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Royden Bryson third in Canary Islands: Moves into WQS top 10 |
| Royden Bryson third in Canary Islands: Moves into WQS top 10 Jordy Smith extends WQS ratings lead with fifth place Royden Bryson earned himself an early birthday present by overcoming the messy wind affected one metre waves and a top class international field to reach the semifinals of the R875 000 La Santa Pro on Lanzarote in the Canary Islands on Sunday. The East Londoner, who celebrates his 25th birthday this Saturday, placed third overall, earning 2 250 ratings points that rocketed him from 24th to 10th on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) ratings and is now virtually assured of qualifying for a second successive season on the Foster’s ASP World Tour, the elite level series of events that determine the annual world surfing champion. “I’m stoked with this result – I came here to get rid of an 800 point result and I’ve done it the right way” said Bryson. “This gets me back into re-qualifying for next year and gives me confidence before the Brazilian stop of the Foster’s ASP World Tour next week.” Bryson, who qualified for his rookie year on the ‘Dream Tour’ by ending 2006 rated No. 4 on the WQS, may not need his WQS rating as he still has an excellent chance of re-qualifying via his World Tour ranking. With two elite level tour events to go he is rated 25th, inside the 27 who automatically re-qualify for another season at the highest level of competitive surfing. And that rating is made of only seven results after he missed the Tahiti leg due to visa problems. All his opponents already have their full complement of eight results and will only improve their ranking by the difference between what they score in the last two events and the worst result they are counting, while Bryson will include all the points he earns in Brazil. Even an equal 33rd place result there will move him up into the top 20 on the rankings going into the final event at Pipeline in Hawaii in December. Jordy Smith continued his dominance of the WQS ratings, following his third WQS event victory of the year in Santa Cruz, California, the previous weekend by reaching the quarterfinals at Lanzarote despite having his surfboards stolen. “I’m pretty bummed my boards got stolen the other day and I had to surf with this old one,” said Smith after losing to eventual event champion Patrick Beven (France). “That’s not an excuse though … I didn’t get any of the better waves out there and my main focus is now on Hawaii. Becoming the WQS champion is my goal and I love big waves!” The 19 year-old Durbanite’s 1 950 ratings point haul in the Canaries increased his already substantial lead over second placed Dane Reynolds (USA) to 2 199 points and Smith could claim the 2007 WQS title by the biggest margin since the two-tier world tour format was introduced in 1992. The balance of the dozen South African campaigners on the WQS enjoyed mixed results with Damien Fahrenfort (Cape Town) reaching the last 24 and improved his ranking to 54th while David Weare (Durban) lost ground in his efforts to qualify for a repeat of his 2006 season on the Dream Tour. Weare was eliminated in the Round of 48 and slipped from 19th to 24th on WQS ratings and now needs to reach the semifinals or better in the 6 Star rated event Brazil this week or in one of the two 6 Star Prime rated events in Hawaii in November to break into the top 15. Rookie WQS campaigners Josh Redman (Umdloti), Dylan Stone (PE), Keegan Nel (EL) and Brandon Jackson (Durban) all earned themselves a pay day by reaching the last 96 while Shaun Payne (St Francis Bay), Dave Richards (Cape Town) and Clinton Gravett (EL) were casualties in the Round of 144. Maresia Surf International, Brazil None of the four SA surfers in Brazil progressed beyond the last 48 in the 6 Star rated Maresia Surf International at Itajai, which was won by Adriano de Souza (BRA) who beat Corey Ziems (AUS) in the final. Durbanites Warwick Wright and Antonio Bortoletto were sidelined in the Round of 96 while Daniel Redman (Umdloti) and Ricky Basnett (Bluff) progressed to the Round of 48 before being ousted. Onbongo Pro Surfing, Brazil Bryson and Weare will join the four South Africans already in Brazil for the 6 Star rated Onbongo Pro Surfing event at Ubatuba (near Sao Paulo) this week while the balance of the country’s WQS foot soldiers head for Hawaii. Bryson and Basnett will then be joined by Greg Emslie (EL) and hopefully Travis Logie, if his knee injury has recovered sufficiently, in the penultimate Foster’s ASP World Tour event of the year, the Nova Schin Pro Brazil, in Santa Catarina from 30 October to 7 November. Mick Fanning can clinch his first world title, and the first by an Australian since Mark Occhilupo in 1999, by winning in Brazil or by finishing ahead of his nearest rivals Taj Burrow (AUS) and Kelly Slater (USA) RESULTS La Santa Pro, Lanzarote, Canary Islands Final Patrick Beven (FRA) def. Shaun Cansdell (AUS) Semifinals SF1: Cansdell def. Royden Bryson (ZAF) SF2: Beven def. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) Quarterfinals QF1: Cansdell def. Justin Mujica (POR) QF2: Bryson def. Clancy Dawson (AUS) QF3: Dornelles def. Mikael Picon (FRA) QF4: Beven def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) ASP World Qualifying Series (After Maresia Surfing International, event #41 of 47) 1 Smith,Jordy ZAF 14425 2 Reynolds,Dane USA 12276 3 Pires,Tiago PRT 12100 4 Bourgeois,Ben USA 12038 5 Dornelles,Rodrigo BRA 11994 6 Thompson,Jay AUS 11775 7 Khodr,Jihad BRA 11200 8 Hobgood,C.J. USA 11175 9 Picon,Mikael FRA 11106 10 Bryson,Royden ZAF 10950 South Africans 25 Weare,David ZAF 9732 49 Emslie,Greg ZAF 7869 54 Fahrenfort,Damien ZAF 7414 87 Bortoletto,Antonio ZAF 5988 93 Wright,Warwick ZAF 5752 96 Roberts,Gavin ZAF 5669 112 Redman,Daniel ZAF 5138 150 Basnett,Ricky ZAF 4102 179 Stone,Dylan ZAF 3326 193 Palmboom,Rudy (jnr) ZAF 3092 195 Nel,Keegan ZAF 3038 209 Richards,David ZAF 2875 210 Gravett,Clinton ZAF 2869 229 Redman,Josh ZAF 2626 230 Payne,Shaun ZAF 2607 /ends Issued on behalf of: ASP Africa Contact: Colin Fitch – Operations Manager Tel: 021 534 5738 Email: aspafrica@mweb.co.za Compiled & Issued by: Life's a Beach Communications PO Box 48272, Kommetjie 7976, South Africa Tel: +27 (0) 21 783 4965 Fax: +27 (0) 86 684 6250 Mobile: +27 (0) 82 423 1964 Email: lifesabeach@mweb.co.za About ASP: The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) is the governing body of professional surfing. Crowning surfing’s undisputed world champions since 1976, the ASP sanctions the following tours: the Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour, the ASP Women’s World Tour, the World Qualifying Series (WQS) and the World Longboarding, Junior and Masters Championships. The ASP is dedicated to showcasing the world's best surfing talent in a variety of progressive formats and has revolutionized the way the world watches surfing via their webcasts. The organization is divided into seven different regions: Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, North America, and South America. These regions manage all their respective domestic affairs under the guidance of ASP International, which is located on the Gold Coast of Australia. |
| Date: 22 Oct 07 |