With five of eight contest days completed, the International Surfing Association’s World Junior Surfing Championship has showcased great performances from some of the globe’s top young surf talent. Team Hawaii sits near the top of the leaderboard in Salinas, Ecuador,
With five of eight contest days completed, the International Surfing Association’s World Junior Surfing Championship has showcased great performances from some of the globe’s top young surf talent. Team Hawaii sits near the top of the leaderboard in Salinas, Ecuador, though there is plenty of room for movement as the final matchups approach and repechage heats continue to narrow the field.
As expected, the Hawaii girls are performing admirably. Kauai’s lone surfer Tatiana Weston-Webb reached the fourth round of the main draw on Thursday with her third consecutive heat win. Only six girls in the Under 18 division are through to the fourth round without a loss, including Tati and French phenom Kim Veteau.
Oahu’s Bailey Nagy was in the same third-round heat as Tati, but was unable to place in the top two, moving her now into the repechage bracket. Nagy won her third-round repechage heat to remain in the event and continue to accumulate points for Team Hawaii.
Both Dax McGill and Mahina Maeda, who have each already won an individual gold medal at past ISA World Junior Championships, continued to advance in the main draw of the Under 16 division. Maeda has a pair of heat wins and McGill has settled for a pair of seconds as they move through the young field.
The boys side hasn’t had the same success, though there are still plenty of opportunities for the young surfers to build up the team’s point total. One surprising exit was Josh Moniz, who was eliminated from the Under 18 division with an Equal 43rd place finish. Moniz was the gold medalist at last year’s ISA event, but was not able to follow with another deep run. Teammate Ulu Napeahi was also eliminated from the Under 18 division, taking an Equal 31st place.
That leaves Imai Devault and Seth Moniz to carry the Team Hawaii flag the rest of the way. Each has been on point so far, not having lost a heat and into the fifth round of qualifying.
The Boys Under 16 crew is still alive, though none has any real breathing room. Kaulana Apo, Barron Mamiya, Noa Mizuno and Cody Young have all dropped one heat, but are still hoping to advance through the repechage bracket.
Three days of competition remain and the team standings are still too bunched up to draw any real conclusions. France holds the lead with the most potential points, Australia is second and Hawaii sits in third. The United States, Japan, Brazil, Portugal and Peru round out the top eight spots, all with legitimate chances to medal.
Follow further action at www.isawjsc.com.
QUARTERS SET AT MARGARET RIVER
They’re down to eight at the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, the second stop on the ASP men’s World Championship Tour. One head-to-head heat certainly stands out as the one to keep an eye on as 11-time world champion Kelly Slater will take on 2012 world champion Joel Parkinson.
The first quarterfinal heat will feature Jordy Smith vs. Bede Durbidge, followed by Josh Kerr vs. Gabriel Medina, Slater vs. Parko and finally Nat Young vs. Michel Bourez.
The event ran both rounds four and five on Thursday at the Western Australia break after ASP Commissioner Kieren Perrow determined conditions were appropriate to move all the way into the final eight.
Oahu’s Carissa Moore already picked up the title at the women’s event earlier this week.
Stay on top of the action with www.aspworldtour.com and tune to Oceanic Time Warner channel 250 or 1250 for live broadcasts.
