Christie Cruises Through Preliminary Rounds

Comment Share Posted on Thursday April 1st 2010 at 6:31 p.m. Tweet

Richard Christie (Gis) turned heads on day one of the Hyundai National Surfing Championships today (Thursday 1st March) with three dominant displays that saw him move through to the quarterfinals of the Open Men’s Division.

Day one took place at Creeks, Makorori Beach with clean 1.0m waves for much of the day before the sea breeze filled in during the afternoon.

Christie, fresh back from Tasmania where he secured a personal best result of fifth on the World Qualifying Series, seemed unstoppable in his day-one appearances. In his final heat of the day he posted 14.50 out of a possible 20 - the highest heat score of the day.

"It is pretty fun out there, I entered the event late by mistake but at least I got to surf three times today and warm up in the conditions" commented Christie.

Christie's fifth placing last week is widely regarded as the best result by a Kiwi male since Maz Quinn was on the tour in 2002 and it is something that Christie himself was more than happy with. "I was stoked to finally make a WQS heat and then to place fifth at the event was awesome, I am stoked with the result" said Christie adding "It has defiantly given me a lot of confidence in my ability and hopefully I can come away with a little this weekend".

Christie already has one title to his name winning the event back in 2007 at the age of 16 - the youngest surfer to ever do so in a performance that he even described as "a shock".

Should Christie go on to claim his second title this weekend he will certainly not be resting on the victory with his immediate itinerary seeing him jet off to Scotland on Thursday next week followed by events in France and then Trestles in the USA and that is just in the next six weeks.

Christie will now face Luke Hughes (Rag) Nick White (Mnt) and Ryan Hawker (Piha) in the quarterfinals.

Hawker claimed the first heat of the third round after having to forgo some of his classes at University today to make it down in time for his heat. The Piha surfer, while not spectacular in his performance posting a 9.65 heat total, moved through to the quarterfinals for only the second time this season.

"Yeah, so far this year I have only made it to one quarterfinal all season so I am level with my best result I guess"

Said Hawker who has been concentrating his efforts on study at Auckland University. Despite the change in direction, Hawker has been in preparation mode for this event hitting the gym every morning and getting waves in where he can.

"I am not too worried about my result here, I just want to make sure I have fun in my heats and hopefully the good scores will come" said Hawker.

The current Export Gold Series ratings leader Chris Malone was bundled out of his first heat in the event losing to Bobby Hansen (Gis) and Nick White. The poor result for the ex New Zealand champion will see him relinquish his ratings lead.

It could be Maz Quinn (Gis) who takes the lead going into the final event of the year. Quinn currently sits in second place on the ratings and today he was ferocious in his performance late in the day posting a 12.25 heat total with some of the most powerful manoeuvres of the day.

Other heat winners in round three included Morehu Roberts (Gis), Ben Kennings (WGM), Alex Dive (Mnt) and Billy Stairmand (Rag).

The Hyundai National Championships is the fourth of five events on the 2009/10 Export Gold Series with the final event, the Export Gold Super 16 taking place at Piha on the 23-24 April.

Day two will see two arenas utilised with the women's and junior divisions filling the majority of the day. The Open Men's Division will also be on stand by should the conditions be suitable for the quarterfinals to be contested.

Saturday will see the senior divisions get under way - the elder statesmen of the sport. The senior divisions range from Over 28 through to Over 55 Men's in five year increments with six national titles up for grabs for the best senior surfers in New Zealand.

Please see below for the results from day one (Thursday 1st April) of the Hyundai National Surfing championships - event four of the Export Gold Series.

For a full run down of the series so far visit surf.co.nz/exportgold/

Open Men's Round 1
Heat 1
Mark Dovey (Mnt), 1, Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 2, Sid West (Gt Barrier), 3
Heat 2
Richard Christie (Gis), 1, Jeremy Evans (HBay), 2, Jay Paddock (Gis), 3, Adam Grimson (Gis), 4
Heat 3
Nathan Welch (Gis), 1, Ben Bennett (Dun), 2, Tyler Lawson (H-Bay), 3, Tom Bracegirdle (Dun), 4
Heat 4
Morehu Roberts (Gis), 1, Andrew Robinson, 2, Ryan Bridges (Gis), 3, Josh Colbert (Gis), 4
Heat 5
Clint Daly, 1, Jonas Te Aho (Gis), 2, Jacob Kohn (Gis), 3, Steve Colbert (Gis), 4
Heat 6
JC Susan (Mnt), 1, Mike Banks (Rag), 2, Steve Morpeth (Auck), 3, Gavin Linnow (Mnt), 4
Heat 7
Brent Rasby (Gis), 1, Bronson Primmer (H-Bay), 2, Motu Mataa (Tara), 3, Adam Cranston, 4
Heat 8
Ben Poulter (Rag), 1, James Fowell (Gis), 2, Simon Thomas (Gis), 3, Geordi Dearns (Dun), 4

Open Men's Round 2
Heat 1
Johnny Hicks (Gis), 1, Mark Dovey (Mnt), 2, Jeremy Evans (HBay), 3, Deane Hishon (Rag), 4
Heat 2
Richard Christie (Gis), 1, Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 2, Braedon Williams (Whmata), 3, Matt Groube (Cor), 4
Heat 3
Andrew Robinson, 1, Bachelor Tipene (Tara), 2, Tim Thompson (Auck), 3, Nathan Welch (Gis), 4
Heat 4
Nick White (Mnt), 1, Morehu Roberts (Gis), 2, Bevan Wiig (Auck), 3, Ben Bennett (Dun), 4
Heat 5
Clint Daly, 1, Tane Wallis (Piha), 2, Damon Gunness (Gis), 3, Mike Banks (Rag), 4
Heat 6
JC Susan (Mnt), 1, Tyler Anderson (Tara), 2, Jonas Te Aho (Gis), 3, Che Whitaker (Gis), 4
Heat 7
James Fowell (Gis), 1, Joe Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 2, Dane Simpson (Gis), 3, Brent Rasby (Gis), 4
Heat 8
Scott Bell (Auck), 1, Alex Dive (Mnt), 2, Ben Poulter (Rag), 3, Bronson Primmer (H-Bay), 4

Open Men's Round 3
Heat 1
Ryan Hawker (Piha), 1, Tim O'Connor (Mnt), 2, Johnny Hicks (Gis), 3, Paul Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 4
Heat 2
Richard Christie (Gis), 1, Jay Quinn (Gis), 2, Mark Dovey (Mnt), 3, Zen Wallis (Piha), 4
Heat 3
Morehu Roberts (Gis), 1, Luke Hughes (Rag), 2, Keone Campbell (Tara), 3, Andrew Robinson (Auck), 4
Heat 4
Bobby Hansen (Gis), 1, Nick White (Mnt), 2, Bachelor Tipene (Tara), 3, Chris Malone (Gis), 4
Heat 5
Maz Quinn (Gis), 1, Clint Daly (Gis), 2, Tyler Anderson (Tara), 3, Sam Willis (Gis), 4
Heat 6
Ben Kennings (Whmata), 1, JC Susan (Mnt), 2, Tane Wallis (Piha), 3, Paco Divers (Sandy Bay), 4
Heat 7
Alex Dive (Mnt), 1, Blair Stewart (Gis), 2, Gauranga Ormond (Whmata), 3, James Fowell (Gis), 4
Heat 8
Billy Stairmand (Rag) 1, Scott Bell (Auck), 2, Jarred Hancox (Tara), 3, Joe Moretti (Mimiwhangata), 4

Nineteen national titles are up for grabs at the Hyundai National Championships. As well as the premier Open Men's and Open Women's Divisions, there will be a further 17 divisions comprising of age groups from Under 14 through to Over 50s and also Kneeboard and Bodyboard disciplines.

Complete lists of all National Champions are located on the Surfing New Zealand website under History - www.surfingnz.co.nz.

Event Hotline
The Surfing New Zealand event hotline is 0211134506. This will be updated daily at approximately 7am with venue, divisions contested and conditions.

Nationals Blog
Be sure to get a different perspective on the event via the SNZ Nationals Blog. This will be updated throughout the five days with news views and interviews to keep you entertained. www.surfingnz.co.nz.

The event would not be possible without the great support of Gisborne Boardriders Club.

Surfing New Zealand are proudly partnered by:

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