Written by Ben Kennings, Surfing NZ, Saturday, 12 February 2011
SOL Series ratings leader Jay Quinn (Gis) cruised through to the quarterfinals of the Power Balance Pro at Mount Maunganui today (Saturday 12th February) as his opponents faltered – five of the top ten surfers having been eliminated from the event in the preliminary rounds.
The Power Balance Pro is taking place at Tay Street, Mount Maunganui with clean 1.0m waves on offer for the first day of the event. The rain and onshore winds forecast for today never eventuated with clean conditions prevailing.
Quinn scored 12.0 out of a possible 20 to win his heat and progress through to the quarterfinal alongside Tim Thompson (Auck). “It was a shaky start. It is a bit bumpy and soft so it is hard to get going out there” said Quinn after his heat. “I knew it was going to be like this, standard Mount ‘beachies,’ but the sun has been a bonus today added Quinn.
Quinn will face Felix Dickson (Dun), Jarred Hancox (Tara) and Leon Santorik (Rag) in his quarterfinal match up on Sunday morning.
The oldest of the Quinn brothers, Maz Quinn (Gis), was true to form and the pre event predictions of his brother blasting the line up and being one of several surfers posting the highest heat score of the day – 14.0 out of 20.
Maz Quinn is still hunting his first win of the season. Other surfers to post the highest heat score of the day included Raglan surfer Zennor Wernham, Chris Malone and local surfer Alex Dive. Dive has only recently returned from competing in Australia but is relishing the chance to surf in home waters. “It is good to be back and see everyone, it is fun to compete at home – hopefully it is a good weekend for me” said Dive who is used to the break and keen for a good result. “I surf here every day, it is a hard wave to surf so probably having a bit of knowledge helps heaps” added Dive.
Despite cleaning up in his heat surfing vertically on his backhand, Dive was well aware of the talent in his heat – the hardest ‘on paper’ of the third round which included Tim O’Connor, Luke Cederman Felix Dickson (Dun). “That was a hard heat, I knew everyone was going to surf well so I was lucky to get a couple of waves at the end and consolidate the win. It was tough for Tim ‘cause I thought he would be a big threat out here this weekend” said Dive of his good mate and current number four on the SOL Surf Series Tim O’Connor.
Another local surfer back from Australia is Matt Hewitt. Hewitt had a close third round heat progressing in second place on his last wave of the heat after Wernham walked away with the win, the two surfers eliminating Gisborne pair Blair Stewart and Che Whitaker. “It was not the best of starts” said Hewitt. “You have to slow your surfing down and not get too excited on the waves out there. You have to really read the waves and figure out what they are doing.”
Hewitt who is also contesting the Under 20 Men’s Division will be keen to find the rhythm that saw him win the first Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Australasia Pro Junior event in January. “I think the swell is supposed to drop off a bit tomorrow but they may improve the waves because the banks almost work better with a smaller swell” said Hewitt of the prospects for day two.
Top ten surfers to be eliminated today included Blair Stewart (Gis), Ti O’Connor (Mnt), Keone Campbell (Tara), Tane Wallis (Piha) and Nick White (Mnt).
The winner of the Power Balance Pro automatically qualifies for the final event of the year and in doing so, avoids the pressure pot situation of the final regular season event. To date the only two surfers to have secured direct entry into the SOL Super 16 are Jay Quinn and Richard Christie.
Action will take place at Tay Street from 8.00am on Sunday with finals of all three divisions taking place early in the afternoon.
Please see below for results from day 1 of the Power Balance Pro – event 4 on the SOL Surf Series.
Open Men’s Division Round 1
Heat 1
Felix Dickson (Dun), 10.6, 1, Leon Santorik (Rag), 10.1, 2, Mark Dovey (Mnt), 7.85, 3, Travis McCoy (Mnt), 5.4, 4
Heat 2
Luke Ashman (Mnt), 10, 1, Michael Wheeler (Mnt), 8.6, 2, Wayne Norman (Tai), 5.05, 3
Heat 3
Matthew Daniel, 10.35, 1, Peri Matenga (Mt), 8.4, 2, James Jacobs (Mnt), 5.4, 3
Heat 4
Buck Woods (Gis), 15.3, 1, Morehu Roberts (Rag), 11.7, 2, Rick Lasch (Piha), 10.5, 3
Open Men’s Division Round 2
Heat 1
Sean Peggs (Tairua), 10.5, 1, Felix Dickson (Dun), 9.5, 2, Christo Gilbert H-Bay), 7.75, 3, Jacob Kohn (Gis), 6.65, 4
Heat 2
Luke Cederman (Rag), 11.9, 1, Leon Santorik (Rag), 11.2, 2, Scott Bell (Auck), 8.9, 3, Braedon Williams (Whmata), 6.45, 4
Heat 3
Ben Poulter (Rag), 8.8, 1, Tim Thompson (Auck), 8.75, 2, Cale Tolley (Mnt), 6.2, 3, Luke Ashman (Mnt), 5.95, 4
Heat 4
Elliot Paerata Reid (Piha), 11.2, 1, Zen Wallis (Piha), 9, 2, Michael Wheeler (Mnt), 7.65, 3, Joe Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 6, 4
Heat 5
Adam Grimson (Gis), 9.35, 1, Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 7.95, 2, Owen Barnes (Mnt), 7.15, 3, Matthew Daniel, 5.25, 4
Heat 6
Larry Fisher (Rag), 9.45, 1, Deane Hishon (Rag), 7.8, 2, Peri Matenga (Mt), 7.35, 3, Sid West (Gt Barrier), 6.75, 4
Heat 7
Matt Hewitt (Mnt), 12.7, 1, Buck Woods (Gis), 11.7, 2, Matt Scorringe (Whmata), 11.2, 3, Tyler Lawson (H-Bay), 6.9, 4
Heat 8
Morehu Roberts (Rag), 10.9, 1, Zennor Wernham (Rag), 10.9, 2, Todd Doyle (Mnt), 7.65, 3, Jeremy Grainger (Tara), 5.85, 4
Open Men’s Division Round 3
Heat 1
Chris Malone (Gis), 14.1, 1, Leon Santorik (Rag), 11.2, 2, Sean Peggs (Tairua), 10.1, 3, Keone Campbell (Tara), 9.1, 4
Heat 2
Alex Dive (Mnt), 14, 1, Felix Dickson (Dun), 13.7, 2, Tim O’Connor (Mnt), 11.3, 3, Luke Cederman (Rag), 5.6, 4
Heat 3
Jarred Hancox (Tara), 10.65, 1, Ben Poulter (Rag), 10.4, 2, Nick White (Mnt), 9.5, 3, Zen Wallis (Piha), 6.8, 4
Heat 4
Jay Quinn (Gis), 12, 1, Tim Thompson (Auck), 8.35, 2, Elliot Paerata Reid (Piha), 7.4, 3, Johnny Hicks (Gis), 6.95, 4
Heat 5
Maz Quinn (Gis), 14, 1, JC Susan (Mnt), 12.6, 2, Adam Grimson (Gis), 8.7, 3, Deane Hishon (Rag), 7.85, 4
Heat 5
Larry Fisher (Rag), 12.05, 1, Leon Santorik (Rag), 9.2, 2, Tane Wallis (Piha), 6.3, 3, Ben Kennings (Whmata), 3.85, 4
Heat 7
Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 13.5, 1, Matt Hewitt (Mnt), 9.4, 2, Blair Stewart (Gis), 8.15, 3, Che Whitaker (Gis), 7.1, 4
Heat 8
Buck Woods (Gis), 11.5, 1, Luke Hughes (Rag), 11, 2, Morehu Roberts (Rag), 10.5, 3, Ryan Hawker (Piha), 8.15, 4