Written by Ben Kennings Saturday, 28 May 2011
The Rip Curl New Zealand Junior Surfing Team ended their run at the 2011 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship today with the two remaining surfers being eliminated from the event and the team finishing in tenth place.
Whangamata’s Grace Spiers was New Zealand’s top ranked surfer placing 19th overall in the Under 18 Girls Division.
Spiers put on a top performance in her fifth round match up going toe to toe with her opponents from Australia, Peru and Brazil. After starting off with a 6.5 point ride Spiers sat in second place for much of the heat. However with one minute remaining Vania Torres (Peru) managed to sneak a wave from under Spiers nose and surf to a 4.47 point ride which was enough for progression scoring 11.57 to Spiers 10.67, and pushing her back into third place and elimination from the event.
“I am a bit bummed that I got pipped in the last minute of the heat” said Spiers.
“I was going well all heat, I followed my heat plan and it worked really well but that girl got one at the end and unfortunately for me, she got the score.”
Reflecting on the event Spiers was happy with her placing. “I knocked out some big guns on my way to 19th which I was really stoked on and I placed in the top twenty surfers which was my goal.”
Spiers now travels north to Central America in preparation for the 2011 Billabong ISA World Surfing Games in less than one months time. She feels this result has given her the boost in confidence that she needs and has provided a good warm up for the next event which takes place in Panama.
Raglan surfer Ben Poulter was New Zealand’s top placed male surfer finishing in 21st place in the Under 18 Boys Division.
Despite a low scoring fourth place in the last heat of Poulter’s campaign, he did start the day well placing second in his first heat defeating Francisco Alves from Portugal and Ramzi Boukaim from Morocco.
In his last heat Poulter paddled into one of the first set waves but found himself too deep to capitalise on a good early start. He then fell behind the play requiring an 8.0 point ride with less than half the heat remaining. “I needed an eight point ride with eight minutes remaining so I went and sat right out the back waiting for a bomb and it just went flat” said Poulter adding “I wasn’t going to get the score on an inside wave.”
Poulter has a further year remaining in the Under 18 Boys Division where he hopes to improve on his surfing to get a good result.
“I need to work on surfing tighter and faster on my forehand and just surfing with confidence and doing those big first turns. I am happy with my performance this year but I am not happy with where I came” said Poulter.
The Rip Curl New Zealand Junior Surfing Team will finish the event ranked tenth, three places below their seventh placing in 2010. Australia have regained their customary position at the top of the rankings ahead of Hawaii and South Africa with one day remaining.
The Rip Curl New Zealand Junior Surfing Team includes surfers from six regions throughout New Zealand with the small surf town of Whangamata providing three surfers, Northland, Auckland, Raglan, Gisborne all providing two surfers a piece with one representative from Mount Maunganui.
The event is being held at Punta Hermosa, Lima, Peru from the 21st – 29th May with two arenas catering for a record 276 surfers from 27 countries competing at the event.
The final day of the 2011 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship starts overnight Friday (1:00am, 29th May). You can catch the entire event live via World Junior Surfing Championship.
Please see below for current team points and results from the sixth day of the 2011 Quiksilver World Junior Surfing Championship being held in Peru.
Team Standings
1 – Australia
2 – Hawaii
3 – South Africa
4 – Peru
5 – USA
6 – France
7 – Brazil
8 – Tahiti
9 – Portugal
10 – New Zealand
Overall Rip Curl New Zealand Junior Surfing Team Placings
Under 18 Boys
21st – Ben Poulter (Rag)
33rd – Tane Wallis (Piha)
41st – Joe Moretti (Mimiwhangata)
41st – Todd Doyle (Mnt)
Under 18 Girls
19th – Grace Spiers (WGM)
31st – Jayda Martin – Fitzharris (Gis)
49th – Ella Williams (WGM)
49th – Alexis Poulter (Rag)
Under 16 Boys
31st – Elliot Paerata – Reid (Piha)
43rd – Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata)
43rd – Adam Grimson (Gis)
61st – Dune Kennings (WGM)
Day six New Zealand Results
Under 18 Boys Repechage Round 5
Heat 3
1, 13.17, Sidney Guimaraes, BRA, 2, 9.33, Ben Poulter, NZL, 3, 9.20, Francisco Alves, POR, 4, 5.03, Ramzi Boukaim, MOR
Under 18 Boys Repechage Round 6
Heat 4
1, 15.00, Conner Coffin, USA, 2, 11.60, Creed McTaggart, AUS, 3, 8.90, Jake Halstead, USA, 4, 5.90, Ben Poulter, NZL
Under 18 Girls Repechage Round 5
Heat 1
1, 16.83, Ellie-Jean Coffey, AUS, 2, 11.57, Vania Torres, PER, 3, 10.67, Grace Spiers, NZL, 4, 4.27, Estafany Freitas, BRA