Surfing: Dive bombs rivals in final round

Second seed Alex Dive battled overcast skies and challenging conditions to win the under-16 boys premier division at the Rip Curl GromSearch at St Clair beach over the weekend.

Dive, from Tauranga, secured victory in the final round after a series of vertical forehand re-entries earned him a score of 9.25.

His closest challengers, top seed Johnny Hicks (Gisbourne), Ben Poulter (Raglan) and Tane Wallis (Piha), were unable to catch him in fickle wave conditions.

Dive competed in the "King of the Groms" in France earlier this year.

Ben Bennett, of Dunedin, finished fifth overall.

In the girls under-16 grade, Jayda Martin-Fitzharris was leading until the dying minute, when top seed Alexis Poulter launched a series of cutbacks linking into the inside to take the event.

Poulter represented New Zealand in the World Junior Event in France earlier this year.

The final GromSearch meet is at Piha next month.