| Greg Emslie is the 2010 South African Surfing champion |
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| Written by Editor at SurferToday.com |
| Friday, 04 June 2010 13:48 |
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The 2010 Border surf team brought glory to East London when they wiped out the opposition on the final day of the 2010 SA Surfing Championships to take the coveted Presidents Cup as well as the other two team trophies on offer. Central KZN, the 2009 President’s Cup winners, were second overall some 1,500 points behind Border. Hosts Southern KZN came third ahead of Eastern Province, Western Province, Zululand, Boland and Southern Cape. In the SA Cup, Central KZN finished as runners up with Southern KZN third. Then came Western Province, Eastern Province, Boland, Zululand and Southern Cape. Southern KZN pipped Central KZN by one point to end as runners up in the Masters Cup while Eastern Province came fourth followed by Zululand, Western Province, Southern Cape and Boland. In addition to Border’s team success, former World Tour surfer Greg Emslie added a second Men’s title to his trophy cabinet and was awarded his national team blazer as the first member of the SA Team that will compete in the ISA World Surfing Games in Peru later this year. This year’s premier Surfing South Africa tournament was a major triumph for the team from Border. Not only did they win the coveted Presidents Cup, which is awarded to the team with the highest total scores, but they successfully defended the Masters Cup which they won in Mossel Bay last year and added the inaugural Surfing SA Cup to their tally. This is only the third time in 45 years that Border have won the Presidents Cup but it is the fourth year in a row that they have won the SA Masters Cup. The Masters Cup is awarded to the team with the highest scores in the Over 30 to Over 55 age groups while the SA Cup goes to the team with the highest scores in the Open Men and Open Women’s divisions. Emslie was not the only Border surfer to claim gold for the East London surfing team. Brothers Andre and David Malherbe won the Over 40 and Over 45 Divisions respectively while plucky Alice McGregor was awarded the Surfer of the Contest Trophy. Mc Gregor competed in the final with a broken thumb and finished second behind defending champion Heather Clark of Southern KZN. Other Border surfers who made a fine showing were former SA Champions Devyn Mattheys and Gareth Sepp who were second to Emslie and Andre Malherbe respectively. Clark, the 2008 and 2009 SA Champion and current World Champion in the Women’s Masters division achieved her win despite suffering serious injury in a horrific car accident in October last year. She was won two Southern KZN champions in 2009 when Gavin Roberts won the Men’s title. Ironically this year she and Ben Roberts, the Over 30 Division winner , won gold for the host province. Emslie’s win gave him an automatic spot in the SA Team while the Men’s and Women’s finalists will all be automatically included in the SA Team selection process. The SA Masters selectors will use the results in the Over 35, Over 40, Over 45 and Over 50 age groups to select trialists for the SA Masters Team that will compete in the ISA World Masters Championships in Panama in early September. South Africa are the defending two time World Masters Champions. Others to win titles at St Mikes this year were legendary five time SA Men’s champion, World Over 50 champion and multiple national champion in other divisions, Chris Knutsen of Central KZN, Victoria Bay icon Leonard Giles (S/Cape) who took gold in the Over 55 age group and 2001 SA Champion Shane Thorne of Central KZN, who won the Over 35 division. Worthy of a special mention are two surfers who represented South Africa in the World Junior Championships in January. SA Junior Team captain Beyrick de Vries, a finalist in New Zealand, came third behind Emslie and Mattheys in his first SA Championships in the Open Division while fellow SA Junior team member Tanika Hoffman posted a third in the Women’s final. Over 150 surfers competed in eight divisions represented eight provincial teams at the 2010 SA Surfing Championships. The 45th edition of the SA Surfing Championships was hosted by Southern KZN Surfing Association and run by Surfing South Africa. Surfing South Africa is the recognized as the governing body for surfing in South Africa by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) and is a member of the International Surfing Association (ISA). GREG EMSLIE, 2010 SA MENS CHAMPION, AND FELLOW FINALISTS RESULTS OF THE 2010 SOUTH AFRICAN SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS OPEN MEN OPEN WOMEN SENIORS (OVER 30) 1. BEN ROBERTS (SKZN) MASTERS (OVER 35) 1. SHANE THORNE (CKZN) GRANDMASTERS (OVER 40) 1. ANDRE MALHERBE (BORDER) KAHUNAS (OVER 45) 1. DAVID MALHERBE ( BORDER) GRANDKAHUNAS (OVER 50) 1. CHRIS KNUTSEN (CKZN) VETERANS (OVER 55) 1. LEONARD GILES (SCAPE ) SURFER OF THE CONTEST SA CUP (OPEN DIVISIONS) 1. BORDER : 13390 3. SOUTHERN KZN : 10360 MASTERS CUP (O30 -055) 1. BORDER : 13106 PRESIDENTS CUP
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