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TOOHEYS EXTRA DRY PRESENTS ODYSSEY 20/20 STATE OPEN SERIES - North West surfers assert dominance on home turf at second state open surfing championships.
Monday, 4 July 2005
Tooheys Extra Dry presents
ODYSSEY 20/20 STATE OPEN SERIES 2005
Supported by West Surfing Products, Hillarys Fast Ferries, Rottnest Island Authority, Scarborough Beach Association
2nd – 3rd JULY Flatrocks Beach Geraldton.
North West surfers assert dominance on home turf at second state open surfing championships.
Warm weather, offshore winds and clean waves of between the 1 to 1.8 metre mark greeted competitors throughout the weekend for the second round of the Odyssey 20/20 State Open Series in Geraldton.
Local surfers proved to be a force to contend with pushing the visiting competitors to breaking point as round after round witnessed surfers from the region advancing to the finals.
Geraldton’s Ben McGay led the charge in the Oydssey 20/20 Open Men’s final clocking up an impressive 8.93 points out of a possible 10 on his first scoring ride. The powerful natural footer intimately knew the break knowing where to push himself and his board at the most critical position on the wave. Racking up the points with a series of well placed and committed manouvres Mc Gay opened the gap enough to win the final ahead of former Geraldton local, now residing in Kalbarri, Kerby Brown. Brown and McGay took it to the final siren, where the judges eventually split the pair by just 1.12 points with Rockinghams Ryan Wordsworth who was surfing impressively in the semi finals needing a 6.47 point scoring ride to sneak into second place and Margaret River’s John Davies requiring a 6.91 scoring ride to do the same.
“It was hard going out there. You had to wait for the ones with walls to score anything above average, everyone was constantly turning around to see what the surfer was doing on the waves they caught. Knowing that Kerby was the man to beat with his local knowledge of the break I knew I had to really keep my eye on him. It’s always great to win at one of your local breaks and I’m pretty damn happy with the win” said Mc Gay.
In the Hillarys Fast Ferries Open Women’s final, local knowledge again proved to be the deciding factor with not one competitor making it to the final from outside the region from the preliminary rounds, it was a case of four finalists from Geraldton battling it out for a win.
Jaimee Wheatley from Geraldton displayed a polished performance in the womens final. Oozing competitive savy from competing around the country in major womens events, Wheatley conquered the final like a season professional. Waiting for the larger and longer waves through experience knowing that the judges would reward her highly for this, Wheatley opened the final with a scoring ride of 7.83 points to take the lead early and keep it to the final siren, defeating fellow Geraldton surfers Leah Wright, Kirra Young and Natasha Parker respectively.
Relative new comer to the State rounds saw Peter Cannon from Margaret River take out the Tooheys Extra Dry award for his efforts in the event. The powerful natural footer posted the highest score during the event and was duly rewarded the wave of the day for his efforts by Tooheys Extra Dry.
While the open mens division is regarded as the blue ribbon division of the event, all eyes were turned towards the lineup for the West Surfing Products Pro Junior Under 21 final.
Like a Wimbledon championship tennis final where spectators heads turn from side to side, spectators heads for the pro junior final were moving up and down as competitors put on a display of flawless top to bottom manouvres much to the delight of the crowd and judges. On edge committed and power driven surfing was being witnessed as world renowned surfer Ry Craike put his fellow competitors through their paces with then doing their best to take up the challenge from Craike. Craike cut his teeth in the junior state rounds at an early age where he progressed onto the world competition scene with good results and is considered by many as a serious WQS contender when he is ready to compete on the circuit. In what can only be described as devastating form, Craike exploded into amazing manouvres during the final which also saw him perform an ariel manouvre on his high scoring 9.07 point ride. It was a case of catch me if you can as the gauntlet was laid for the other competitors to pick up and while Geraldtons Cortney Brown needed a second scoring ride of 9.51 points to oust Craike from first place, he did do his best to keep Craike on his toes, but unfortunately could not knock Craike from his perch and had to settle for second with Craike claiming victory.
“This is where it all started for me right here in the state rounds” said Craike, “I have grown up with most of the competitors in this event and when I’m back home I like to try and catch up with them, but to surf against them again in events like these makes me humble of my beginnings. I’m pretty wrapped with the win and thanks to all the sponsors who support these events and my sponsors” said Craike.
Regarded highly by many as one of Western Australias best surfers with even multiple world championship holder Kelly Slater saying “That he draws inspiration from guys like Ry Craike” the shy and humble Craike now heads off to the USA on a promotional tour with his sponsors.
The second state open championship at Geraldton was hailed a huge success surf wise and the high level of performances displayed with no doubt the next event at Trigg Beach on the 1st to 2nd of October going to be proving to be a nail biter.
FINAL RESULTS
Tooheys Extra Dry presents
ODYSSEY 20/20 STATE OPEN SERIES 2005
Supported by West Surfing Products, Hillarys Fast Ferries, Rottnest Island Authority, Scarborough Beach Association
2nd – 3rd July, Flatrocks Beach Geraldton.
Odyssey 20/20 Open Mens Final
Ben Mc Gay (Geraldton), 2. Kerby Brown (Kalbarri), 3. Ryan Wordsworth (Rockingham), 4. John Davies (Margaret River).
West Surfing Products Pro Junior Final
Ry Craike (Kalbarri), 2. Courtney Brown (Kalbarri), 3. Luke Campbell (Trigg), 4. Drew Wright (Geraldton).
Hillarys Fast Ferries Open Womens Final
Jaimee Wheatley (Geraldton), 2. Leah Wright (Geraldton), 3. Kirra Young (Geraldton), 4. Natasha Parker (Geraldton).
Over 28 Womens Final
Catherine Fletcher(City Beach), 2. Sally Anne Gudge (Rottnest Island), 3. Rebekah Lorimer(City Beach) .
Over 28’s Senior Mens Final
1. Sam Hanson (Yallingup), 2. Damian Lipscombe (Cottesloe), 3. Mick Drmota (Dunborough), 4. Craig Tuesley (Geraldton).
Over 35’s Masters Final
Peter Canon (Margaret River), 2. Damian Lipscombe (Cottesloe), 3. Paul Dupay (Albany), 4. Mick Dramota (Dunsborough).
Over 40’s Masters Final
1. Brent Moss (Safety Bay), 2. Ian Darby (North Beach), 3. Mark Lane (Trigg), 4. John Kildahl (Hillarys).
Over 45’s Masters Final
1. Mick Shaw (Margaret River), 2. Ian Darby (North Beach), 3. Brent Moss (Safety Bay), 4. Mal Caithness (Margaret River).
Over 50’s Legends Final
1. Ian Salmond (Geraldton), 2. Leon Norris (Geraldton), 3. Ross Middleton (Geraldton), 4. Mick Molloy (Geraldton).
Photos Available
Complimentary high resolution images for newspapers are available via official SWA event photographer: Mario Vassallo, marz@srosurf.com ph: 0416 535 193 |
