Finals set for Sunday at surf event off Tay St

IN FORM: Jonas, left, and Elin Tawharu are both in contention for finals tomorrow. PHOTO: FILE

The storm that has battered the upper North Island this week looked set to disrupt the third and final event of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge which commenced at Mount Maunganui today.

However, after torrential rain ushered in the day, the skies cleared to allow New Zealand's top junior surfers a chance to surf off for titles across six age group divisions.

The forecasted strong onshore winds never eventuated leaving a somewhat clean 1.0m - 1.5m swell all day with light onshore winds.

Title races in all six divisions remain tight after the first day of action despite the odd upset result that kept all the hopefuls on edge.

The top seeds of the Under-20 boys' dIvision have set up a massive semifinal. Semifinal one sees local surfer and Under-18 national champion Jonas Tawharu set to take on top seed and winner of the first event Harrison Whiteside (Chch) as well as Taylor Hutchison (Rag) who won the second event and Reef Matthews (Tara).

Hutchison forced the big showdown after placing second in his heat behind Manu Scott - Arrieta (Sandy Bay) who posted the day's highest score of 16.0 points out of a possible 20.
Scott - Arrieta was in exceptional form and he now faces Callum Chuter (Tauranga), Harry Macintosh (Waiheke) and Eli Voschezang (Auck) in the second semifinal for a podium finish opportunity.

The Under-17 girls' division saw the biggest upset of the day with two-time finalist and winner of the first event of the series Saffi Vette (Gis) eliminated in the first round. Local surfer Kea Smith surfed a smart heat picking up several long waves to win the heat with event-two finalist Aimee Brown (Grt Barrier) relying on big powerful turns out the back to progress in second place.

The result pushes Elin Tawharu (Mount Maunganui) closer to the series title with a finals berth tomorrow being enough to see the job through. Tawharu's closest rival is another Mount Maunganui surfer in Tiana - Breeze de Mooij who will need to win the event and have Tawharu lose in the semis just to equal her on points.

Series front runner in the Under-14 boys' division, Tom Butland (Oakura) continued his excellent form advancing through to the quarterfinals with the top score in the first round. Butland posted a 14.33 point heat total including an 8.87 point ride for his typical big-manoeuvre performance.

Butland was joined by his biggest rivals for the series including Josef Jungwirth (Rag), James Ririnui (Mount Maunganui), Kora Cooper (Rag) and Jack Hinton (Mount Maunganui) who all won their heats today.

Ariana Shewry (Oakura) got the better of the exchange with Brie Bennett (Rag) in the Under-14 girls division advancing through to the semifinals with a 14.33 point heat total compared with Bennett's 9.07. The two surfers have traded blows the entire season and all things going to plan will meet each other in yet another final if they advance through the semifinals on Sunday morning.

Action will take place at Tay Street from 8am - 4pm on Sunday. Finals will take place from 1:00pm.

Please note that there is a local triathlon being held on Sunday morning and Marine Parade will be closed to traffic from 6am - 11am. All competitors, spectators and families will need to park in the adjacent streets until the road is opened at 11am. Pedestrians need to take extra care when crossing the road to the event site.