New Pier, Durban -- The South African contingent of surfers contesting the 2009 Quiksilver Pro Durban, a six star prime Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) event, held their own against the international onslaught at New Pier today.

With the first round of competition taking place in excellent three to four foot conditions, the local boys put on an impressive display to dispatch of several of the foreign contenders, among them Quiksilver Pro Junior finalist Kiron Jabour (Hawaii), Australian Jack Freestone and Japanese stand-out Naoto Takanashi.

Among the local surfers advancing through to the second round of competition are reigning South African Pro Surf Tour (PST) champion Devyn Mattheys (East London), South African Junior Surfing Team members Nick Godfrey (St Francis), Dale Staples (St Francis) and Michael February (Cape Town), former PST runner-up Gavin Roberts (Scottburgh), Paul Canning (Durban) and rising star Lungani Memani (Port Alfred).

Despite the strong showing by the South Africans, the stand-out of the day was Australian Owen Wright, who posted both the highest wave score and highest heat score of the day. Fresh off a victory against nine time world champion Kelly Slater in the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach, Australia, Wright is in great form and brimming with confidence, and found himself up against New Pier local Chad du Toit, Warner Beach style-master Frankie Oberholzer, and Australian transplant James Woods in his first heat.

Wright dominated the heat from the start, opening his account with a 5.83 and then a 7.17 out of a possible 10. As the heat progressed he stretched his lead over second placed du Toit by securing a 7.27 to replace his 5.83, and then in the dying minutes of the heat paddled into a beautiful wave that saw him earn the day's highest score, a near perfect 9.0.

The combined score gave Wright an impressive 16.27 points for the heat, leaving runner-up du Toit needing a combination of scores to usurp his lead, while Woods and Oberholzer were eliminated.

Of the 22 surfers that advanced through to the next round of competition today, fifteen were South Africans while fellow Australian Brent Dorrington, Tahitian Hira Teriinatoofa, Hawaii's Jesse Merle-Jones, the Japanese duo of Izuki Tanaka and Yujiro Tsuji, and Brazilian Paulo Mauro filled the remaining spots along with Wright.

Former ASP World Tour campaigner Paul Canning proved the pick of the South Africans as he posted the second highest wave and heat scores of the day to win his heat from Virgin Mobile wild card entrant Dan Redman (Umlodti), Bluff power-house Shane Warren, and Jeffreys Bay giant-killer Shaun Payne. Canning found a sweet spot in the middle of Dairy Beach with beautiful left-hand walls tailored to his smooth forehand style, and picked off several decent scoring rides.

"I had a little bit of a game plan going out there," said a smiling Canning after the heat. "It was a bit tricky out there because the waves weren't breaking like New Pier normally does, but I'd been watching it all morning and had spotted a few lefts running through from the middle of the beach. So I decided to take a bit of a gamble and wait a little further out than the other guys and I guess it paid off."

Having built a strong lead through the heat, Canning stroked into a perfect looking wave that was walled up for a good 30 metres and went to work on it. As the goofy-footer relentlessly smashed the lip as he worked his way towards the shore, the crowd on the beach made their appreciation known. Racing his way down the line, Canning approached the big close-out section on the inside sandbank and executed a huge free-falling floater.

"Yeah that wave was amazing," Canning continued, "it just stood up for me and I couldn't believe it. My board has been going so well for me lately, and I think that played a big part in helping me stick that last floater."

The Quiksilver Pro Durban is currently being surfed at Durban's New Pier and, with the highest possible WQS rating and US$145,000 in prize money, the event has attracted some of the world's best surfers. Some of the contenders include defending champion and 2009 World Tour surfer David Weare (Durban), fellow World Tour surfers Jihad Khodr (Brazil), Drew Courtney (USA), and Greg Emslie (East London).

Other local hopefuls are Travis Logie (Durban) who is fresh off a win in the Mark Richards Pro in Australia, Virgin Mobile wild cards Dan Redman (Umdloti), Brandon Jackson (Durban) and Julian Wilson (Australia), and 2008 WCT members Ricky Basnett (Durban) and Royden Bryson (Cape Town).

If you can't get down to the beach be sure to log on to quikprodurban.com where you can watch the live webcast featuring live footage and score updates in real time, punctuated by commentary from some of world surfing's most respected voices, among them 1989 World Champion and former Durban local Martin Potter. Results, daily images, highlight video’s, surfer profiles and more can also be found on the event website. If you can’t get to a computer or down to the beach log on to quikpro.mobi on your mobile to get all the news, results and action.