Conclusion of The South African Championships 2014
posted by James Jones on 13th October 2014
It was a long, hard week at SA Champs in Port Alfred this year, but one that will be remember by all who were involved in whatever way they chose.
The week presented competitors and organizers with a good medium sized swell in the 2-3ft range for the duration of the first 4 day, then a major swell jump for the final day that saw some of the outer banks and reefs breaking in the 8ft+ range, with West Beach handling around 4ft+. The only problem was the winds for this time of year and not always the best, and ended up going cross-shore for most of the competitive days.
The finals of the event lived up to the hype that usually precedes it, and no one was disappointed.
In the Grandmasters final, the winner Pierre De Villiers bagged himself 3 rolls on his last wave to take a well deserved win against long time SA Champ Mike Van Huyssteen. The Masters division followed suit with Bevan Wilson taking the win, with a solid display of controlled manoeuvres in the testing surf.
The Boys division saw some really competitive riding by all the finalists, but SA Gymnast, Henry Le Roux, showed his class by stringing together some "mega" combos together all the way to the beach! This left Tiaan Smith in 2
nd, David Knobel 3
rd and the youngster Liam Kavanagh in 4
th.
The ladies final was one of the toughest of the day, with the rip pulling the ladies all over the place, they really struggled to string together a few waves to give themselves a good shot at the title. Melissa Bowles (PA Local) struggled in the testing conditions as well as Rosie Lombard and placed 4
th and 3
rd respectively. The heat came down to Pamela Bowren who just couldn't find a 2
nd backup wave to a solid roll she did, and she unfortunately lost out to Sarah Houston who managed to get a solid roll on a set wave and another one to back that up and take the victory.
In the DK final, multiple SA DK Champ Dylan van Tonder, Terence Pieters and Dune Barker just were not able to match the hard hitting snaps of Chris Green who took a strategic approach to the heat and sat way out to sea to catch the biggest waves ended up paying off for him in the end.
In the Mens final, it was all about Central KZN, with 3 of their riders taking the top 3 spots in the final, which one would win? It would end up being Chris Green, who showed that he is not only a DK rider but also has the class of riding prone to take the win, with Jonothan "Oros" Oliff in 2
nd, Bevan Langley 3
rd and Ryan Botha from EP in 4
th.
The Juniors division has always been the stepping stone to the big leagues, and they didn't disappoint at all. The caliber of riding was of the highest order, and with some heavy conditions, these guys showed that they are ready to take it up a notch and compete against the pro's! In the end it was Garryd Ensor-Smith that took home top place, with JC Johnson 2
nd, Wian Oosthuizen 3
rd and Sean Wilson 4
th.
In the Pro final, it was the big guns that took center stage and battled it out with all eyes on them! It was a slow heat, with Nik Martin and Bradley Moys trying to build some good totals before going for bigger manuveours. But in the end it came down to Stephen Du Preez and Iain Campbell who went blow for blow, with huge rolls off some heavy sections, but it came down to the 2 waves of the final that decided which way the cookie would crumble. Stephen hit a big backflip in the corner and rolled off the end, but as the heat came to an end, Iain sneaked into a solid bowl and launched into a good invert on the buzzer, sadly for him it was just not enough! Stephen was crowned the SA Bodyboarding Pro Champ later that evening, and it is fair to say that he thoroughly deserved it! Iain Campbell 2
nd, Bradley Moys 3
rd and Nik Martin 4
th.
In the title for the fishman, CKZN put on a stellar performance and took the trophy back to their warm water of Durban, while SKZN came in second and WP in 3rd. Next year the champs heads to NKZN who will be sure to make it another event to remember.
Results for the 2014 SA Championships
Grand Masters:
1st Pierre De Villiers (EP)
2nd Michael Van Huyssteen (CKZN)
3rd Leon Nel (WP)
4th Riaan Du Preez (BOL)
Masters:
1st Bevan Wilson (CKZN)
2nd Peter Nel (EP)
3rd Morgan Phillips (SKZN)
4th Johan Coetzee (WP)
Mens:
1st Chris Green (CKZN)
2nd Jonathan Oliff (CKZN)
3rd Bevan Langley (CKZN)
4th Ryan Botha (EP)
Dropknee:
1st Chris Green (CKZN)
2nd Dune Baker (SKZN)
3rd Dylan Van Tonder (EP)
4th Terrance Pieters (SKZN)
Ladies:
1st Sarah Houston (CKZN)
2nd Pamela Bowren (EP)
3rd Rosie Lombard (BOL)
4th Melissa Bowles (EP)
Boys:
1st Henry Le Roux (WP)
2nd Tiaan Smith (SKZN)
3rd David Knobel (BOL)
4th Liam Kavanagh (CKZN)
Juniors:
1st Garryd Ensor-Smith (CKZN)
2nd JC Johnson (WP)
3rd Wian Oosthuizen (BOL)
4th Sean Wilson (SKZN)
Pro:
1st Stephan Du Preez (CKZN)
2nd Iain Campbell (CKZN)
3rd Bradley Moys (SKZN)
4th Niklas Martin (SC)
Fishman Trophy:
1st CKZN 21310
2nd SKZN 15757
3rd WP 14391
4th BOL 14211
5th EP 12035
6th SC 11717
We would just like to thank all the sponsors who made this event happen, as well as the biggest thanks to the EP bodyboarding association for all the hard work that they put in every day in setting up the event and making it run smoothly.
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