NORTH NARRABEEN, Australia — The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships fueled by Monster Energy steamrolled through 18 heats of competition Tuesday, cementing the women’s quarterfinalists, as well as completing the men’s Round 1 in glassy one-to-two foot surf at North
NORTH NARRABEEN, Australia — The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships fueled by Monster Energy steamrolled through 18 heats of competition Tuesday, cementing the women’s quarterfinalists, as well as completing the men’s Round 1 in glassy one-to-two foot surf at North Narrabeen, according to an ASP press release.
Despite the small surf on offer, both the men and women junior surfers emphatically raised the bar in terms of high-performance surfing, unofficially announcing themselves as the future of the sport.
The world’s best female surfers once again precluded the men, with some dramatic performances.
Hawai‘i’s Alessa Cuizon, 16, caused the upset of the event, defeating last year’s event runner-up and Kauaian surfer Bethany Hamilton, 19, in Round 3 of competition. Leaving nothing to chance, the young goofy-footer dominated the Narrabeen lineup, catching several high-scoring rides, posting an impressive 14.67 out of a possible 20 to advance through to the quarterfinals.
“I was really nervous before that heat,” Cuizon said. “Bethany (Hamilton) is the runner-up here and she’s dangerous in any conditions. I just tried to put my nerves behind me and catch good waves.
“It’s hard surfing against another Hawaiian because you want to see them do well,” Cuizon said. “I don’t want to see girls from where I’m from knocked out early, but that’s competition and sometimes that happens. I tried to put it out of my mind and flow through my heat.”
Cuizon will now take on another Kauaian, 16-year-old Malia Manuel, in the quarterfinals when competition resumes.
Manuel put up a 14.83 in her first round to advance, then knocked off Sarah Baum by a 14.34 to 11.34 score to advance to the quarterfinals.
Australia’s Laura Enever, 18, continued to fly the flag for the local contingent, besting highly-touted compatriot Tyler Wright, 16, in the opening heat of Round 3.
“I was really bummed when I found out about my Round 3 match-up with Tyler (Wright),” Enever said. “There are only three Aussies in the event and we want to do the best we can.”
Enever will take on another fellow Aussie, Felicity Palmateer, 17, in the quarterfinals when competition resumes.
The other two quarterfinal matchups will see France’s Joanne Defay go head-to-head with Brazil’s Gabriela Leite. American Courtney Conlogue will face off with France’s Pauline Ado.
On the men’s side, Australian Owen Wright, 19, 2010 ASP Dream Tour rookie and heavily-favored surfer at the Billabong ASP World Juniors, put the field on notice Tuesday, dominating the alley righthanders with unparalleled speed and projection on his backhand. Posting a number of high-scoring rides, Wright netted a 6.50 and an 8.67 to advance directly into Round 3 over VZ Trials winner Ryan Callinan and progressive Hawaiian phenom Clay Marzo, 20.
“The conditions are pretty tough out there but I seemed to find a couple of little sections,” Wright said. “I tried to find the ones with walls to them. My first turns were never big, but I was able to open up down the line. Thankfully no one was knocked out in that heat, but I’m glad to get it out of the way and advance straight through to Round 3.”
After surfing a flawless season on the 2009 ASP Australasia Pro Junior Series as well as finishing third on the ASP World Qualifying Series, Wright makes his intentions clear in North Narrabeen — he wants an ASP World Junior Title.
“I’ve been training a fair bit for this event,” Wright said. “Since the wipeout in Portugal (at the Rip Curl Pro Search event), I’ve been in the gym four days a week. I’ve been going hard; I’ve put on a bit of weight and it’s been going pretty well. Parko (Joel Parkinson) was the last Australian to win it (ASP World Junior Title) and it’s been a while for us.”
A lay day was called Wednesday, so event organizers will reconvene Thursday morning at 6:30 a.m. to assess conditions for a possible 7 a.m. start.
When competition resumes, up first will be either the opening heats of the men’s Round 2 or the women’s quarterfinals.
Highlights from the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships fueled by Monster Energy are available via www.billabongpro.com.
