Nikita Robb in contention for ASP Women’s World Tour qualification. Royden Bryson gets 5th in Rio de Janeiro : Jumps to No. 29 on WQS. Chad du Toit and Sarah Baum clinches 2009 ASP Africa Pro Junior titles.

Nikita Robb in contention for ASP Women’s World Tour qualification

Tuesday 13 October 2009 – Nikita Robb moved into contention for a spot on the 2010 ASP Women’s World Tour after finishing fifth in the Rio Surf Pro International presented by Oakley and climbing four positions to 9th place overall on the yearend ASP Women’s World Qualifying Series rankings.

Robb, 20, battled the tough onshore conditions in the final women’s WQS event of the year at Leblon in Rio de Janeiro, progressing through two rounds before bowing out in the Round of 12. The East Londoner collected 1 500 ratings points, her second best result of the year, and faces a two month wait to see whether she will become just the third South Africa woman, after Heather Clark and Rosanne Hodge, to qualify for the top tier of ASP competition since the introduction of the two-tiered ranking system in 1992.

As the ratings stand right now Robb is three places outside the top six on the yearend WQS leaderboard who, along with the top 10 on the 2009 yearend World Tour ratings, will automatically qualify for the 2010 Women’s World Tour. However, three of the WQS top six – Coco Ho (HAW), Rebecca Woods (AUS) and Paige Hareb (NZL) – are currently ranked 5th, 6th and 7th on the World Tour and if they maintain their places in the top 10 over the remaining four events, then Robb will be awarded a slot for amongst the world’s top 16 female surfers on the ASP World Tour next year.

The four events still to be run are in Portugal (Oct 26-30), Peru (Nov 3-8), Sunset Beach, Hawaii (Nov24-6 Dec) and Honolua Bay, Hawaii (Dec 8-20) and you can bet your house on the fact that Robb will be following every minute of those events and willing Ho, Woods and Hareb on every step of the way.

Bianca Buitendag, the 15-year-old prodigy from George, was the only other SA girl to advance from Round 1 in Rio while Rosanne Hodge (EL) and the Kommetjie duo of Tarryn Chudleigh and Tanika Hoffman were first round casualties. The event was won by Jessi Miley-Dyer who defeated fellow Australian Laura Enever in the final.

WOMEN’S RIO SURF PRO INTERNATIONAL pres. by Oakley

FINAL
Winner - Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) with 8,33 and 6,00 - US$ 4.000 and 2.500 points
Runner-up - Laura Enever (AUS) with 4,17 and 2,67 - US$ 2.000 and 2.100 points

WOMEN’S SEMIFINALS – 3rd place - US$ 1.700 and 1.800 points:
1: Laura Enever (AUS) 11.66 x 9.27 Lee Ann Curren (FRA)
2: Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 8.50 x 3.90 Bethany Hamilton (HAW)

WOMEN’S QUARTER-FINALS – 5th place - US$ 900 and 1.600 points:
1: Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 9.33 x 7.74 Airini Mason (NZL)
2: Laura Enever (AUS) 8.33 x 4.07 Tais de Almeida (BRA)
3: Bethany Hamilton (HAW) 12.10 x 10.10 Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)
4: Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) 8.66 x 6.03 Paige Hareb (NZL)

2009 FINAL WOMEN’S WQS RANKING – 8 events:
1: Coco Ho (HAW) – 8.740 points
2: Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS) – 8.720
3: Carissa Moore (HAW) – 7.980
4: Paige Hareb (NZL) – 7.840
5: Rebecca Woods (AUS) – 7.540
6: Claire Bevilacqua (AUS) – 7.400
7: Lee Ann Curren (FRA) – 7.240
8: Bruna Schmitz (BRA) – 7.000
9: Nikita Robb (ZAF) – 6.900

South Africans (more than 1 event)
15: Hodge,Rosanne (ZAF) - 6620 points
29: Buitendag,Bianca (ZAF) - 4720
33: Chudleigh,Tarryn (ZAF) - 4380
56: Smith,Tammy Lee (ZAF) - 2430
63: Hoffman,Tanika (ZAF) - 2000

Royden Bryson gets 5th in Rio de Janeiro : Jumps to No. 29 on WQS

Royden Bryson was the top placed Saffa in the 6-Star rated Rio Surf International pres. by Oakley, winning four consecutive heats before being ousted in the quarterfinals for equal 5th place overall. The former East Londoner who now lives in Cape Town when not campaigning on the WQS pocketed US $2 850 (approx. R21 000) and 1 625 points which saw him jump from No. 35 to No. 29 in the rankings and just 1 614 points outside the top 15 who will qualify for the 2010 ASP World Tour.

Brandon Jackson continued his late season roll, building on his career best finish of 3rd in the Local Motion Pro in Brazil the previous week to finish equal 13th in Rio and move up one spot to No. 20. This leaves the second year WQS charger from Durban North a slender 720 points off the No. 15 slot with five major WQS events still to be run, two of which have overlapping dates.

Meanwhile Travis Logie maintained his No.10 spot on the WQS leaderboard by placing 17th and 37th in the two events in Brazil. The Durbanite whose relentless charge to re-qualify for the ASP World Tour, where he spent the 2005-2008 seasons, has already competed in 17 WQS events this year, the most by any of the Saffas.

Logie and Bryson will be racking up the air miles in the next month, heading for the inaugural 6-Star rated O’Neill Coldwater Classic in Vancouver on the Pacific coast of Canada from October 25-31 before jetting back across the continent and the North Atlantic to the 6-Star Prime rated Santa Pro in the Canaries from Nov 2-8 and then heading halfway round the world to Hawaii for the two 6-Star Prime rated events at Haleiwa and Sunset Beach (Nov 12-23 and Nov 24-Dec 6) where the 2009 WQS yearend rankings will be finalised.

The pair will be joined by Jackson, Rudy Palmboom (Bluff), Damien Fahrenfort (California), Sean Holmes (Cape Town) and Dave Richards (Kommetjie) in Canada while Antonio Bortoletto is the only other Saffa in the Canaries event.

RIO SURF PRO INTERNATIONAL pres. by OAKLEY

FINAL
Champion: Simao Romao (BRA) 16.16 points with 9.33 and 6.83 scores
Runner-up: Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 10.94 points with 6.27 and 4.67 scores

SEMI-FINALS
Heat 1: Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 15.84 def. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 10.93
Heat 2: Simao Romao (BRA) 13.76 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 13.00

QUARTER-FINALS
Heat 1: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 12.90 def. Royden Bryson (ZAF) 11.60
Heat 2: Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 18.14 def. Miguel Pupo (BRA) 14.94
Heat 3: Brett Simpson (USA) 12.00 def. Brent Dorrington (AUS) 11.60
Heat 4: Simao Romao (BRA) 17.23 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 8.00

2009 WQS RANKING – after 32 events:
01: Daniel Ross (AUS) – 14.975 points
02: Jadson Andre (BRA) – 14.813
03: Owen Wright (AUS) – 14.338
04: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) – 13.876
05: Adam Melling (AUS) – 13.026
06: Brett Simpson (USA) – 12.600
07: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) – 12.150
08: Joan Duru (FRA) – 12.050
09: Blake Thornton (AUS) – 11.925
10: Travis Logie (ZAF) – 11.851

South Africans (top 150)
20: Jackson,Brandon (ZAF) – 10431
29: Bryson,Royden (ZAF )– 9538
52: Wright,Warwick (ZAF) – 7550
62: Bortoletto,Antonio (ZAF) – 7101
66: Palmboom,Rudy (ZAF) – 7001
83: Redman,Daniel (ZAF) – 6451
94: Fahrenfort,Damien (ZAF) – 6114
105: Basnett,Ricky (ZAF) – 5551
141: Du Toit,Chad (ZAF ) – 4663
146: Strachan,Klee (ZAF) – 4406

Chad du Toit and Sarah Baum clinch 2009 ASP Africa Pro Junior titles

Chad du Toit and Sarah Baum clinched the 2009 ASP Africa Pro Junior titles when they each placed third in their respective divisions at the final Billabong Junior Series event at Herold’s Bay in September.

The consistent du Toit, 19, from the Berea in Durban, finished third in all four events on the 2009 schedule and faced a nail-biting wait after being eliminated in the semis of the final event. Defending ASP Africa champ Klee Strachan (Winkelspruit) was up against Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga) in the final and needed the win to become the first back-to-back champ but fell on his last wave handing the title to du Toit.

Casey Grant (Scottburgh), who had led the ratings after winning the first event of the year, was eliminated in the quarters at Herold’s Bay but had enough points to claim second spot on the rankings as Strachan took third and de Vries’ victory saw the 16-year-old grab fourth place overall.

Baum had a less stressful triumph after winning the first of the two ASP Africa Pro Junior women’s events and despite being ousted in the semis at Herold’s Bay, the 15-year-old from Athlone Park secured a comfortable 260 point series win over Chantelle Rautenbach (Melkbosstrand) with Kirsty Delport (Durban) in third.

Du Toit, Grant, Strachan and de Vries received the four coveted invitations to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Sydney, Australia, in January and will be joined by Kyle Lane (Umhlanga) who is the highest WQS ranked ASP Africa Pro Junior not in the top four in the local standings.

Baum will represent ASP Africa at the ASP World Junior Champs for the second successive year along with Nikita Robb, SA’s highest WQS ranked Pro Junior woman.

2009 ASP Africa Pro Junior Men (best 3 of 4 events)
1: Du Toit, Chad (Durban) - 3285
2: Grant, Casey (Scottburgh) - 3190
3: Strachan, Klee (Winkelspruit) - 3120
4: De Vries, Beyrick (Umhlanga Rocks) - 3000
5: Gibbens, Brendon (Kommetjie) - 2900
6: Lane, Kyle (Umhlanga Rocks) - 2860
7: Joubert, Shaun (Mossel Bay) - 2850
8: Staples, Dale (St Francis Bay) - 2580
9: Leppan, Chris (Umhlanga Rocks) - 2415
10: Bromley, Matthew (Kommetjie) - 2230

2009 ASP Africa Pro Junior Women (2 events)
1: Baum, Sarah (Athlone Park) - 1730
2: Rautenbach, Chantelle (Melkbosstrand) - 1470
3: Delport, Kirsty (Durban) - 1405
4: Palmboom, Heidi (Bluff) - 1285
5: Hoffman, Tanika (Kommetjie) - 1230

Pictured: Recently crowned ASP Africa Pro Junior men’s champion Chad du Toit in action during the final event of 2009
Photo: Moonrocket / Billabong

For more information on the ASP Africa members, including profiles and rankings, visit www.aspafrica.com

Submitted: Tuesday, 13 October 2009