Surfing

posted by on Jan 29

2010 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship - Day 2 Completed In Wild Seas It was like victory at sea in Piha today, with the second day of the Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championship getting underway in stormy 6ft (1.5-2m) plus waves in New Zealand. Earlier in the day, contest organisers opted to put the day’s action on hold for three hours with wild weather lashing the main contest site. After a delayed start, the Under 18 boys qualifying round two competitors battled large seas and strong winds in the race for all-important round three berths. Local star Alex Dive (Mt Maunganui) kept his countrys hope of a gold medal alive in the third heat of the day, finishing behind Brazilian star Gabriel Medina to book a spot in round three. In a see-sawing affair, Medina took an early lead with a 6.67 wave. Dive hit back netting two scoring waves (4.83 and 6.17) to take over the lead. But Medina wasnt finished executing three carving manoeuvre before finishing with a critical white-water floater to snare a heat-winning 8.00 ride. Medinas 14.67 total was the highest combined heat total of the morning. 17-year old Dive said he was relieved to get through to the next round of competition. It was really tough to get in the right spot, he said. It was all over the show out there. I knew where to sit, having surfed here a little bit over the years. Luckily for me something came through. The former U/16 New Zealand champion added that he was enjoying competing in his own country. Its so cool. Ive had so much attention from the media, which I dont usually get because were usually competing in other countries. So its good for me and the New Zealand team. French ripper Kieran Bulard (Reunion Island) was the days top individual wave scorer, despite finishing behind Portugals Frederico Morais. Its the second time that the Frenchman has competed for his country. It was good to get through, said Bulard. I got a good wave at the beginning and then I paddled back out to get to the line-up and got no more waves for the rest of the heat. I was really stressed. But it was good I passed through that heat into the next round. Post heat, Bulard said his heat-high 8.50 wave felt good. I just paddled hard and came into a double-up section and made a good turn. Then I made a good bottom turn before a carve offthe-top, then another turn. They were three really good turns. Australian ace Tim macdonald (North Stradbroke Island), 17, inflicted the biggest upset of the day; beating newly-crowned ASP World Junior champion Maxime Huscenot (France, Reunion Island) and defending ISA World Junior champion Keanu Aising (Hawaii) in the opening heat of the day. The young Australian said his win was a shot of confidence. I feel so good right now, said macdonald. But out there you never really know who is going to get through. The conditions were tough and Im glad I got through. Other round two winners included Ian Gouveia (Brazil), Evan Geiselman (USA), Ian Fontaine (France), Evan Thompson (USA), Thomas Woods (Coolangatta, AUS) and Tamaroa mccomb (Tahiti). Competition is expected to continue tomorrow with qualifying round two Under 16 boys and repercharge one Under 16 Boys scheduled for the main podium and repercharge one and two of the Under 18 boys planned for podium two. Pictures and video highlights are available in www.isaworldjuniors.com and Editorial rights free videos and images in high resolution are available in the following ftp: FTP Server: ftp.isasurf.org FTP Username: isasurf_media Password: download1