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Cornwall's own must win second round
by George Mojo
02/01/2007:// Cornwall's Reubyn Ash must win his second round tie against Hawaiian Dusty Payne to stay in the Billabong World Junior Championships in Australia.
Ash finished third in his opener at North Narrabean to Hawaii's TJ Barron and Japan's Nobuyuki Osawa.
The European and English champion will need to better his 6.46 wave total in round one to progress in the competition.
Meanwhile, the top seeds put on stellar performances to claim heat wins in round one.
Held in messy three foot surf, Brazilian Adriano de Souza and number two seed Jordy Smith, from South Africa, made the most of what was on offer to lock in large total scores to overcome their opponents.
Smith, in particular was in devastating form, as he wound through some lumpy sections executing turn after turn, even landing a nice aerial in the process.
In his post heat interview Smith indicated that he doesn't feel confident in the famed Narrabeen lineup but that certainly didn't look the case today as he pushed the performance bar up high.
"I don't think the waves suit me that well here," said Smith. "But I managed to pick off some rights and I just tried to make the best of them. I just knew that the two guys I had in the heat are great surfers so I had to pull out something big."
Smith, who in July 2006 made it all the way to the semi-finals of the Foster's ASP World Tour, Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay event as a wildcard, has grown as a surfer and a competitor of late, but despite his experience he is still very wary of his rivals here in Junior Championships.
"There are a lot of good guys here," said Smith. "Guys like Adriano de Souza and Matt Wilkinson are flipping ripping! And then there are all the guys like Laurie Towner and a host of others. I'm just going to take it heat by heat and hopefully get through to the final."
De Souza, who quite the opposite to Smith feels very confident in the choppy conditions due to them being like his home in Brazil, was relaxed and he cruised through for a win in heat eight over Australian Luke Cheadle and Dusty Payne.
The South American powerhouse, a former winner in 2003 and who is now ranked number 20 in the world, used every bit of his top tour experience to ensure that he was in exactly the right spot whenever a ripple came his way.
"It's great to be back at Narrabeen as I've had some good results here," said de Souza. "It's just good to be back surfing with all the guys from my generation. I'm very excited as I have one more year to win and I'd like to match Joel Parkinson and win it twice."
De Souza, like Smith, knows he has to pull out all the stops in order to beat the hungry field who, by no means, are intimidated by the fact that he regularly spars with the best surfers in the world.
"There are a lot of good guys here, Matt Wilkinson, Smith… anyone can do well here," said de Souza. "I just have to be on my toes the whole way through."
The youngster was also hoping that like when he claimed his 2003 victory the mass of Brazilians who reside or holiday in nearby suburbs will come out in support for him.
"When I won in 2003 there were a lot of my people here to cheer me on," said de Souza. "I hope they all come to Narrabeen to do it again. That would be special."
Also excelling in the testing conditions was Australian Wilkinson, who stood tall on everything he could grapple. The goofyfooter claimed that by getting down to Narrabeen early in the week and surfing every day he was feeling extra confident.
"I've been surfing here the past few days as I've been staying close by," said Wilkinson. "I went out and knew that the rights were going to be better scorers and luckily I opened with two good ones straight away."
Wilkinson was also confident that the Australian team could wrestle a win here in this year's event, given that the trophy has gone to a host of Brazilians and a Hawaiian in previous years.
"We haven't done so well over the past few years," said Wilkinson. "But looking at the team this year it's really strong and if there are a few waves then I think we'll do well."
Heading up the star performers in the women's division was world beater Australian Stephanie Gilmore, who despite qualifying for the ASP Women's World Tour in 2007 was eager to come back to add another junior notch to her belt before moving on.
"You can't turn down an invitation for a world title," said Gilmore. "Especially since the event is only in its second year. I'd really love to be up there at the ASP Banquet alongside Layne Beachley and Kelly Slater. That would be an honour."
On her performance Gilmore was happy that she finished the job in front today.
"There were a few waves here and there as luckily it was consistent," said Gilmore. "I was just floating around grabbing what I could and I managed to do the job. I couldn't hear the announcers and I was a bit worried… At the end of the day you always want the win."
Men's results - Round 1 (1st to round 3 2nd and 3rd to round 2)
The 2008 Beachley Classic got underway this morning, completing Rounds 1 and 2 as well as the opening two heats of Round 3 at nearby Freshwater Beach in clean two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves
Layne Beachley (AUS), 36, has officially announced her retirement from full-time competition, effective at the end of the year
Former Exeter University student Josh Lewin first heat at the Ocean and Earth Pro in the Canary Islands has been delayed because the 2ft surf was deemed uncontestable
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