Sarah Baum : photo Luke Patterson

Sarah Baum (Durban) sent out a warning sign to her two fellow finalists when she put on an amazing display of surfing today to convincingly win her semi final encounter at the 2010 Roxy Invitational presented by Saltwater Girl. Baum easily disposed of Reunion’s Johanne Defay by executing radical and fast maneuvers in the 30 minute heat at Tofinho Point, Tofo.

Baum had a slow start to the heat but eventually picked up a great wave off the point which enabled her to absolutely cut loose and explode resulting in a massive 9.5 score. This was backed up by a 6.5 ride later on in the heat. “Mozambique is a beautiful place, the water is turquoise and the waves are great. I waited quite some time for my first good wave but when it came it just ran and opened up so nicely for me, I am amped for the final” said Baum after her heat.

She will be joined in the final by Taryn Chudleigh (Cape Town) who surfed a clever heat to eliminate early event favourite Philippa Anderson of Australia. Taryn’s smooth backhand attack and critical turns gave her the edge over Anderson in a heat that had to be decided by split decision. Durbanite Kirsty Delport won the last semi-final heat over Heidi Palmboom (Bluff) to make it an all-South African final showdown. Kirsty managed to put in some big turns in the deteriorating conditions to be deemed the winner by the judges.

The final heat of the event is set to take place on either Friday, Saturday or Sunday depending on the size and quality of the surf at Tofinho. The Roxy Invitational is a unique women’s surfing event that puts emphasis on “the best surfers in the best waves” and this year has once again been true to form. R10 000 will be awarded to the winner of the event, second place and third place will receive R3 000 and R2 000 respectively.       

The ten competitors have many activities besides surfing lined up including a Community Beach Clean Up and an Ocean Safari. Roxy is committed to the conservation of the area and competitors and event officials will be leaving nothing but their footprints behind.

All results, photo’s and blog posts can be found at: roxy.co.za/invitational

Round 3/Semi Final Results:
Heat 1:
1st Taryn Chudleigh
2nd Philippa Anderson

Heat 2:
1st Sarah Baum
2nd Johanne Defay

Heat 3:
1st Kirsty Delport
2nd Heidi Palmboom

Final:
Taryn Chudleigh VS Sarah Baum VS Kirsty Delport

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www.roxy.co.za/invitational