World’s Best Surfers Decimate Middles for Day 1 Rip Curl Pro Search Puerto Rico

• Paige Hareb won her Round 1 heat against Sofia Mulanovich and Nikita Robb. She will face Melanie Bartels in Round 3. Photo: Kirstin/ASP

Event No. 9 of 10 on the 2011 ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Search Puerto Rico has hyper-focused the attention of the international sporting world, with a history-in-the-making ASP World Title Race.

Kelly Slater (USA), 38, former nine-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 1, could potentially clinch an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title in Puerto Rico, and moved one step closer to that goal today with an emphatic Round 1 victory.

"I actually felt a little jittery out there at the start," Slater said. "I kind of found my feet towards the end and I feel a lot better now that I'm straight into Round 3. I have a really good support crew here. My girlfriend Kalani, my manager Terry and publicist Shelby are flying in. I flew Mark Cunningham over from Hawaii because he's never seen me at a contest and I told him he had to come. I've seen a bunch of old friends from here and Florida and I have friends coming in from Barbados. I'm really thankful for all the support."

Slater took out the round's top honors for a combined heat total of a 16.27 out of a possible 20, with some impressive tube-riding and high-risk surfing.

"The board's glassed pretty light but it feels good," Slater said. "I've had it at about four events this year so it's been working well for me. My first wave out there, I just kind of rode it to the end to see where the sections were breaking. After that, I felt like I had it pretty well sussed."

• Kelly Slater (USA), 38, former nine-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 1, threading his way one step closer to an unprecedented 10th ASP World Title at the Rip Curl Pro Search Puerto Rico. Credit:© ASP / SCHOLTZ

Jordy Smith (ZAF), 22, current ASP World No. 2, survived a hard-fought battle against wildcard and Trials Winner Dylan Graves (PRI), 24, and Brett Simpson (USA), 25.

Smith's win this morning propels the 2010 ASP World Title race into the coming days, although the big South African is humble to admit the monumental task ahead.

"You get big local support everywhere you go," Smith said. "Whether it's J-Bay or Huntington Beach or Puerto Rico, I think it's great that you get that everywhere you go and it's awesome to be on both sides of it."

"At this point for me, it's all about surfing for me," Smith said. "He has to lose pretty bad for anything to change at this point so I'm just enjoying things at the moment. It's an honor to be in the race still and I'm really enjoying Puerto Rico."

Tiago Pires (PRT), 30, current ASP World No. 4, caused a big upset this morning, eliminating current ASP World No. 4 Taj Burrow (AUS), 32, in the opening round of competition. The win included the day's high single wave score of an 8.87 out of a possible 20 for an incredibly deep forehand barrel.

"Luckily, the wave is so fast and perfect so I don't have to think much. My back heel is pretty painful right now, but hopefully the urchins bring me luck. The wave is really fun. It's a really high-performance wave with good barrels. The last two contests have been bad for me. I'm very happy to get through my heat and I'll be able to get some rest now and better familiarize myself with the area."

Adriano de Souza (BRA), 23, current ASP World No. 9, flew the South American flag today, besting goofy-footers Kai Otton (AUS), 30, and Bobby Martinez (USA), 28, in their Round 1 bout.

"I had a couple weeks to prepare for this event since the last one, I have been training really hard and working on my heat strategy. So to come out today and apply it and move through feels really good."

A perennial threat at the majority of stops on the ASP World Tour, De Souza has suffered early exits in the last three events and will look to remedy the situation in the remaining two events.

"My goal for the rest of the year is just to regain my confidence and to surf every heat well," De Souza said. "I've had a difficult middle of the year so I just want to put a strong performance in for every heat. I have a really good board at the moment and I hope I can keep going."

Mick Fanning (AUS), 29, reigning ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 3, saw a return to form today after an uncharacteristic early exit in the previous event in Portugal, posting a convincing opening round victory over Americans Gabe Kling (USA), 30, and Patrick Gudauskas (USA), 24. A past two-time winner of the Rip Curl Pro Search , Fanning secured the win on borrowed equipment after his surfboards failed to arrive in time.

"This is actually a board that I sold to Shaun Ward a while back," Fanning said. "He had it here and was kind enough to offer it to me to use so thanks for him. I was going to use one of Steph Gilmore's backup boards, but I'm lucky Shaun had this one as it has a bit more foam. The waves out there are really fun. They're a lot punchier than they look from the beach and offer some really good sections."

When men's competition resumes, up first will be Taj Burrow (AUS), 32, up against Dillon Perillo (USA), 20, in the opening heat of Round 2.

Following the completion of the men's competition, the Rip Curl Women's Pro Search Rip Curl hit the water for Rounds 1 and 2 as the ASP Top 17 tore apart the chunky Caribbean conditions.

Claire Bevilacqua (AUS), 28, current ASP Women's World No. 11, completely demolished this afternoon's chunky conditions, posting the highest heat total of the event, a 15.67 out of a possible 10, to advance directly to Round 3.

"I just want to surf and have fun," Bevilacqua said. "I love taking down the top girls like Sally (Fitzgibbons). I just want to be a role model."
Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), 19, current ASP World No. 2, advanced in second behind Bevilacqua in the highest-scoring heat of the afternoon keeping the ASP Women's World Title Race very much alive.

Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 22, reigning three-time ASP Women's World Champion, survived a hard-fought opening round heat today, edging out lethal wildcard Pauline Ado (FRA), 19, in the dying moments.

"I kept falling off on all my finishing turns," Gilmore said. "I think it was a mixture of nerves and a few wobbles out there. I'll probably draw Pauline (Ado) again in Round 3 and she was ripping so it will be interesting. I love it here in Puerto Rico. I have a good support crew here, it's beautiful and I'm looking forward to the rest of the event."

Davey Cathels Takes Out Quiksilver Jetty Surf Pro Junior

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Cathels was in sensational form on this final day, scoring four excellent-to-outstanding 8 and 9-point rides on his way to demolishing his opponents through the Quarters, Semis and Final.
Final scores in the Final saw 18-year-old Cathels on a combined two-wave tally of 13.60 to Queensland's Mitch Crews (Currumbin) on 9:00.
"I came down simply hoping to win through a few heats and fine-tune myself for the ASP World Junior Titles and to win and score big today feels fantastic - I'll go into the World Titles fully ready to give it my best," Cathels said. "I have set an aim to win the ASP Australasian Pro Junior Series this year so this is the perfect start, it's also the first Pro Junior win of my career which sort of gets the "monkey off my back" as I have had a number of Final and Semifinal results, but to win today feels good."
Mitch Crews' performance at this event brought high praise from friends and fellow competitors including Cathels.
The 19-year-old has battled a serious arthritis condition over the past six months and today's return to form for Crews was an emotional triumph in his battle to beat the condition.
"My surfing late last year on the Pro Junior Circuit really suffered and over the summer I've worked with a lot of doctors to remedy my condition and I'm just really pleased to get a result like this today," Crews said. "I won a Pro Junior two years ago and since then have not had great results, but today's result is fantastic for me and sets up my season to try and finish in the Top 5 on the season ratings."
Cathels strategy in the final was to surf the longer-peeling left breaking waves and it paid off superbly when he scored an excellent 8-point ride early to set up his maiden ASP victory.
Some feared Cathels might have peaked early when he scored an impressive 17.90 (out of a possible 20) which included a 9.40 ride in his massive Semifinal win over Jack Freestone (Gold Coast).
Crews survived a much closer Semifinal, defeating Coffs Harbour surfer Billy Keane in the final minute when he came from behind scoring a 5.9 ride to advance to the Final on his last ride.
Cathels now heads to his home in Sydney at North Narrabeen, ready to take on the world's best ASP Pro Junior surfers at the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships which on Saturday.
Held at his home break at North Narrabeen Cathels is confident he can do well.
"It will be a big challenge," Cathels said. "There're some amazing surfers like Owen Wright and Brazil's Jadson Andre and some great Hawaiians but at my home break I'll take them on for sure. I'm looking forward to it!"

World’s Best Juniors Descend on Sydney for Billabong ASP World Juniors

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Contesting in their respective regional ASP Pro Junior Series throughout the 2009 season, qualifiers for the prestigious Billabong ASP World Junior Championships include 48 men and 18 women from the seven ASP regions: Africa, Australasia, Europe, Hawaii, Japan, North America and South America.
While the event has been held at North Narrabeen's famed peaks for over a decade now, the ASP Australasia region hasn't seen a men's champion since Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, in 2001. Owen Wright (Lennox Head, NSW), 19, ASP Australasia's No. 1 seed and qualifier onto the 2010 ASP Dream Tour, will look to cap off an incredible junior career with a big result at North Narrabeen.
"Last year (in the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships), a lot of things went the wrong way for me," Wright said. "It will be tough since the field has a lot of the same faces from last year, but I'm looking forward to it. Narrabeen is an awesome location the Alley rights are so puntable and the lefts are long and sometimes barreling so I hope we get it pumping this year!"
ASP South America has been dominant at the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships, with Brazilians taking our four of the 10 men's titles in the event's history. Jadson Andre (Natal City, BRA), 19, 2010 ASP Dream Tour rookie and last year's ASP World Junior Runner-Up, will lead the latest ASP South America squad into this season's event.
"I think I put in a good performance last year, but during the final I didn't catch the best waves, Kai (Barger) was surfing very well during the event and deserved the victory," Andre said. "This year, I know and believe all the guys competing at Narrabeen are strong and have a chance to win. All the heats are like a final, so because of this I will give 100% attention in all the heats. I have been working on my psychological, physical aspect and my surfboards. I'm going to surf well and find the best results."
ASP North America has not ventured as well at Narrabeen. Despite producing formidable teams, the North Americans have yet to claim an ASP World Junior Title - a fact that Nat Young (Santa Cruz, CA), 18, hopes to rectify in his second appearance at the prestigious event.
"The standard of competition in this contest is crazy, every first round heat could be a Final in a normal junior contest," Young said. "Personally, I would definitely like to do better this year. Last year was my first year in the contest and I made a couple heats so I was stoked, but this contest is so important to all the juniors because it is the biggest junior contest of the year. I think the other US guys are all great surfers and they have all had contests this year where they have shown that they are worthy of being in the World Juniors. I think this year could be a good year for the U.S."
Kai Barger (HAW), 20, reigning ASP World Junior Champion, has graduated beyond the ASP Pro Junior Series, but remains enthusiastic about his fellow Hawaiians in Narrabeen.
"Looking at the Hawaii team, I think it would be sick to see Clay Marzo win, Barger said. "If he surfs anything like he has been surfing at home then he's easily capable."
Barger more than understands the importance of the event, and the effect a victory there can have on someone's career.
"If there's one contest to do well in, then trust me this is the one to win," Barger said. "This contest changed my life and sometimes I still can't believe I won there. There were a lot of nuts guys last year the surfing standard was so high. It seemed like everybody was pulling out their best."
Mick Fanning (AUS), 28, recently crowned two-time ASP World Champion, knows a thing or two about winning and offered his own thoughts on the Billabong ASP World Juniors.
"I never got one...it's a tough title to win," Fanning said. "Back in the day it was really a battle between the Americans, Hawaiians and Aussies, but these days, there are contenders from each of the ASP regions and I think the list of recent past winners is a reflection of that."
Despite the heavily loaded field in this year's Billabong ASP World Junior Championships, Fanning's pick for the title stays close to home.
"Owen (Wright) is World Champ material if you ask me," Fanning said. "I've watched him evolve over the years and he'll be the man to beat at the World Juniors for sure, provided he's recovered from some heavy injuries suffered during the Portugal World Tour event."
The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships mirrors the competition format of the ASP World Tour and is considered the sport's "crystal ball" for aspiring champions. In addition, a Final's placing in the tournament affords the successful surfers an unrivalled seeding on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) that serves as a springboard to the ASP World Tour

No. 1 Seed Tyler Wright Eliminated on Day 2 Quiksilver Jetty Surf Pro Junior

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The diminutive, former-Kiwi surfer, who has now been based in Australia for five years, took an exciting Round 2 heat win in the ASP Pro Junior Women's division, defeating and eliminating the event's No. 1 seed Tyler Wright (Lennox Head).
Sixteen-year-old Wright probably has the greatest junior surfing record in Australian surfing, which includes multiple Australian and World Titles along with an ASP World Tour victory at the sport's highest level, but she struggled in today's conditions while Mason capitalised by finding better waves to secure a close heat win.

"I never think about who I'm surfing against in my heats, I simply go out and surf my best and try and win," said Mason after her win today. "Tyler's a great surfer and now I've won the heat it gives me confidence to go a lot further and aim high at this event."

West Australian surfer Laura Macaulay placed second behind Mason to advance today with Wright close behind in third place but unfortunately eliminated.
Sarah Mason's older sister Arini also impressively won her Round 2 heat along with Philippa Anderson (Newle) and Ellie-Jean Coffey (North Narrabeen/CrescentHead) who both took strong heat wins.
Ellie- ean Coffey, just 15 years of age, highlighted the depth of young talent coming through the ASP Australasian Pro Junior ranks.
"I have just returned from a High Performance training camp with Surfing Australia and I'm feeling really good about my surfing - even though there's a lot of girls older than me in the Pro Juniors I now have the confidence to really surf against them and know that I can beat them." said Coffey who has spent a lot of time over the past two years transient along the northern NSW coastline developing her surfing talents.
Chris Salisbury (Newport/Nth Sydney) and Jerome Forrest (WA/Margaret River) were the outstanding performers as Round 1 of the ASP Pro Junior Men's was also finalised today.
Salisbury utilized his smooth and powerful backhand surfing to post the days highest wave score of 8.75 out of a possible 10 on his way to a comfortable heat win.
"I'm taking the ASP Australasian Pro Junior circuit very seriously this season - It's my last year on the circuit and I definitely want to finish the year in the top five on the ratings and qualify for the ASP World Junior Championships" said Salisbury.
Jerome Forrest scored two excellent waves of an 8.45 and an 8 to register the highest heat tally of the day of 16.45.
Victorian surfers had mixed results on day two - Caiden Fowler (Mornington Peninsula) and Tom Allan (Bells Beach) both progressed to round two while Georgia Fish (Flinders) and Nikki Van Dijk (Phillip Island) were surprise eliminations in closely contested round two heats in the Pro Junior women's.
Tomorrow will most likely see the top seeds including Dean Bowen (Gerroa/South Coast NSW), Garrett Parkes (Byron Bay), Davey Cathels (Nth Narrabeen) and Chris Friend (Sunshine Coast) surfing in round two and surf conditions are expected to remain very similar to today's good conditions.

Talent Shines Through Challenging Conditions at Billabong ASP World Juniors

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Wiggolly Dantas (BRA), 20, was nearly flawless on his backhand this afternoon the stylish Brazilian dissecting the running Alley righthanders to net several impressive scoring rides en route to acquiring the day's high heat total of 14.66 out of a possible 20.
"The waves are tough out there but the righthanders are lining up much better than the lefts," Dantas said. "I have a really good board under my feet and felt really good today."
Brazilians have claimed four of the past 10 ASP World Junior Titles, and Dantas now leads one of the strongest ASP South American teams in history in North Narrabeen.

"Of course it would be a great honor to win the ASP World Junior Title," Dantas said. "Pablo (Paulino) and Adriano (de Souza) are great inspirations in Brazil and it is everyone's goal to follow them. There are so many good surfers here. It will be a big challenge to win the title."

Garrett Parkes (AUS), 18, was another standout this afternoon, leading the Australian contingent in Round 1 this afternoon, uting a futuristic backhand shove-it aerial in the dying moments to take the heat win, and the day's highest single wave score of an 8.00 out of a possible 10.
"I'm pretty stoked," Parkes said. "I was struggling to get the score the whole heat, and I didn't get a good ramp until the last minute. It always feels good to come from behind on the last wave. I think everyone in town wants to see an Aussie win so we'll see what happens."
When men's competition resumes, up first will be the highly-anticipated Round 1 bout between Owen Wright (AUS), 19, Clay Marzo (HAW), 20, and Ryan Callinan (AUS)
Prior to the men's action this afternoon, the world's best junior females tore into the morning conditions at North Narrabeen, completing their respective Round 1 of the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships fueled by Monster Energy.
Malia Manuel (HAW), 16, former U.S. Open winner (in 2008 at age 14), dominated the women's action in the opening heat of the event, posting an impressive 14.83 out of a possible 20 for her progressive forehand and backhand attacks.
"First heat of the event and it glassed off so great call waiting for the high tide to ," Manuel said. "It was a wonderful format with half and hour and I knew that the waves would come. I'm thrilled to be here and get my campaign off to a good start."
Although a relative newcomer to the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships, Manuel recognizes the importance of the event.
"I'd be honored (to win the ASP World Junior Title)," Manuel said. "It's the biggest junior event in our careers. To make a few rounds, and even just to qualify here, is a massive honor."
Laura Enever (AUS), 18, local Narrabeen surfer, is a major crowd favorite at the world-renowned break and despite a slow start in her Round 1 heat, the affable natural-footer rebounded to take the win and advance through to Round 3.
"I was really nervous in that heat," Enever said. "I was freaking out. All my friends and family are here and I want to do well for them. I was nervous in the ning but got a few waves at the end and had fun."
The surprise upset in today's Billabong ASP World Junior Championships came in the form of reigning ASP World Junior Champion, Pauline Ado (FRA), 18, as the young natural-footer was relegated to the elimination Round 2.
"It was pretty messy and very hard to catch the good waves," Ado said. "Obviously I didn't catch the same ones. I hope I surf better than this and now I have to make it through Round 2. I'm just going to be patient and take things heat by heat."
When women's competition resumes, Ado will face Sarah Baum (ZAF), 15, and Susa Leal (BRA) in the elimination Round 2.
Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7am to assess conditions for a possible 8am start.

Billabong Grom Series Lines Up East Coast Swell

• Dune Kennings. Image by PhotoCPL

The Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge is now into it's sixth year and is entrenched in the development pathways of young New Zealand surfers as they try their hand at competing, many of whom start careers at these very events.
The honours board for the three event series reflects a whose who of New Zealand surfers with the likes of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour surfer Paige Hareb (Tara) starting out at these very events. Paige Hareb won the Under 16 Girls Division in 2006 before going on to compete internationally and qualify for the World Tour only two years later.
2009 National Open Men's Champion and winner of the first ASP Australasia Pro Junior Series event for 2011, Matt Hewitt (Mnt), is another to sharpen his teeth in these events winning the Under 16 Boys Division in 2007, two years later going on to win the most prestigious title in New Zealand surfing.

• Ella Williams. Image by PhotoCPL

This years crop of surfers will be aiming high and will use those surfers who have gone before them as motivation to push on in the sport of surfing. Billabong and Pacific Blue will give the series winners of five divisions a helping hand with free trips to Australia and entry into the Billabong Occy Grom Comp to be held on the Gold Coast later this year.
Crazy Sony prizes will also be awarded for the highest heat scores and highest wave scores for both the boys and the girls as well as best manoeuvre of the event.
With a New Zealand Junior Surfing Team set to be named in six weeks time, eight of the entrants this weekend will be out to impress ahead of team selection as well as take home the first grom event of the year.
At the other end of the spectrum will be a large number of budding surfers who will be entering one of their first national surfing events. For these young boys and girls the weekend is also about having fun, learning new surfing skills and meeting other young surfers from around the country.
For all entrants, the fun will be loaded into the two days with each competitor walking away with a goody bag filled with sponsors gear.

Matt Hewitt Progresses at the ASP World Pro Junior

• Image by ASP.

Over the weekend Matt disposed of South African surfer Berick de Vries in a high scoring match up 13.43 vs 13.03.

Hewitt stayed patient in his heat and carefully selected the set-waves and finished his two scoring rides with authority to secure a berth into Round 4.

"It was a super close heat and I had watched the heat before and knew the guys were getting there scores on the bigger set waves," Hewitt said. "I knew I just needed to be patient and wait for those bigger ones and finish my waves."
"Hewitt also enjoyed the change in venue from the left-hander of Arpoador to Praia Do Diabo and tore apart the tricky conditions on his forehand.
"I don't really mind too much," Hewitt said. "It's just normal going left or right, but you can't really complain when you get a right-hand point break and it's kind of just reeling down the point."

Hewitt will face Marco Fernandez (BRA) in Round 4. Fernandez surfed the best wave of round 3 posting 9.33 out of ten on one wave.

Hewitt is one of five surfers at the event representing the ASP Australasia region