Oakley Pro Junior

ASP Australasia Grade 4 Men's Event
North Stradbroke Island Queensland
5 - 10 February 2008

Oakley Pro Junior Gets Underway At North Stradbroke Island

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 February, 2008 : - - Queensland's North Stradbroke Island turned it on for day one of the all-new Oakley Pro Junior with a pulsing easterly swell generating stormy 1.5- 2-metre surfing conditions at Main Beach today. More than 140 of the globe’s hottest surfers aged 20-years and under converged on ‘Straddie’ for the start of the 9-star rated ASP Australasian tournament, Queensland’s richest ever-junior event.

International surfers set the pace for the day with 22 heats of round one being completed in very good surfing conditions. Tahitian powerhouse Tamaroa McComb (Coolangatta) continued his ambush of Australia’s domestic junior surfing series, disposing of local lad Darcy Phillips, Avalon’s Karl Attkins and Maroochydore’s Ben Milgate en route to advancing through to round two of the $30,000 tournament.

“It was really fun out there,” said McComb. “It’s my first time here so I was a little nervous warming up. I knew a local was going to be in my heat, so I had to be on my game.”

McComb, who outclassed the next generation of Australian junior surf stars to win event three of the junior series at Burleigh Heads last week, attacked the punchy left-hand beach break peaks with absolute commitment, unloading a series of powerful backhand turns to net the morning’s highest individual wave score, an excellent scoring 8.00 out of a possible 10.

Backing it up with a 6.17, McComb amassed a final combination of a 14.17 to Phillip’s 13.33, in the hard-hitting conditions. “The waves packed a lot of punch,” he said. “Conditions were quite shifty at times, but once you got a good one you could really show off some big moves.”  At just 16, McComb represents the ‘new school’ of rising international surf stars flocking to Australia to cut their teeth in competition.

The Tahitian whiz kid has moved into a new pad at Coolangatta, just down the road from the Superbank and Kirra, with shaper and renowned big wave surfer Dylan Longbottom. He now plans to live between the Gold Coast and his home on the French Polynesian island of Huahine, in between an extensive international competition schedule.

However, McComb won’t be able to rest on his laurels with a forthcoming showdown against North Narrabeen’s Davey Cathels, Ulladulla’s Sam Wrench and Western Australia's Tom Clarke, whilst Phillips who also progressed into the next round, will meet Coffs Harbour’s Jayke Sharp, Kangaroo Island’s Teale Vanner and Palm Beach’s Takkesh Thorne.

Phillips, who is a born-and-bred local, was pleased with his result on home turf today and is looking forward to hitting the water for round two heats. “It’s great that the event was staged at Straddie,” said Phillips. “I’ve been waiting so long for a professional event to be held here. I’m stoked!”

Balinese surfer Raditya Rhondi (Kuta) continued the giant killing run for the international contingent, unleashing a radical forehand assault to defeat Campbell Downey (Aireys Inlet), Matt Hewitt (NZ) and Eli Sharp (NSW) in his round one heat. 

Rhondi, who grew up surfing on the sharp left-hand reef breaks of Indonesia, looked right at home in the reeling waves, accruing a two-wave combined heat total of a 12.83 to Downey’s 9.13. Hewitt (7.74) and Sharp (5.60) finished third and fourth respectively. France’s Maxime Hucenot (Hossegor) also netted a convincing win in the morning’s round one heats.

Gold Coast surfers were well represented today with Ben Webb (Coolangatta), Takkesh Thorne (Palm Beach) and Dan Pryor (Tugun) enjoying wins. Meanwhile, Jasper Endersby (Peregian Beach) posted the Sunshine Coast’s lone win this morning. Going to press, Straddie's Ash MacDonald overpowered Bilinga's Eli Jacobs to book himself a spot in the next round.

Competition is expected to continue tomorrow with round two heats. Top seed Stuart Kennedy (Lennox Heads) will hit the water in the opening heat of the day, whilst highly rated local Lincoln Taylor will feature in the morning’s action. 

The prestigious new tournament is the first of six Oakley pro junior events organised for Brazil, Europe, Japan, USA and South Africa in '08. The champion and runner-up from each event will be taken to a secret location to battle it out for more cash and prizes.

The Oakley Pro Junior is the 4th of 12 stops on the 2008 ASP Australasian Pro Junior Series and offers a six-day surfing window, from Tuesday 5th February to Sunday 10th February, 2008, for only four days of competition surfing.

The main event site will be at Cylinder Beach, however the tournament has the option of going to the best surf from Adder Rock to Main Beach. The Oakley Pro Junior is proudly supported by Redlands Shire Council, Stradbroke Ferries, Stradroke Island Holidays, Stradbroke Island Beach Hotel, Red Bull, Waves Magazine, Surfing Queensland and ASP Australasia.

About Oakley. 

Decades of Oakley research have achieved performance innovations for the world’s best athletes. In the process, we have raised the bar of durability and protection, and our inventions now serve the industries of health, safety and defense. Categories include eyewear that protect against extreme impact and laser light; fire-resistant gloves utilized by professional race drivers; and footwear developed for combat, motor sports and environmental extremes.

Previous reports:
# 1 : Oakley secures Queensland's richest Pro Junior contest
# 2 : Oakley Pro Junior set for start at North Stradbroke Island
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

www.oakleyprojunior.com
www.surfingqueensland.com
www.aspworldtour.com/oakley

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Jake White

Junior Contests - Surfersvillage