SOUTH Africa’s Greg Emslie, 22, defeated Australian Luke Hitchings in classic one to two metre perfection in round two of the R750000) Quiksilver Pro at Cloudbreak, Tavarua Island, Fiji earlier today, breaking a spell of three 33rd place finishes in a row. The Quiksilver Pro, event six on the G-SHOCK Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour is an all important grade one World Championship Tour (WCT) event for rookies like Emslie who need re-qualifying results as the tour approaches the halfway mark. Emslie said he is “stoked” at the result. Emslie will have to raise his standards to face Australian Taj Burrow in round three.
On the local scene SA’s top juniors will battle for Billabong glory at Surf City Durban in the sixth event on the 1999 Billabong Africa Junior Series this weekend. The New Pier venue will host the country’s best u20 surfers contesting for a spot in the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Billabong Junior International Pro-Am at Supertubes Jeffrey’s Bay from 31 July 1 August.