rip curl cronulla 2009

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Tomorrow’s stars shine bright at the Rip Curl GromSearch Series presented by SNICKERS

(Cronulla, NSW – Saturday, 17 January 2009): The Rip Curl GromSearch Series presented by SNICKERS got underway today with the best juniors in Australia blazing away at Cronulla.

In fun one-metre conditions the scores soared in front of a sizeable crowd at the famed Sydney beach, as the 16 years and under boys put on a show.

With the hottest surfing talent in the country on show, the action was of the highest order as some of the hottest surfing commodities in the country displayed their wares.

Ryan Callinan (Merewether, NSW) was one such performer, dropping both the highest single wave and heat score of the event thus far – with a 9.83 (out of a possible 10) and a 17.33 (out of a possible 20) respectively.

“I felt good out there this morning, despite the tricky conditions,” Callinan said.

“I was lucky enough to get two good waves and that helped me out,” he added.

Joining Callinan in the quarterfinals is Matt Banting (Port Macquarie, NSW) who also scored big on day one.

Banting, who has been hailed, as the ‘next big thing’ in the sport, was a late entrant into the event claiming a reserve position – and made the most of his fortunate entry.

Max Weston (Avalon, NSW), Will Coy (Crescent Head, NSW) Beau Foster (Norah Head, NSW) and the event’s number one seed, Mitchell James (Kingscliff, NSW), were in fine form also – cementing their place in the quarterfinal stages.

Having already travelled to six locations across Australia, the prestigious Rip Curl GromSearch Series will be decided, over the next four days, with the race for the ratings lead extremely tight – with all divisions still up for grabs.

As the grommets battle it out for a place in the National Final to be held at Bells Beach during the prestigious ASP World Tour event - the Rip Curl Pro - there will also be plenty of fun and frivolity taking place at Cronulla.

For more information be sure to log onto www.ripcurl.com

The Rip Curl GromSearch series is proudly presented by SNICKERS in association with Waves Magazine, Fuel TV, Surfing Australia and Surfing NSW.

Rip Curl GromSearch Series presented by SNICKERS continues to rise
(Cronulla, NSW – Sunday, 18 January 2009): Big crowds, big scores and excellent surfing saw the Rip Curl GromSearch presented by SNICKERS taken to another today at Cronulla.

With postcard-esque conditions illuminating the second day of competition, the premier junior surfers in Australia came to the party.

Emily Clapoudis (Port Macquarie, NSW) was on fire in the first heat of the morning -sizzling as the temperatures soared.

“The conditions were so fun out there this morning,” she said.

“I just tried to have as much fun as possible and enjoy my surfing.”

Japanese surfer Nao Oomura was in sensational form today, highlighting the international flavour of the event and the rise of the Asian surfing countries.

Battling the best grommets in the land, Oomura held her own - progressing her way to the quarterfinals.

Elllie-Jean Coffey (Narrabeen, NSW) continued to impress again with another dominant performance in the 16 years and under division.

Accruing the highest heat score of the female half of the draw, with a 17.00 (out of a possible 20), Coffey looked in sparkling form as she easily progressed through to the quarterfinals.

Also in fine form was Cody Klein (Kingscliff, NSW) who also shone brightly amongst some of the best junior female surfers in the country.

Klein dominated her early morning heat from the get-go, racking up a huge combined heat total of 15.57(out of a possible 20).

As the grommets battle it out for a place in the National Final to be held at Bells Beach during the prestigious ASP World Tour event - the Rip Curl Pro - there will also be plenty of fun and frivolity taking place at Cronulla.

“Everyone loves doing these competitions because you get to surf against tough competitions and have a lot of fun,” Clapoudis continued.

“I really want to do well in this event so that I can qualify for the National Final in Bells, ” she added as she looks to the future.

Each day there’ll be a SNICKERS wave of the day awarded to one surfer who performs outstandingly on a single wave and the SNICKERS expression sessions will again feature, encouraging progressive moves from Australia’s hottest young talents.

In the boys division local lad Connor O’Leary (Cronulla, NSW) used all of his local nous and surfing excellence to blow the competition away.

Securing a birth in the semi-finals of the 16 years and under division, O’Leary was smoking on his backhand en-route to a 15.83 (out of a possible 20).

The Rip Curl GromSearch presented by SNICKERS from 17 – 21 January 2009.