Surfing: Piha to host 50th national championships

The 50th National Surfing Championships will be held at Piha Beach, Auckland from January 15-21, 2012.

Defending open men's champion Jay Quinn of Gisborne will be out to win his third title and go one step closer to his brother Maz who has been stranded on four titles since 2006.

Quinn is currently living in Australia and competing on the Association of Surfing Professionals World Tour alongside New Zealand's highest-ranked surfer Richard Christie, also from Gisborne.

Both Quinn and Christie are locked in a tussle to break into the top 32 surfers in the world.