Top Seed Palmboom Makes Early Exit in Messy Conditions at Oakley Pro Junior

March 22, 2008

The second day of the internationally rated ASP Grade 2 Oakley Pro Junior got underway in messy onshore conditions at New Pier, Durban. Top seed Rudy Palmboom (Bluff) made a shock early exit in the first heat of the day, losing out to current ASP Junior ratings leader Brendon Gibbens (Kommetjie) and Devin Lane (Umhlanga).

The Oakley Pro Junior contest is an integral part of the Vodacom Easter Adrenaline festival powered by the KwaZulu Natal Department of Transport. The festival, which also showcases other extreme sports such as jet skiing and freestyle motocross, has already attracted a crowd in excess of 100,000 people to Durban's beachfront for the Easter weekend's festivities.

"Oakley is really proud to be associated with an event of this caliber. Oakley is a premium high performance brand that's why we have aligned ourselves with a premium high performance surfing event like this. We would like to thank the city of Durban, the surfers and the spectators for contributing to the overall success of the inaugural Oakley Pro Junior," commented Steve Adshade, Director of Oakley Africa.

Standout surfers on the second day (Saturday) were Matt Bromley (Kommetjie) and Casey Grant (Scottburgh), who annihilated their opposition in the round of 24 and progressed with ease to the round of 16. Bromley posted the highest heat score of the day, achieving 16 out of a possible 20 points. Brothers Kyle and Devin Lane (Umhlanga) cemented places in the next round with solid performances, while Reunion's Medi Veminardi surfed consistently well to prolong his involvement in the contest.

In the second heat of the Red Bull Air Show Expression Session, the conditions responded well to the rising tide, providing some clean waves from which contestants could launch their most radical manoeuvres. Casey Grant continued his strong run in this competition, with his strategy of quality over quantity paying dividends. Chris Leppan (Umhlanga) and Jacob Mellish (Cape Town) also impressed the judges with solid aerial manoeuvres, and boosted their way into Sunday's final.

Scottburgh's Casey Grant, who enters the final day of competition as one of the favourites, sounded a warning to the other contestants by saying he "is saving the best for last". With better conditions expected for the final day tomorrow, Grant isn't surfing to any specific strategy, but rather aims "to get some early waves to put the pressure on the other guys". Grant mentions Nic Godfrey (Cape St Francis), and Oakley riders Shaun Joubert (Mossel Bay) and Chad du Toit (Durban) as his biggest threats.

Colin Fitch, Event Contest Director and ASP Operations Manager, is pleased with the event which "is running very well". With the afternoon heats called off due to less than satisfactory weather, the balance of the heats and the quarters, semi's and finals need to be completed on the third and final day. Fitch, who has been in charge of countless contests, made the call to delay proceedings until the third day based on weather and swell reports from multiple sources. With "cleaner offshore conditions" expected tomorrow, Fitch's decision is likely to result in the business end of the Oakley Pro Junior occurring in conditions more conducive to the high quality of surfing we have come to expect from this talented group of young surfers.