Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women’s, All Seniors,
Potentially some finals
Day 7 (Sat 21st Jan) - Finals,
All Bodyboard
The Hyundai National Championships were first held in 1963 when they took
place at Mount Maunganui. In its infancy,
the event comprised Open Men’s and Women’s as well as Under 18 Men’s divisions
only. Since then it has grown to
comprise a colossal 25 divisions across all disciplines and the 2012 edition
will crown New Zealand’s
500th national champion.
Twenty five national titles will go up for grabs at the Hyundai National
Championships. As well as the premier
Open Men’s and Open Women’s Divisions, there will be a further 23 divisions
comprising of age groups from Under 14 through to Over 50s and also longboard,
Stand Up Paddleboard, Bodyboard and Kneeboard disciplines.
Further
Information
For further information on the 2011 Hyundai National
Championships please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732
or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz. Alternatively contact Hyundai New Zealand representative Emma Ryan on 0274785217 or email eryan@hyundai.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 will be available to
media free of charge upon request.
Nationals Blog
Be sure to get a different perspective on the event via the SNZ Nationals
Blog. This will be updated throughout
the seven days with news views and interviews to keep you entertained.
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 Hyundai New Zealand
and Lion Rock Boardriders has made this event possible.
Surfing New Zealand Newsletter
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inbox then sign up to the SNZ
Newsletter.
Follow Surfing New Zealand and
the Hyundai National Championships
Live results will be fed live to the SNZ website via twitter so stay tuned with
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