Saffas Shine

The two posted dazzling performances on opposite sides of the International Date Line over the last 24 hours as Bianca Buitendag surged into the quarters after recording the highest score for a single ride on the opening day, while Dylan Lightfoot progressed to Round 4 of the Hainan Classic in China, which should complete today.

In the season-ending event on the 2014 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour (WCT), Buitendag started slowly took in Heat 6 of Round 1. The 21 year-old from George rapidly built momentum in the excellent 1 to 1.5 metre surf and belted a near-perfect 9.80 out of 10 points for a series of vertical backhand blasts on her final ride.

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Buitendag, No. 7 on the ASP Women’s WCT rankings coming into the event, won her heat and advanced directly to Round 3 with Stephanie Gilmore, Sally Fitzgibbons and Tyler Wright, the three Australians in contention for the 2014 world title. She took 2nd in Rd 3 behind Gilmore, and in Rd 4, she dispatched Dimity Stoyle (AUS) to move into the business end of the event.

The Target Maui Pro runs until December 6 but may finish today. Watch live at www.aspworldtour.com (from approximately 7.30 pm SA Time).

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Lightfoot destroyed the tiny waves at Riyue Bay on Hainan Island in China. Seeded into Round 2 of the 4 Star rated ASP Qualification Series event, the Jeffreys Bay resident narrowly avoided the ignominy of being eliminated by 15 year-old Leilani McGonagle (CRI), the only girl in the event. Awarded 4.53 points for his last scoring ride, Lightfoot clinched second place just three-hundredths of a point ahead of McGonagle.

Lightfoot made better use of the miniscule knee to waist high waves on offer in Round 3, employing both his backhand and forehand attack to secure a solid heat win and moving to within one heat of a Quarterfinal berth.

“That was hard work out there,” Lightfoot said. “That’s what it takes to be a professional surfer, you sometimes get to surf perfect waves, but you also have to be on point in small surf. I’m happy that I’m still in the event and I’m hoping we get some fun surf later in the week.”

Lightfoot is the last remaining South African in the event and will take on Miguel Tudela (PER) and Australians Harrison Mann and Kai Hing in the next heat when competition resumes. The top two finishers there will advance to the Quarterfinals, where the event format changes from four man heats to man-on-man competition until a winner is crowned.

SA’s Michael February (Kommetjie) was eliminated in Round 3, placing third in the heat before Lightfoot’s, and finished equal 17th overall with earnings of US $1 250 (approx. R13 750) and 237 rankings points. Both David Brand (Kommetjie) and Casey Grant (Scottburgh) were ousted in Round 2.

The Hainan Classic runs until 28 November and can be followed live at http://hainaninternationalsurfingfestival.com/hainan-classic/live/ starting at approximately 2am (SA Time) daily.

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Back in Hawaii, Tuesday also saw the Vans World Cup of Surfing – stage two of the Vans Triple Crown series and the penultimate Prime rated event for 2014 – commence at Sunset Beach on the North Shore of Oahu in stormy 10 to 15 foot (3 to 5 metre) surf.

The 16 heats in Round 1 were completed with Hawaiians dominating the results in the difficult conditions. Beyrick de Vries (Umhlanga) will be the first South African to compete in the event when he faces defending champion Ezekiel Lau (HAW), Stu Kennedy (AUS) and Chris Ward (USA) in Heat 4 of Round 2.

De Vries famously scored a perfect 10 point ride in the corresponding event at Sunset Beach last year after pulling into and exiting cleanly from what many knowledgeable commentators are calling the biggest tube ride seen in a contest at the venue in nearly 50 years (since the late 1960’s!).

ASP World No. 7 Jordy Smith and fellow ASP WCT campaigner Travis Logie are scheduled to start their campaigns in Round 3. Logie will be competing in the event for the last time after announcing his retirement from professional surfing following next month’s Billabong Pipeline Masters. Logie was crowned the ISA World Champion in 2002 and has spent the last 10 years competing at the highest levels of the sport.

The Vans World Cup of Surfing has a waiting period that runs until 6 December and can followed live at www.aspworldtour.com starting at approximately 7.30pm (SA Time) on each day of action.