Hansen Surfs to Perfect Send Off

Bobby Hansen (Gis) has today surfed to the perfect send off winning the Corona Super 16 held at Piha, the final event of the Corona Crown Surfing Series. Hansen was so dominant in his performance that the other three surfers in the final required two-wave combinations to catch him. Hansen heads to Australia on Monday where he begins his international campaign with a month of events before briefly returning home and then exiting to South Africa.

Hansen took his time in the final but when he got into his stride he scored an 8.00 point ride with a searing combination of forehand carves. His power and speed through his turns in the 1.0m waves were a cut above the rest. This allowed him to make seemingly impossible sections on the fast South Piha waves. Not long after his first good scoring wave he bettered it with a near perfect 9.00 point ride for a 17.00 heat total – the highest of the day. Hansen was modest in his explanation of how the final went suggesting it came down to wave selection “It is really satisfying comboing guys like Maz, DK and Luke but I know if they got the waves I did, they would have done the same to me so yeah I will take it while I can” commented Hansen.

This is the second win in a row for Hansen after he won the Rip Curl Pro only one week ago at Raglan. His form would suggest that he is at his best after recovering from a knee injury that prevented him from competing earlier in the year.

Hopefully I can get a role on from here and make it work in Aussie, yeah you can’t ask for more than winning these last two comps before heading away” commented Hansen who further expanded on the big year ahead “I hope to do well this year and make it into the top 50 surfers of the World Qualifying Series so that I get a good seed for the following year and qualify for the WCT (World Championship Tour). Of course I would like to qualify this year if I can but it is a long hard road so we will see how we go.

With his win, Hansen moved into second place on final ratings of the Corona Crown Surfing Series, behind runaway leader Daniel Kereopa (Rag) who placed second today. Kereopa was on hand to accept the huge trophy for his series win and took a certain amount of glory from the day even though he finished third with a heat total of 12.85 points. Maz Quinn (Gis), who missed last weekends event placed second today. Quinn struggled to find the scintillating form he is renowned for but still managed to win two of his three round robin heats and score 13.25 in the final. Luke Cederman who tore apart the early morning conditions on the Piha Bar was less devastating in the final when the main contest peak shifted to the right-hand waves in the middle of the beach. Cederman finished in fourth place which elevated him further up the final ratings.

Jessica Santorik (Rag) proved time and again today just how talented she is. She won all three heats today to win the Corona Super 16 and also clinch another Corona Crown Surfing Series title. Santorik was too good for her opponents and in a similar fashion to Hansen, left her opponents requiring a combination of scores to take the title in the final heat of the day. Her win secured her third series title in three years to clearly show her domination of the domestic scene here in New Zealand. Kara Stephenson also of Raglan pushed her way into second after the final heat of the day slightly ahead of Mount Maunganui’s Michelle Langdon with young Laura Rishworth (Mnt) placing fourth in her first appearance at the Corona Super 16.

The Corona Expression Session split the early round robin heats from the final. It allowed the next best eight surfers of the day to go for broke in the rippable waves along South Piha. Zennor Wernham (Rag) lucked onto a ‘bomb’ of a wave and belted it all the way to the beach with huge forehand turns unloading buckets of spray. The wave was a clear standout for wave of the day. Nathan Welch on the other hand went off for the best single turn punching out a huge backhand ‘air reverse’ that almost defied the eyes of the crowds on the beach.

Full results from the Corona Super 16

Corona Super 16 Open Men Round 1

Heat one
Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 1, Felix Dickson (Ota), 2, Paco Divers (Sandy Bay), 3, Justin Souter (Mnt), 4

Heat two
Bobby Hansen (Gis), 1, Gauranga Ormond (Whmata), 2, AJ Matthews (Whmata), 3, Nathan Welch (Gis), 4

Heat three
Luke Cederman (Rag), 1, Mark Dovey (Mnt), 2, Dean Amess (Whmata), 3, Leon Santorik (Rag), 4

Heat four
Nick White (Mnt), 1, Maz Quinn (Gis), 2, Zennor Wernham (Rag), 3, Jared Hancox (Tara), 4

Corona Super 16 Open Men Round 2

Heat one
Nathan Welch (Gis), 1, Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 2, Dean Amess (WGM), 3, Mark Dovey (Mnt), 4

Heat two
Bobby Hansen (Gis), 1, Zennor Wernham (Rag), 2, Felix Dickson (Ota), 3, Leon Santorik (Rag), 4

Heat three
Luke Cederman (Rag), 1, Gauranga Ormond (WGM), 2, Nick White (Mnt), 3, Paco Divers (Sandy Bay), 4

Heat four
Maz Quinn (Gis), 1, Justin Souter (Mnt), 2, Jarred Hancox (Tara), 3, AJ Matthews (WGM), 4

Corona Super 16 Open Men Round 3

Heat one
Leon Santorik (Rag), 1, Nathan Welch (Gis), 2, Nick White (Mnt), 3, Gauranga Ormond (WGM), 4

Heat two
Bobby Hansen (Gis), 1, Paco Divers (Sandy Bay), 2, Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 3, Jarred Hancox (Tara), 4

Heat three
Zennor Wernham (Rag), 1, Dean Amess (WGM), 2, Luke Cederman (Rag), 3, AJ Matthews (WGM), 4

Heat four
Maz Quinn (Gis), 1, Mark Dovey (Mnt), 2, Felix Dickson (Ota), 3, Justin Souter (Mnt), 4

Corona Super 16 Open Men Finals

Bobby Hansen (Gis), 1, Maz Quinn (Gis), 2, Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 3, Luke Cederman (Rag), 4

Corona Super 16 Open Women

Heat one
Jessica Santorik (Rag), 1, Laura Rishworth (Mnt), 2, Kara Stephenson (Rag), 3, Michelle Langdon (Mnt), 4

Heat two
Jessica Santorik (Rag), 1, Michelle Langdon (Mnt), 2, Kara Stephenson (Rag), 3, Laura Rishworth (Mnt), 4

Heat three
Jessica Santorik (Rag), 1, Michelle Langdon (Mnt), 3, Kara Stephenson (Rag), 2, Laura Rishworth (Mnt), 4

Corona Super 16 Men’s Round Robin Points

1, Bobby Hansen (Gis), 30
4, Maz Quinn (Gis), 27
2, Luke Cederman (Rag), 24
3, Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 21
8, Zennor Wernham (Rag), 21
9, Nathan Welch (Gis), 18
6, Jarred Hancox (Tara), 15
5, Gauranga Ormond (Whmata), 15
11, Dean Amess (Whmata), 15
7, Felix Dickson (Ota), 15
10, Mark Dovey (Mnt), 15
16, Leon Santorik (Rag), 12
13, Paco Divers (Sandy Bay), 12
14, Nick White (Mnt), 9
12, Justin Souter (Mnt), 9
15, AJ Matthews (Whmata), 6

Corona Super 16 Women’s Round Robin Points

1, Jessica Santorik (Rag), 30
2, Kara Stephenson (Rag, 15
3, Michelle Langdon (Mnt), 12
4, Laura Rishworth (Mnt), 9

Source: Surfing New Zealand

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