BIANCA BUITENDAG (ZAF) CLAIMS WOMEN’S DIVISION
MEN’S ROUND 3 COMPLETED
North Narrabeen, Sydney, AUS (Tuesday, January 11, 2011) – An equal third place finish at the Billabong ASP World Junior Surfing Championships at Narrabeen Beach, NSW, Australia has secured France’s Alizee Arnaud (Capbreton, FRA) enough points to claim the prestigious 2010 ASP World Junior Title.
Following yesterday’s elimination of number one event seed Tyler Wright (Lennox Head, NSW, AUS) only defending World Junior Title holder, Laura Enever (Narrabeen, NSW, AUS), remained within mathematical contention of a title against Arnaud heading into the final rounds today.
Enever had to win the event, but bowed out at her home break in semi-final one this morning, handing Arnaud the title and a slice of history.
The win is the third in three years for French surfers, with fellow country woman, Pauline Ado (FRA) winning the title in 2008 and Maxime Huscenot (FRA) claiming the men’s division last year.
The win has been a dream of Arnaud’s since the age of 10 and now at 20, it was her last shot before turning her attention to qualification for the elite world tour in 2011.
Arnaud was chaired victorious from the waters edge by parochial French supporters, draped in the French flag and presented with her trophies, which included a traditional Aboriginal wind instrument, a didgeridoo.
Enever was gracious in defeat, though obviously disappointed to let slip the possibility of back-to-back titles. Having qualified for the elite 2011 World Tour, Enever will now turn her attention abroad to her maiden year on the ASP Women’s World Tour.
Bianca Buitendag (17, Victoria Bay, ZAF) managed her best-ever result by nabbing a win over Arnaud in the semis, then running away with the finals win.
Justine Dupont (19, Lacanau, FRA), who played spoiler to Enever’s hopes in semi-one, finished second.
Only a point separated Buitendag and Dupont at the final hooter, with judges giving Buitendag the nod over Dupont, 10.00 points to 9.00
Arnaud will be crowned officially alongside 10-times ASP Men’s World Champion, Kelly Slater (USA) and four-times Women’s ASP World Champion, Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) at the ASP World Champions Banquet to be held on Queensland’s Gold Coast in February.
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MENS ROUND 3
Not all results went France’s way today, with defending ASP Men’s World Junior Champion, Maxime Huscenot (FRA), eliminated from the event in Round 3 by Aussie Dean Bowen (Gerroa, NSW, AUS).
Huscenot struggled to the winning rhythm that took him to number one in the world last year, with Bowen building upon a couple of good early scores to put the 18 year-old on the ropes.
Bowen’s knock-out punch came on his last wave, when the South Coast goofy-foot locked in the highest individual wave score of the exchange, a 6.60 point ride.
Bowen’s 12.87 tally nearly three points clear of Huscenot who finished on 9.00 points.
Bowen will now face another Frenchman, Marc Lacomare (Hossegor, FRA) in Round 4.
Lacomare suffered a gash to his scalp during a practice session on Sunday and is surfing with four staples in his head, protected from the water by a bright yellow bathing cap. While it might be funny for onlookers, the 20 year-old is having the last laugh, progressing through to the business with a solid display of power surfing.
Number one Men’s seed Jack Freestone (Gold Coast Qld, AUS), Number two seed Dale Staples (St. Francis Bay, ZAF) and Number three seed Caio Ibelli (Sao Paulo, BRA) all advanced to Round Four with solid heat wins.
Organisers will make another call on proceedings tomorrow morning (Wednesday January 12th) at 07:00 am AUS EDT.
Just one full day of competition is required to find a men’s champion.
For more information, including scores, heat totals, heat draws, pictures and contacts log onto: http://www.billabongpro.com.
Billabong ASP Women’s World Junior Championships Final Results:
1st Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 10.00 $5,000 & 10,000 pts
2nd Justine Dupont (FRA) 9.00 $2.500 &
Billabong ASP Women’s World Junior Championships Semifinals Results:
SF 1: Justine Dupont (FRA) 11.27 def. Laura Enever (AUS) 8.70
SF 2: Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 8.37 def. Alizee Arnaud (FRA) 7.57
Billabong ASP World Junior Championships Men’s Round 3 Match-ups:
Heat 1: Granger Larsen (HAW) 11.70 def. Ryan Callinan (AUS) 11.16
Heat 2: Kiron Jabour (HAW) 12.16 def. Luke Davis (USA) 7.57
Heat 3: Evan Geiselman (USA) 10.76 def. Davey Cathels (AUS) 10.47
Heat 4: Caio Ibelli (BRA) 13.27 def. Ty Watson (AUS) 9.00
Heat 5: Marc Lacomare (FRA) 11.40 def. Kaimana Jaquias (HAW) 7.83
Heat 6: Dean Bowen (AUS) 12.37 def. Maxime Huscenot (FRA) 9.00
Heat 7: Charles Martin (GLP) 9.16 def. Chris Salisbury (AUS) 8.40
Heat 8: Jack Freestone (AUS) 13.50 def. Ramzi Boukhaim (MOR) 8.17
Heat 9: Dale Staples (ZAF) 12.62 def. Hiroto Arai (JPN) 10.16
Heat 10: Alex Smith (HAW) 11.84 def. Brendon Gibbons (ZAF) 8.20
Heat 11: Nat Young (USA) 13.93 def. Keanu Asing (HAW) 10.16
Heat 12: Krystian Kymerson (BRA) 12.73 def. Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 10.
Heat 13: Mitch Crews (AUS) 11.27 def Andrew Doheny (USA) 7.40
Heat 14: Kolohe Andino (USA) def Nic Von Rupp (DEU)
The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships waiting period runs from January 8 through 16, 2011 and is webcast LIVE via http://www.billabongpro.com.
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com
