Mr Restored As Surfest's Main Man After Funding Wave

Newcastle Herald

Thursday January 24, 2008

Renee Valentine BREAKING NEWS

SURFEST'S main event will once again be known as the Mark Richards Pro after the State Government recognised the importance of Newcastle's festival of surfing in the form of a $450,000 cash injection for the next three years.

The men's world qualifying series contest has previously been named in honour of the legendary Newcastle surfer but took on the title of various major sponsors in the past few years.

Surfest organisers are thrilled to be able to honour Newcastle's four-time world champion again by naming the four-star rated event after him and expect the move to prompt an outstanding response from some of the world's best surfers in the form of entries.

The Mark Richards Pro will be staged at Merewether Beach from March 31 to April 6.

? Merewether's Jake Sylvester did not compete in the final leg of the national Gromsearch series last week, but he had already done enough to secure the title of No.1 14-years boys surfer in the country.

National rankings were determined from the competitors' two best results in the seven-leg series.

Sylvester was in Western Australia last week flexing his muscles in the Taj's Small Fries junior competition as the last Gromsearch contest was being staged at Cronulla Beach, but his wins in the first two events of the national grommet series were enough to secure him the top ranking.

Merewether pair Sarah Kokkin (14-years girls) and Ryan Callinan (16-years boys) grabbed the No.2 ranking in their respective divisions, and Coal Point's Paige Haggerston finished fourth in the 16-years girls ratings after she was runner-up at Cronulla.

Sylvester and Callinan will next week attend a Team Australia selection camp at Surfing Australia's high-performance centre at Casuarina Beach, where they will vie for passage to the world junior championships in France in May.

? Dixon Park men's surfboat crew survived a rough day at the office to be one of a handful of teams to complete all of their races without a spill in the third round of the Ocean Thunder Pro Series at Dee Why on Saturday.

Four ambulances were called to the venue as a brutal swell battered boats and competitors alike, causing several serious injuries.

Dixon Park escaped unscathed and reached the semi-finals before their campaign ended. They finished the day 12th overall and are 11th in the series standings. The final round is on February 16.

They will be among a large Hunter contingent heading to the prestigious Manly and Freshwater carnivals this weekend.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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