Ozmosis /Nova Pro Junior

ASP Australasia Grade 3 Junior Men's Event
ASP Australasia Grade 1 Junior Women's Event
Gunnamatta Victoria Australia
16 - 20 January 2008

Seeded Surfers struggle at Gunnamatta on Day 2 of the Ozmosis Nova Pro Junior

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 January, 2008 : - - A number of the top seeded surfers competing at Gunnamatta today were surprise early eliminations from the Ozmosis Nova Pro Junior. Gold Coast surfer Brendan Leckie is a regular finalist at Pro Junior level but today he was comprehensively defeated by one of the youngest competitors in the event in Wes Bainbridge (Newcastle).

From the outset Bainbridge showed he meant business aggressively finding the best waves and by mid heat had a solid lea after scoring a very strong 7.5 ride and was never seriously challenged.

“I never really take any notice of who I’m up against in a heat – I find it best to just get out there and surf my best without worrying about who I’m against – I had a few good waves and to win is good – I’m looking forward to tomorrows round three, especially with the surf cleaning up with better winds.”

Finishing second and also advancing behind Bainbridge was Brent Savage (Casuarina) who was desperate for a strong result following his early elimination in the opening event on the series last week. Leckie wasn’t the only high seed to make plans for leaving the event today.

Victoria’s highest rated Pro Junior surfer Carl Wright placed third in his heat to be eliminated behind Perth Standlick (Bondi) and Nic Vasicek (Gold Coast) and Sunshine Coast surfer Dean Iezzi went down to NSW pair Alex Beveridge and Chis Enever.

The day’s standout surfer was Richard Christie from NZ. The athletic Gisborne based east coast NZ surfer is always capable of scoring big and his 9.25 ride today included a big aerial move which saw him take the easiest of wins ahead of Caleb Reid (Bondi).

Local wildcard surfers Caiden Fowler (St Andrews) and Liam Jolly (Mt Eliza) both surfed their heats today and acquitted themselves well despite being eliminated from the event. Both won their wild card positions via the trials for local surfers organized by their Peninsula Boardriders Club who are also doing a fine job running this entire event.

Girls opening rounds were also surfed today and local surfer Georgia Fish enjoyed utilizing her local knowledge on the unpredictable beachbreak waves at Gunnamatta to advance through rounds one and two and she’s into the quarter finals where she will face ASP world number two junior surfer Paige Hareb from New Zealand. Also through to the quarter finals is Jessica Laing (Phillip Island) making for a strong Victorian representation in the Pro Junior Women’s.

While today’s winds made conditions fairly difficult for surfers and spectators, tomorrow’s forecast is for dramatically improved conditions with clean offshore winds and plenty of sunshine which should see Gunnamatta turn on it’s best in wave quality with the event set to begin around 8:00am and run all day through both Junior Men’s and Women’s divisions..

Previous reports:
# 1 : World's best pro juniors to hit Ozmosis Nova Pro Victoria
# 2 : Ozmosis Nova Pro Junior off and running with great surf
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

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Steve Robertson

Junior Contests - Surfersvillage