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02/10/2006:// Twenty-year-old Matt Capel had a double celebration after clinching his first BPSA Open victory and sealing the Pro Junior tour at the Headworx Welsh Open.
South Devon's Matt Capel paid back his sponsors with two victories at the BPSA Headworx Welsh Open.
The 20-year-old not only took first place in the Open - a career best in the tour so far - but he secured the overall Pro Tour title for 2006 as well.
The fifth stop on the BPSA tour, lived up to its billing with Pembrokeshire's Freshwater West beach break serving up consistent 3-5ft offshore surf the 6 divisions.
With tour points now becoming more important as the season draws ever nearer to a close, the standard of surfing was among the highest ever seen at a UK event as the tour leaders pushed themselves to the limit to impress the judges.
The Pro Junior got underway on Saturday with Capel, in his last year as a junior, setting the standard with some supercharged surfing in chunky 5ft offshore conditions.
Also impressing the crowds on the beach was 18-year old fellow Headworx rider Fabian Baker from Jersey - surfing in only his 2nd BPSA event - and South Africans Dave Richards and Keegan Nel who were fresh from WQS action in Europe.
These four contested a thrilling final, which saw some big early exchanges. But it was Dave Richards who took the Headworx Pro Junior title after laying down an unbeatable 10-point ride with a huge left which he smashed all the way to the beach on his backhand.
But Capel had done enough to finish Runner-up and see off his tour rivals, regaining the prestigious British Pro Junior tour title that he first won in 2004.
The BPSA Grom tour is now in full swing and a fantastic addition to British Surfing, with Under 12's and Under 16 Boys and Girls travelling over the country to compete and improve their surfing. In testing conditions for the youngsters they all braved their way out back in solid surf and gave it their best! In the U12 event Harry Timpson emerged victorious and Wales local Gwen Spurlock won the U'16 girls event.
In the U'16 boys Aiden Wright narrowly defeated Toby Donachie for the win.
The Men's Open kicked off proceedings with the early standouts being current tour leader Reubin Pearce who was destroying the right hand peak with some huge backhand snaps, plus Toby Atkins and Micah Lester, who racked up a 9-point barrel ride on his way to the semi-finals.
Lester also claimed the Freerange Sports Optics prize for the Best Cutback and took home £250 from his new sponsors.
As the heats progressed, the later rounds of the Open became tighter and tighter as Britain's top pros tore apart the clean waves in pursuit of the £1000 top prize.
In two thrilling semi finals, Mark Harris, Sam Lamiroy, Lew Whittaker and Capel emerged as the finalists after both heats had literally come down to the wire - Matt Capel clinching his place in the last four at the expense of Headworx team-mate Reubin Pearce in the dying seconds.
As the last four caught their breath ahead of their final showdown, the Longboard Final took to the water. It was Swansea local Nick Dowrick who dominated claiming one 9 and another 8.5 ride with a long nose-ride, two big cutbacks and a close-out floater on the inside to take the Longboard title.
Next up were the ladies, and could anyone put an end to BPSA Champion and current tour leader Nicole Morgan's insane winning streak? The answer was yes as Easky Britton picked off two good waves early on and never looked back. Congratulations to Easky on a great win.
With the tide pushing back in onto an A-frame peak, the mens finalists took to the water, and after a slow start it started to get exciting with the lead changing regularly! Last year's winner, Mark Harris, took the early lead with two bankable waves on his forehand while former tour champion Lamiroy also went about his business snatching the lead about half way through, before Harris again jumped ahead 5 minutes later.
After tearing up the earlier rounds in overhead conditions, Llewellyn Whittaker was struggling to find anything decent in the shoulder-to-head-high waves, while Capel - surfing in his 8th heat of the weekend - was pushing through the pain barrier to pick up some good scores and keep himself in contention.
After scoring highly all the way through the event, with just 4 minutes to go, young gun Capel spotted a good size, peaky lefthander and summoned enough energy on his backhand to bash it all the way to the inside section where he was able to make 3 more turns.
As the Newquay contingent on the beach held their breath, the judges rewarded him with 7 points - enough to leapfrog from 3rd to 1st.
The last two minutes saw a couple more waves for Lamiroy and Harris but neither was able to do enough to regain the lead and at the final hooter Capel was carried out the water by a jubilant crew of fellow competitors.
After four final finishes already in 2006, and after coming so close to a BPSA Open win at Lusty Glaze last year, this could not have been a more popular win for the 20-year-old, originally from South Devon.
Welsh BPSA Results:
Men's Open 1st - Matt Capel 2nd - Mark Harris 3rd - Sam Lamiroy 4th - Llewellyn Whittaker
Women's Open 1st - Easky Britton 2nd - Nicole Morgan 3rd - Beth Mason 4th - Anne Marie Kenyeres
Pro Junior 1st - Dave Richards 2nd - Matt Capel 3rd - Keegan Nel 4th - Fabian Baker
Longboard 1st - Nick Dowrick 2nd - Martin John 3rd - Chris Sanders 4th - Ben Byfield
U'16 Boys 1st - Aiden Wright 2nd - Toby Donachie 3rd - Adam Reimnitz 4th - Alex Baker
Cornwall's Russell Winter has had a superb start at the Buondi Billabong Pro in Portugal notching up one of the top four heat scores of the competition so far
Cornwall's Ruebyn Ash put in a superb performance to reach his second European Pro Junior final of the season
Skins "King of the Groms" Contest and Spencer Hargraves raise £800
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