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Top Seeds Dominate Hyundai Longboard at Christchurch
Due to small conditions that greeted organisers and competitors this morning at New Brighton pier, organisers were forced to move the venue for day one of the Hyundai Pro Longboard event twenty minutes up the coast to Waikuku Beach.
The Hyundai Open Men’s division kicked off in 0.5 – 1.0m of contestable surf. There were no surprises as the top seeds managed their way through to the quarter-finals. Daniel Kereopa (Rag), Daniel Proctor (Gis) and Michael Fitzharris (Gis) had solid wins in the glassy conditions.
Michael Fitzharris - Image courtesy of www.surfaotearoa.co.nz
Fitzharris posted the two highest scoring waves of the day to record a 17.9 total heat score and put some real heat on the likes of Kereopa and Proctor who have had wins at the last two Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour events. Other heat winners included Michael Burling (Akld), Kirk Beyer (Wgtn), Daryn McBride (Mnt), Kelly Ryan (Gis) and Ant McNicol (Mnt).
In the Hyundai Over 40’s local knowledge proved to be the answer as Christchurch competitors cleaned up in the early rounds to ensure that seven of the eight semi-finalists will be locals. The only surfer to buck the trend was Raglan Longboard specialist Mike Thompson. Mark Andrews combined traditional board walking with some powerful top to bottom surfing to post the highest heat score of 13.07 in his heat. As the day progressed the conditions deteriorated which made it difficult for competitors in the Hyundai Open Women’s. Daisy Thomas (ChCh), Anna Jolly (Piha) and Sophie Moore (Murawai) celebrated wins and will be joined in the semi-finals by Caroline Ryan (Gis), Kerry Morehu-Baker (ChCh) and Hannah Phillips (ChCh). |
