Close day of racing sees NZ finish second in Japan

Incredibly close racing on day two of the Sanyo Bussan International Lifesaving Cup saw the Kiwis narrowly beaten by Australia in Japan overnight.

The Kiwis finished three points ahead of the Australians after day one but with the Australians finishing seven points ahead of the Kiwis on day two, the Aussies narrowly took the overall lead with 650 points, followed by the Kiwis with 646 points and a strong Japanese team in third with 551 points.

They were followed by the Japan Youth team with 475 points, Canada (416), Hong Kong (324) and Chinese Taipei (104).

Assistant team manager Steve Vaughan says it's been a great few days for the team in Japan and they all performed incredibly well. "We're extremely proud of their achievements," he says.

The second day of racing saw the team of eight added another 17 medals to the 19 they won on the first day of racing at Aoshima Beach in Miyazaki, Japan.

The gold medals came in fast with Mairangi Bay's Danielle McKenzie and Midway's Cory Taylor winning their respective board races. The pair added to that by also taking out the women's and men's iron.

The women's board rescue saw Japan take their first win of the competition with the Kiwis coming in second. The men's board rescue also saw the Kiwi boys take silver.

In the surf races, St Clair's Carina Doyle took her second individual silver of the competition with Piha's Hannah Williams in sixth. In the men's, Beattie took the silver with Papamoa's Ben Johnston coming in seventh.

On the beach, Fitzroy's Zoe Hobbs and Mairangi Bay's Jake Hurley replicated their efforts on day one, taking gold in the women's and men's beach sprints. Also replicating the efforts of day one, both the men's and women's teams won their beach relay events.

In some of the final events of the day, Hurley took the day's first bronze in the men's beach flags and both the men's and women's taplin teams grabbed silver. The women added another bronze to the tally in the tube with the boys taking out the final tube race.

Going into the second day of competition, New Zealand team coach Jason Pocock says they were primarily focused on what got them through the first day; clear race plans and good decision making.

"The team raced with confidence and intelligence across the competition. All of the athletes really stood up. It is amazing to think we were the only team of eight athletes, rather than 10," he says.

The athletes, along with Pocock, Vaughan and Youth Team coach Jonelle Quane, depart Japan today and arrive back in Auckland on Wednesday.

Results:

Women's board race, Danielle McKenzie, 1st
Men's tube, 1st
Men's board race, Cory Taylor, 1st
Women's iron, Danielle McKenzie, 1st
Men's iron, Cory Taylor, 1st
Women's sprint, Zoe Hobbs, 1st
Men's sprint, Jake Hurley, 1st
Women's beach relay, 1st
Men's beach relay, 1st
Women's surf race, Carina Doyle 2nd
Women's board rescue, 2nd
Men's board rescue, 2nd
Men's surf race, Max Beattie, 2nd
Women's taplin, 2nd
Men's taplin, 2nd
Men's flags, Jake Hurley, 3rd
Women's tube, 3rd
Women's flags, Zoe Hobbs, 4th
Men's board race, Ben Johnston, 4th
Women's surf race, Hannah Williams, 6th
Women's board race, Hannah Williams, 5th
Men's surf race, Ben Johnston, 7th

Overall points score:

1st Australia 650pt
2nd New Zealand 646pt
3rd Japan 551pt
4th Youth Japan 475pt
5th Canada 416pt
6th Hong Kong 324pt
7th Chinese Taipei 104pt

NZ team:

Max Beattie, Omanu (captain)
Danielle McKenzie, Mairangi Bay
Cory Taylor, Midway
Zoe Hobbs, Fitzroy
Carina Doyle, St Clair
Ben Johnston, Papamoa
Jake Hurley, Mairangi Bay
Hannah Williams, Piha

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Honeybone, Media & Communications Specialist, SLSNZ
Phone 09 303 9335 or 0276 488 823
Email lisa.honeybone@surflifesaving.org.nz