Mount teen Matt Hewitt has given the big boys a sizeable shake-up at the national surfing champs at Piha, as sports editor Kelly Exelby reports
Mount Maunganui's Matt Hewitt will carry a "nothing to lose" attitude that has served him so well all week into today's open men's final
at the New Zealand surfing championships at Piha.
The Tauranga Boys' College student, who spends more time chasing waves throughout the world than he does on his schoolwork, will surf the final against defending champion Jay Quinn (Gisborne), Daniel Kereopa (Raglan) and Whangamata's Gauranga Ormond.
Hewitt, 17, said yesterday all the pressure was on Quinn.
"I know I can win it if I surf well but Jay's the guy everyone's looking to, which takes the pressure off me a bit," he said before yesterday's under-18 semifinal which he won, putting New Zealand junior representative and good mate Alex Dive out.
"There's probably more pressure on me in the under-18s because it's my last year in that division."
Hewitt leaves for Australia on Tuesday, where he will contest two ASP Pro Junior events in the next month before returning to the Corona Pro to be held next month at Mount Maunganui's Tay St.
Quinn, who had to come from behind in his semi to make the final, knows who Hewitt is after he shone in his semifinal, scoring 19.0 - the highest heat score of the week that also included a perfect 10-point ride.
Kereopa is also gunning for his second title of the week after yesterday winning the stand up paddleboard.
"There is such good surfing by the likes Rangi (Ormond) and Matty (Hewitt), they are surfing so good," Kereopa said.
Mount's Laura Rishworth is also worth a look today after she stormed into her first national open women's final where she'll meet Angie Koops (Kaikoura), Raglan's Jessica Santorik and Daisy Thomas (Christchurch).
Less has been more for Hewitt this week. He landed the biggest aerial manoeuvre of the event - posting an 8.25 score on his first wave in the quarterfinals - but has deliberately toned down his aggressive style.
"I've been surfing good for the last month, nothing massive just really solid," he said.
"Competition surfing's a bit different than going out and blasting all the time because you've got a set time and a set number of waves to catch.
"I've been working on a plan of not getting too aerial. I couldn't help myself in the heat (the 8.25) - I hadn't done a turn on that wave so thought I would give an air reverse a go and I made it.
"But it's all about maximising your scoring potential on each wave, making solid turns.
"The aerials score well for you but you've got to be confident of landing them because you waste time if you try things that aren't coming off."
Hewitt, third at the world junior champions in France two years ago, is a virtual certainty for the New Zealand team being named next week for this year's junior worlds in Ecuador.
Thirteen titles -holders were decided on the penultimate day of the nationals yesterday, with Mount Maunganui bodyboarders Luke Elliot and Mitch Tombleson in the thick of it.
The day's highest wave score was a perfect 10-point ride for Elliot in the open men's final. He couldn't find another high scoring wave and had to settle for second behind Piha lifeguard Gavin Murdoch, although he did take out the dropknee bodyboard final.
Tombleson won the under-18 division with strong powerful rolls on the outside, solidly linking manoeuvres all the way through, with Elliot second.