Gisborne Opens Domestic Summer of Surfing This Weekend
For immediate release
3rd November 2010
From: Surfing New Zealand
Sport: Surfing
Event: O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro – 4-star
Series: 2010/11 SOL Surf Series
Event date: 6 – 7 November 2010
Location: Gisborne Beaches
Event websites: www.surfingnz.co.nz, www.sequence.co.nz, www.oneill.com
Gisborne Opens Domestic Summer of Surfing This Weekend
The New Zealand summer of surfing powers up this weekend with the first event of the SOL Surf Series taking place at Gisborne – the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro. After a lengthy break from competition over the colder winter months, the country’s best surfers will be eager to kick off their campaigns with a good result and get the jump on their opponents.
The O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro is the first of six events scattered throughout New Zealand. Locations include Dunedin, Whangamata, Mount Maunganui and Raglan. The culmination of the series is the invitational SOL Super 16 where the top surfers from the summer get to surf off in what will be a mobile event held in the best waves across the top of the North Island.
Last Saturday the Quiksilver New Zealand Surfing Team returned from a successful campaign in Peru where they placed seventh at the 2010 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games. All four Open Men’s Division surfers will be contesting the event this weekend and are likely to have an edge over their opponents who have been competitively idle all winter.
Nick White (Mnt) was the highest placed of the four Kiwis at the event finishing 29th equal. The World Surfing Games was the only international competition that White contested in 2010 after surfing on the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series the past two years.
White placed fourth at the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro in 2009 and ranked sixth overall at years end. Another good start to the year will see him push for a top five placing on the SOL Surf Series in 2010/11 before testing his mettle on the ASP World Tour in 2011.
White will be joined by team mates Morehu Roberts (Gis), Luke Hughes (Rag) and Keone Campbell (Tara) at this weekend’s event. Roberts placed runner up on the SOL Surf Series in 2009/10 so will want to go one better and come out on top in 2011. Hughes is in a similar position to Roberts placing third last year. Campbell sits back slightly placing tenth in 2010 and will want to push for a career best top five ranking in 2011.
Defending Champion Billy Stairmand (Rag) is currently in the Canary Islands and despite a brief return to New Zealand before heading to Hawaii for the final two events of the year, Stairmand will miss the chance to defend his title.
Stairmand has been competing at the Santa Pro six-star Prime event where he placed 49th. Richard Christie (Gis) who also flies home briefly placed 37th at the event while Jay Quinn (Gis) placed 72nd.
Quinn’s older brother Maz is the SOL Surf Series defending champion after winning two of the five events in 2009/10. However the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro is an event that has evaded his grasp the past two years. Quinn will look to change that this coming weekend and improve on his average season opening result last year.
The unstoppable Jessica Santorik (Gis) is contesting the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro before she flies out to Hawaii for the final star-event of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Tour. Santorik is the defending event and five-time SOL Surf Series champion and will use this event as the final build up towards her Hawaiian campaign where she hopes to improve on her current world ranking of 37th equal.
Santorik will have her work cut out for her as the young brigade continues to push toward the top of women’s surfing here in New Zealand. National representative Laura Rishworth (Mnt) is hot off the plane this week after competing at the World Surfing Games in Peru. Rishworth placed a career best ninth equal at the event – a result that the current national champ will use as motivation for another world class performance this weekend.
Grace Spiers (WGM), Rosa Thompson (Auck), Alexis Poulter (Rag), Jayda Martin – Fitzharris (Gis) and Ella Williams (WGM), all still school aged, will want to impress at the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro to kick off a big summer of events. Their season will climax with the 2011 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championship scheduled for April in Peru. The Kiwi team only has four available slots for the girls division making it a right race for selection.
The Under 20 Men will contest the final event of the year with the ratings race being narrowed down to just two surfers. Ratings leader and local surfer Johnny Hicks (Gis) is in the tightest battle for the championship. Despite leading the ratings, the highest place getter between him and current runner up Sean Peggs (Tairua) will take out the ratings.
Peggs won the series in 2009 while Hicks would make a jump of 19 places from his 2009 rating if he were to beat Peggs at the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro this weekend.
The race could have been a bunch tighter had it not been for injuries which have ravaged the junior line up. Current number three on the ratings and defending champion at the event Paco Divers (Sandy Bay) is out of the event with an injured knee. He joins the likes of the sidelined Matt Hewitt (Mnt) who had knee surgery in August this year and Buck Woods (Gis) who is set to get surgery on an ankle injury.
JC Susan (Mnt) ranked fifth is the only other surfer to have a mathematical chance of winning the series but that would require first round elimination for both of the front runners.
A southerly front is expected to march up the country later this week. The front will bring swell but also onshore winds for the start of the event before turning more south-west and easing a little on Sunday come finals time.
Thanks to the generous sponsorship of O’Neill, Sequence Surf Shop and SOL, surfers around New Zealand will get to take part in the event this weekend. Head over to the Surfing New Zealand Facebook page and pick your four Open Men’s Division finalists. Pick them correctly and you will go in the draw for $1,300 in prizes including an O’Neill Psycho 2 wetsuit, $500 Sequence Surf Shop prize pack and five dozen SOL.
Previous winners of the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro follow:
Open Men
2005 – Daniel Kereopa (Rag)
2006 – Zennor Wernham (Rag)
07/08 – Maz Quinn (Gis)
08/09 – Bobby Hansen (Gis)
09/10 – Billy Stairmand (Rag)
Open Women
2005 – Lisa Hurunui (Gis)
2006 – Paige Hareb (Tara)
07/08 – Daisy Thomas (Chch)
08/09 – Jessica Santorik (Rag)
09/10 – Jessica Santorik (Rag)
Junior (U/18) Men
2005 – Morehu Roberts (Gis)
2006 – Richard Christie (Gis)
07/08 – Matt Hewitt (Mnt)
08/09 – Sean Peggs (Tairua)
09/10 – Paco Divers (Sandy Bay)
The current top ten junior surfers with the final event remaining are as follows:
1, Johnny Hicks (Gis)
2, Sean Peggs (Tairua)
3, Paco Divers (Sandy Bay)
4, Blake Myers (Whmata)
5, JC Susan (Mnt)
6, Ryan Hawker (Piha)
7, Joe Moretti (Mimiwhangata)
8, Ben Poulter (Rag)
9, Braedon Williams (Whmata)
10, Tane Wallis (Piha)
Complete event write ups, results, surfer and industry ratings, images and audio interviews from the event can be viewed on www.surfingnz.co.nz.
Please see below for the remaining five events that make up the 20010/11 SOL Surf Series.
Sol Series Event 2 - 13-16 January – Hyundai National Championships, Dunedin (5-star)
Sol Series Event 3 - 29-31 January - Billabong Pro presented by Sony, Whangamata (6-star)
Sol Series Event 4 - 12-13 February - Power Balance Pro, Mount Maunganui (4-star)
Sol Series Event 5 - 11-13 March - Rip Curl Pro, Raglan (6-star)
Sol Series Event 6 - 2-3 April SOL Super 16, Mobile (6-star)
2010/11 SOL Surf Series at a Glance
• New Zealand’s top surfers across three divisions – Open Men, Open Women, Under 20 Men
• Six events held throughout New Zealand
• One new event at Mount Maunganui
• $50,000 in prize money
• Winners of each event in the Open Men’s Division receive direct entry into the final event
• One entry into the final event granted to the top rated surfer on the South Island Circuit
• Remainder of the entries will be the top rated surfers on the SOL Series
• Final event caters for 16 males and top 4 females from the SOL Series
• Final event is mobile across the top of the North Island
• North vs South Challenge and Interclub Championship to be held at National Championships
Information
For more information on the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro please contact Ben Kennings on 07 8250022 or 021 2278732. Alternatively email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
Web clips and newsfeeds will be distributed free of charge from the event. Please contact Ben Kennings for further details.
High resolution images will be available to media upon request. Images will be distributed free of charge courtesy of NZ Surfing Magazine.
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Event Hotline
The Surfing New Zealand event hotline is 0211134506. This will be updated daily at each SOL Series event with venues, divisions contested and conditions.
Sponsors
Generous support from O’Neill Wetsuits, Sequence Surf Shop, SOL and Gisborne Boardriders has made this event possible.
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