THE Oakley Pro Junior continued to roll on at North Stradbroke Island today, with top seeds wetting their rails in round two of the 5-star graded, $30,000 ASP Australasian Pro Junior Series tournament.
Not even bumpy 2-3ft Main Beach peaks could deter a swag of the world’s top juniors aged 20-years and under as they threw out some big moves across day two of competition.
International surfers continued to ruffle the feathers of the Australian contingent, with Brazilian powerhouse Alejo Muniz top scoring with a 17.90 two-wave combined total.
“I’m so happy,” said Muniz.
“The waves were quite difficult, but I found some good ones. I just tried to do my best.”
Continuing on with the form that saw him take out his round one heat, the reigning ISA U/18 boys’ world champion kicked it up a gear, netting a near perfect 9.90 and an 8.00 to trounce Billy Kean (Sawtell), Wylie Moyes (Randwich) and Jackson Richards (Merewether).
Post heat, Muniz said he was surprised to be awarded a near perfect ride.
“I couldn’t believe it was nearly a 10,” he said.
“I was just having fun. Hopefully I’ll better the score in my next heat.”
No.3 seed Tamaroa McComb (Central Coast) kicked off his event campaign in winning style, trumping local star and event wildcard Tim MacDonald to progress through to round three.
The Australian-based Tahitian surfer showed flashes of brilliance en route to posting a low-scoring 11.00 two-wave total to MacDonald’s 10.75.
Gold Coast teen Jack Freestone (Coolangatta) confirmed he’ll be amongst our next wave of surfing champions, downing Casuarina’s Brent Savage, Old Bar’s Oscar Scanes and Maroubra’s Luke Kennedy to power into round three contention.
Freestone, 16, defied the tricky conditions better than most, taking a chance on the shorter right-hand peaks to amass a 13.50 total.
Joining Freestone as other high-scoring Australian winners included Perth Standlick (Bondi), Noah Lane (Burleigh Heads), Ellis Ericson (Byron Bay), Sam Wrench (Ulludulla) and Josh Johnson-Baxter (Ocean Grove).
Top seed and current ASP Australasian Pro Junior Series ratings leader Owen Wright (Lennox Head) also booked a ticket into the next round. There he’ll take on James Woods (Coolangatta), Marc Lacomare (France) and Mitch Crews (Currumbin).
Competition will continue tomorrow with round three heats expected to be completed. Surfing action to start at 8am!
The Oakley Pro Junior is the second stop of the 2009 ASP Australasian Pro Junior Series and offers a five-day surfing window, from Tuesday 3rd February to Saturday 7th February, 2009.
The 2009 Oakley Pro Junior is proudly supported by Stradbroke Island Holidays, Stradbroke Ferries, Redland City Council, Waves Magazine, ASP Australasia and Surfing Queensland.