Tand Invitational trials push five through to main event
posted by Chris van der Westhuizen on 25th June 2013
The completion of
the David Lilienfeld Trials for the Tand Invitational on Sunday, 23 June saw
its top five riders progress into the main event, which is scheduled to take
place in the upcoming weeks.
The riders included the four trial finalists: Josh
Kleve (1), Jason Fowler (2), Andrew Raath (3) and Mark Watts (4), as well as
the highest-scoring fifth-placed rider, Bjorn Coetzee.
The selection of
these five riders fills the last of the 16 participant slots of the Tand
Invitational. The event, known as South Africa's leading high-performance
bodyboarding contest, is presented by Sixty40 Bodyboarding Magazine,
Zion SA and the International Bodyboarding Association, in association with Red
Bull, Kingdom Longboards, Bassett Stationers and Acorn Laser Engraving. The end of the trial round also marked the opening of the window
period for the main event, and event organisers will keep a close eye on the
weather charts to decide on a date for the contest.
The trials were
held at Cape Town's Derde Steen beach, which delivered consistent 3-4 foot left-
and right-breaking peaks. During the quarter and semi finals, competitors
busted big rolls, inverts and ARS's on the outside peak. As the tide pushed
throughout the day, Derde Steen's shore break started turning on, and
eventually for the final heat riders decided to venture around the wedgy peaks on
the inside.
Event organisers
and spectators were vey impressed with young grom Louis Henkel, a 14-year-old
from Hout Bay who entered the trials and paddled out with courage and
determination to make it through his quarter final. Unfortunately, Henkel was
outperformed by his fellow competitors. There was outstanding riding throughout
the day. Stand out rides from the 30 minute final included Andrew Raath's
opening ARS, as well as Josh Kleve's barrel to roll, which afforded him a high
score and placed him in first place.
Thanks to the live
scoring system used for the trials, the results of the final heat were announced
as soon as the riders came in. A prize-giving ceremony was held on the beach to
reward the four finalists and announce plans for the main event. Spectators
were told to keep an eye on updates from event organisers and competitors on
social media for details regarding the date for the main event.
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