Christie Through Early Rounds To Meet Top Seeds

Comment Share Posted on Friday February 26th 2010 at 5:20 p.m. Tweet

Gisborne surfer Richard Christie was one of several highly regarded surfers to progress through some tight situations on day one of the Rip Curl Pro being held at Manu Bay, Raglan this weekend 26-28 February.

The perfect 2.0m swell predicted for the weekend eventuated overnight Thursday. The swell was accompanied by southwest winds throughout the day today (Friday) making conditions fun with clean faces but with crumbly lips.

The Rip Curl Pro is the third of five events on the Export Gold Series for 2009/10 offering up $12,000 in prize money as well as a raft of other prizes including return flights to Bali and entry in the Rip Curl Padang Cup.

Christie returned to New Zealand this week after having been based on the Gold Coast training and competing in his first event of the year on the Assoication of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) held at Burleigh Heads last week.

Christie posted 15.25 points out of a possible 20 in his third round heat to steel a win over Bachelor Tipene (Tara), Dean Hishon (Rag) and Tane Wallis (Piha). His heat total, one of the highest of the day comprised 8.0 and 7.25 point rides.

"Yeah I am starting to find my feet, I always have trouble out there but lucky I got a couple of waves in that last heat that I didn't fall off on" commented Christie.

Christie now faces the event number two seed Chris Malone (Rag), Ryan Hawker (Piha) and Tim Thompson (Auck) from which he will hope to advance and get a good result before heading back to Australia.

"I am just back from Australia for my sponsors event and then I head back over there and get ready for the next QS which is in Merewether. I couldn't miss this event though....to win here this weekend and receive an invitation into the Rip Curl Padang Cup would be crazy" said Christie of his short stay back in New Zealand and the major prize on offer.

Two of the highest scoring surfers of the day were locals Mike Banks and Luke Cederman.

Banks was impressive in the third round posting 16.25 as the highest heat score of the day. Cederman who contested several early rounds was also impressive scoring 15.50.

"There were some quite nice little waves out there then" said Banks of the conditions at the break he learnt to surf at from a young age. "I had fun and took down AJ (Matthews) Kezza (Van Der Helder) and (Johnny) Hicks - they were all surfing real good too so I am pretty happy" added Banks.

Banks hasn't surfed on the Export Gold Series all summer but with the Rip Curl Pro in his backyard it was not surprising to see him in the draw. "I couldn't help myself" said Banks. "I had to give all the top guys a go at Manu Bay and beat some of the best in New Zealand" he said.

Other surfers to progress through to the third round included Nick White (Mnt), Morehu Roberts (Gis), Zennor Wernham (Rag) and Alex Dive (Mnt).

Day two (Saturday 27th February) will see another full day of surfing take place. The swell is expected to ease overnight and a decision in regards to the order of events will be made at 7.00am. The top seeds in the Open Men's Division are expected to enter the water on either Saturday or Sunday.

Please see below for results from day one of the Rip Curl Pro held at Manu Bay, Raglan.

Open Men's Round of 72
Heat 1
Matt Groube (Cor), 1, Nathan Banks (Rag), 2, Nick Hardie (Rag), 3, Patxi Scott Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 4
Heat 2
Dave Crofoot (Wairapa), 1, Matt Bennett (Arataki), 2, Tully Farrell (Mnt), 3, Marc Seguy (Rag), 4
Heat 3
Felix Dickson (Dun), 1, Morehu Roberts (Gis), 2, Henare Mckinlay (Arataki), 3, Mark Pathermore (Tara), 4
Heat 4
Reuben Noble (Rag), 1, Chris O'Leary (Gis), 2, Elliot Paerata Reid (Gis), 3, Ethan Burge (Wgtn), 4

Open Men's Round of 64
Heat 1
JC Susan (Mnt), 1, Todd Doyle (Mnt), 2, Nathan Welch (Gis), 3, Matt Groube (Cor), 4
Heat 2
Brent Rasby (Gis), 1, Charlie Denniston (Wairarapa), 2, Nathan Banks (Rag), 3, John Lovell (Ohakura), 4
Heat 3
Ben Poulter (Rag), 1, Luke Cederman (Rag), 2, Geoff Hutchison (Rag), 3, Dave Crofoot (Wairapa), 4
Heat 4
Matt Hishon (Rag), 1, Matt Bennett (Arataki), 2, Travis McCoy (Mnt), 3, Jeremy Grainger (Tara), 4
Heat 5
Bachelor Tipene (Tara), 1, Felix Dickson (Dun), 2, Larry Fisher (Rag), 3, Dune Kennings (Whmata), 4
Heat 6
Morehu Roberts (Gis), 1, Richard Christie (Mahia), 2, Nat Hughes (Rag), 3, Geordi Dearns (Dun), 4
Heat 7
Reuben Noble (Rag), 1, Mike Banks (Rag), 2, Gavin Linnow (Mnt), 3, Joe Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 4
Heat 8
Kierin Van Der Helder (Rag), 1, Jacob Kohn (Gis), 9.4, 2, Ben Bennett (Dun), 3, Chris O'Leary (Gis), 4

Open Men's Round of 48
Heat 1
Dane Simpson (Gis), 1, JC Susan (Mnt), 2, Tyler Anderson (Tara), 3, Charlie Denniston (Wairarapa), 4
Heat 2
Todd Doyle (Mnt), 1, Braedon Williams (Whmata), 2, Adam Cranston (Gis), 4, Brent Rasby (Gis), 3
Heat 3
Che Whitaker (Gis), 1, Matt Bennett (Arataki), 2, Ben Poulter (Rag), 3, Zen Wallis (Piha), 4
Heat 4
Luke Cederman (Rag), 1, Nick White (Mnt), 2, Blake Myers (Whmata), 3, Matt Hishon (Rag), 4
Heat 5
Richard Christie (Mahia), 1, Bachelor Tipene (Tara), 2, Deane Hishon (Rag), 3, Tane Wallis (Piha), 4
Heat 6
Morehu Roberts (Gis), 1, Tim Thompson (Auck), 2, Scott Bell (Auck), 3, Felix Dickson (Dun), 4
Heat 7
Zennor Wernham (Rag), 1, Alex Dive (Mnt), 2, Reuben Noble (Rag), 3, Jacob Kohn (Gis), 4
Heat 8
Mike Banks (Rag), 1, Johnny Hicks (Gis), 2, AJ Matthews (Whmata), 3, Kierin Van Der Helder (Rag), 4

2010 will marks the tenth anniversary for the Rip Curl Pro held at Raglan's famous Manu Bay. The event is being run over three days this weekend from the 26th - 28th of February and features the best surfers New Zealand has to offer.

To mark the milestone, this year's winner of the Open Men's Division will receive return flights to Bali, an entry to compete in the Rip Curl Padang Cup Invitational event and the $3,000 NZD cash prize!

The Rip Curl Pro will also play host to the National GromSearch Final. The final will be contested by eight of New Zealand's top Under 16 surfers from around the country. Each of the finalists qualified for the final by placing first or second at one of the 2009 GromSearch events. The winners of the National GromSearch will each receive an all expense paid trip to compete at the International GromSearch Final held as part of this year's World Championship Tour event the Rip Curl Pro at Bell's Beach, Australia in April.

The Kiwi Surf Boost for Cash Airshow is back for 2010 rewarding one lucky free surfer with a cheque for $500.

The Rip Curl Pro is a six star rated event on the Export Gold Series with $12,000 in prize money on offer.

Additional Information
For more information on the Rip Curl Pro please contact Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.

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