Excited vibe for Mr Price Pro
29 June 2006
Excitement around the seventh annual six-star World Qualifying Series (WQS) Mister Price Pro is building as an elite squadron of WQS surfers arrive in Durban this week.
With solid two to two-and-a-half metre waves and 10-second barrels spitting across the sand bank at North Beach on Wednesday, organisers are anticipating a cracker start to South Africa’s premier surfing event, which gets underway on Friday, 30 June.
Boasting the highest number of entries in the history of professional surfing in South Africa, this year;s Mister Price Pro will see 300 surfers descend on North Beach to compete in the R1-million event.
Spilling over with talent
Spilling over with World Championship Tour (WCT) talent, the line-up includes former ASP world number-five Phil MacDonald, former Bells Beach Pro champion Trent Munro, and former ASP world number-eight Nathan Hedge, who are the top seeds for the event.
The South
African contingent weighs in with a healthy three WCT campaigners, including a former world number-one on the WQS, Greg Emslie, former ASP world number-20 Travis Logie, who is the highest rated South African at the event, and WCT Rookie David Weare.
Emslie and Logiehave both reached the finals of the event in the past, and with years of experience at North Beach, are determined to win the event.
Prize money
Boasting a total prize-money purse of US$125 000 (R862 500), the winner of the men's division will walk away with a check for US$15 000 (R100 500), an amount unheard of on the South African Pro Surf Tour (PST).
The lovely Megan Abubo (Hawaii) is the top seed for the women's five-star WQS event and arrives with former two-time Mister Price Pro champion Jacqueline Silva, who is the second seed, on Friday.
Adding fuel to the fire in the women's division are ASP Pro Junior World Champion Jessi Miley Dyer and WCT wildcard
sensation Stephanie Gilmore, not to mention former event champions Serena Brooke and Melanie Bartels.
WCT campaigner Heather Clark is South Africa's top seed, followed by South Africa’s leading WQS campaigner Tammy Lee Smith, who was the highest placed South African at the event last year.
Women's prize money
The women's division holds a total prize-money purse of US$25 000, including a first-place check for US$4000 (R28 768).
Because the future of surfing belongs in the hands of junior surfers, the Mister Price Pro will kick off with the R25 000 Mister Price Pro Junior for junior men and women.
The Pro Junior event runs from Friday, 30 June to Saturday, 1 July, but will stop at the end of the semi finals, meaning the eight remaining surfers will have to wait a whole week before they compete in their finals, which take place prior to the Women’s and Men’s finals the following weekend.
Top
seeds
Top seeds for the Pro Junior division are South African under-20 champion Keegan Nel and former South African under-20 champion Roseanne Hodge.
The Mister Price Pro is one of the most prestigious events on the World Qualifying Series tour and holds vital ratings points needed to qualify for the ASP World Championship Tour.
All the action will be broadcast via the live webcast on the Mister Price Pro website.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
| 
