Ice Periera-Ryan : photo Steve Robertson/Surfing Australia
Rip Curl GromSearch
Presented by Snickers
Gold Coast Australia
11 - 15 December 2006
Gold Coast Surfers Dominate day 2 of the Rip Curl GromSearch at Duranbah
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 12 December, 2006 : - - Everyone knows there’s no shortage of surfers on the Gold Coast and today the younger brigade of Gold Coast surfers showed us there’s plenty of talent coming through the younger ranks, all keen to emulate their more famous Gold Coast elders like Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore!
Coolangatta surfer James Woods opened day two in good 1m waves at Duranbah with an easy win over Pt Lookout Queensland surfer Darcy Phillips. Woods is the number one seed at this event following his good recent form and his win today was strong enough to suggest he’ll be very hard to beat in the blue ribbon 16 and under Boys division.
His main rivals are likely to be fellow Gold Coast surfers Kane Powell (Palm Beach), Matt Neilsen (Mermaid Beach), Keiren Lloyd (Kingscliff) and Matt Riddle (Coolangatta) who all posted very convincing round two heat wins. But his main rival could be yet another relatively unknown Gold Coast competitive surfer who shone through at today’s event, Ice Periera – Ryan from Mermaid Beach.
Periera – Ryan brought his best form to Duranbah today which is not surprising as it was also his 15th birthday and the stylish powerful natural foot surfer scored an outstanding 9.27 which was awarded the SNICKERS® Wave of the Day award. His final heat tally of 18.14 out of a possible 20 was also the events highest heat score of the day.
“I had a great time out there, found the right waves and had a lot of fun. The bank against the wall is so good at the moment that we can score really big and the next few days should be fantastic for all of us – Surfing against the best guys from all over Australia in your age group really pushes your surfing!”
Interstate surfers were also in good form today, best performances from the talent rich region of northern NSW where Lennox Head’s Niki Hoskin and Crescent Head’s Jackson O’Donnell both stood out in their 14 and under Boys win.
Sunshine Coast surfers continued their good form, yesterdays standout winner Ash Tutton (Caloundra) proved his big win yesterday was no fluke by progressing through round two and Maroochydore surfers Dimity Stoyle (Girls 16 and under) and Ben Milgate (16 and under Boys) both posted big round two heat wins and Sunshine beach surfers Jackson (14 Boys) and Kelly Winter (16 Girls) also both won their round two heats.
With a southerly wind change forecast tonight, organizers are optimistic for outstanding waves at Duranbah tomorrow. The 16 and under Boy and Girl winners here will go onto the National GromSearch Final at Bells Beach next Autumn and from there, winners go to the International GromSearch Final which runs as a specialty event at Bells Beach during the World Championship event at Easter!
Today’s SNICKERS® wave of the day award went to Ice Periera-Ryan from Mermaid Beach!
Previous reports:
# 1 : Oz's best head to Gold Coast for Rip Curl GromSearch
# 2 : Fitzgibbons keeps rolling at the Gold Coast GromSearch
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon
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Steve Robertson
Groms - Surfersvillage
