2x ISA World Masters Team Champions South Africa pipped for hatrick by Australia...
South African masters I am sure will be back determined for the next worlds wherever that may be!
Team South Africa finished second to Australia and picked up six medals – three gold, one silver and two bronze – at the 2010 ISA World Masters Surfing Championship at Santa Catalina in Panama.
Heather Clark, in the women's Masters class, and Chris Knutsen, in the Grand Kahunas, successfully defended their titles, while Masters' competitor Andrew Banks won his first ISA World title. The event took place on the weekend.
Brothers Andre and David Malherbe earned bronze in the Grand Masters and Kahunas respectively. The silver medal came in a very tightly-contested team competition.
Down to the last heat of the event
It went down to the last heat of the event, the Masters final, where despite Banks winning the gold, Australians placed second and third to dash South Africa's hopes of a third consecutive team gold by a mere 260 points – 10 456 to 10 196.
An elated Banks clinched the Masters (over-35) title with an outstanding heat total of 17.57 out of 20. He took the lead in the final with an 8.50 and then grabbed the gold medal with a 9.07 ride that left silver medalist Brett Banister needing 8.98, while fellow Aussie Dean Hall and two-time defending champion Juan Ashton of Puerto Rico were comboed (needing a combination of scores to win).
"I feel extremely happy. This is the reason why I came here," Banks said afterwards.
"This is what I was praying for, and I was not going to be happy with second place. It was a tough final and I gave it my all for my late brother, Robbie - I surf for him."
Victory in every heat
Heather Clark, a former ASP World Championship Tour standout, has won every heat she has entered in her two appearances in the ISA World Masters Surfing Championship.
She completed remarkable recovery from a life-threatening motor accident last October to secure her second consecutive ISA Women's Masters gold medal. In the final she scored an excellent 17.86 (a pair of 8.93 rides) that left Andrea Lopes of Brazil in second, Tahiti's Patricia Rossi in third, and Sandra English of Australia in fourth.
"It was hard because all the surfers in the final are really good and we all got waves over the 6.00 point range," Clark said after being mobbed by her teammates on the beach. "I had support in the water, at the beach and I wanted really bad to get my second world title."
Third gold in all
Durban's Chris Knutsen won his second successive Grand Kahunas (over-50) ISA world title and his third gold medal overall after winning the Kahunas division in the 2007 edition in Puerto Rico.
The 53-year-old displayed smart wave selection and exhibited his customary huge manoeuvres to post the only perfect 10-point ride of the entire event in the final. Backing that up with an 8.5, 'Knutto' left Javier Huarcaya of Peru in second, Kenneth Myers of Panama in third and Javier Gorbea of Puerto Rica in fourth.
"I came here trying to win a third ISA World Title, a hat-trick, and I managed to pull it off," an emotional Knutsen said.
'It was amazing getting a 10'
"I think God gave me the waves as it was amazing to get a 10. I caught the wave and it looked like it was going to be a good one. I just rode it the best I could and luckily it worked out well for me.
"I am so happy. This happens because if you really love what you do - and I love surfing - you can only get better."
Andre Malherbe completed a gutsy run in the event to place third in the Grand Masters (over-40) division behind three-time gold medalist Juan Ashton of Puerto Rica and Glen Pringle of Australia.
It took a gutsy effort just to reach the grand final after he dropped into the repecharge rounds early on, which forced him to have to to battle through six heats of cutthroat competition just to reach the medal round.
Bronze
His brother David Malherbe also earned a bronze medal, one better than his Copper medal in Puerto Rico, when he placed third in the Kahunas (over-45) final, behind Rod Baldwin, Australia's only individual gold medalist, and Brazil's Sergio Penna.
Wayne Monk placed equal 9th overall in the Masters division, Rob Moore-Boyle finished seventh in the Grand Masters and fellow Durbanite and SA team captain Marc Wright just missed out on the final and an opportunity to defend the Kahunas title he won in Peru in 2008, by placing sixth overall.
The Closing Ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Panama Ricardo Martinelli as well as the Vice President, Minister of Tourism and Minister of Economy, who assisted ISA President, Fernando Aguerre, in awarding the medals.
Martinelli told the visiting surfers: "Tell everybody about the perfect waves we have and come here, you are more than welcome." Thanks to http://www.southafrica.info
Equipe da Africa do Sul
Masters: Wayne Monk e Andrew Banks
Feminino: Heather Clark
Grand Masters: Andre Malherbe e Robert Moore Boyle
Kahunas: David Malherbe e Marc Wright
Grand Kahuna: Chris Knutsen
FULL RESULTS OF 2009 Reef Wetsuits SA Masters Championships
SENIORS (OVER 30)
1. LLEWELLYN WHITTAKER : SCAPE
2. CRAIG ELS : SKZN
3. PAUL PROCTOR : BOR
4. GRAEME FIELD : WP
MASTERS (OVER 35)
1. ANDREW BANKS : SKZN
2. WAYNE MONK : BOR
3. GARY VAN WIERINGEN : SKZN
4. STEPHAN LINDEQUE : BOLAND
GRANDMASTERS (OVER 40)
1. DAVE MALHERBE : BOR
2. ROB MOORE – BOYLE : CKZN
3. ANDRE MALHERBE : BOR
4. GARETH SEPP : BOR
KAHUNAS (OVER 45)
1. NICK PIKE : BOR
2. SEAN JERRAM : WP
3. MIKE BRENT : BOR
4. TREVOR HANSEN : EP
GRANDKAHUNAS (OVER 50)
1. CHRIS KNUTSEN : CKZN
2. GRANTLEY READ : CKZN
3. JEREMY ZINN : WP
4. NICK KRONE : S/CAPE
VETERANS (OVER 55)
1. GLEN BOWLES : EP
2. LEONARD GILES : SCAPE
3. JOHN ELLIOTT : EP
4. HEINIE MEIRING : BOR
PROVINCIAL TEAMS
1. BORDER : 31200
2. CENTRAL KWAZULU-NATAL : 25554
3. WESTERN PROVINCE : 25000
4. SOUTHERN CAPE : 24490
5. EASTERN PROVINCE : 23860
6. BOLAND : 21844
7. SOUTHERN KZN : 20722
www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za
HEATHER CLARKE
Heather Clark Injured in Car Accident
OCTOBER 22, 2009
South African Surfing Champion, 2008 ISA World Masters Women’s Champion, and former World Championship Tour surfer, Heather Clark, is recovering in the hospital today after being seriously injured in a car accident near her home in Port Shepstone.
According to reports an alleged drunk driver lost control of his vehicle and smashed into the car that Heather was driving, splitting it in two. She suffered a serious head injury that required 22 stitches and is being assessed for other injuries at the Hibiscus Coast Hospital today.
The alleged drunk driver, who was uninjured, was arrested after the accident and spent the night in jail. Heather has no medical aid and apart from a small surf and swimming school, is not employed. Her injuries will not only cost her a fortune in medical expenses, but will prevent her from earning an income while she recovers.
Anyone interested in assisting this great South African surfer with her medical costs can do so by going to www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za and reading the story on the website. Bank details are included in the story.
MASTERS TEAM VISIT NAMIBIA
South African Masters Surfing Team Visits Namibia
The 2009 South African Masters Surfing Team has returned home after spending ten fantastic days in Swakopmund, Namibia. During the visit, the team competed in two events against an enthusiastic group of local Namibian surfers.
The SA Masters team included World Champion Marc Wright of Durban, multi capped World Championship finalists David and Andre Malherbe of East London, 1992 World Surfing Games runner up Carl Roux of Umhlanga and new caps Dave Fish and Mike Brent of East London and Gary Van Wieringen of Warner Beach.
The team was coached by 1978 World Champion Ant Brodowicz and was accompanied by Penny and Hannes Stemmet of Somerset West who assisted in the running and adjudication of the events. 2008 World Masters Champion and current South African champion, Heather Clark of Port Shepstone, who was badly injured in a horrific motor car accident two weeks ago, was unable to travel with the team.
While in Namibia the SA Masters Team assisted the Namibian Surfing Association in the coordination and running of events and worked on the development of judges and coaches in the region.
Both South Africa and Namibia are members of the International Surfing Association but while South Africa has attended every ISA sanctioned event since 1992, Namibia’s attendance at an ISA tournament has been limited due to their lack of funds. The last time Namibia competed in an ISA contest was in Durban in 2002.
The objective during this visit by the team that won the title at both the 2007 and 2008 ISA World Masters Championships was to assist and encourage the Namibian Surfing Association to send teams to the ISA World events scheduled for 2010.
