Oakley Pro Junior

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

Pristine Waves Served Up For Top Seeds At Oakley Pro Junior

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 6 February, 2008 : - - Perfect surfing conditions continued at Straddie for day two of the inaugural Oakley Pro Junior, with the tournament’s top seeds blitzing the island’s powerful waves today. 

Main Beach provided the ideal forum for round two action, with surfing young guns from as far a field as Bali, Europe, Hawaii, Japan, South Africa, Tahiti and the USA strutting their stuff in punchy 1.5-2-metre beach breaks waves at Main Beach, Point Lookout.

Local goofy foot Lincoln Taylor made his intentions clear in the third heat of the day, trumping Eli Jacobs (Bilinga), Mitch Noonan (Fingal Bay) and Dan Pryor (Tugun) in convincing fashion. Taylor, who nurtured his talented surfing skills on Main’s left-hand peaks, reigned supreme in the epic ‘barreling’ conditions, bustin’ out a polished display of high performance surfing en route to booking a spot in the next round.

“I felt really comfortable out there,” said Taylor. “The waves were pumping…. I felt like I was free surfing out there. Main (Main Beach) has been great for the last week, so it’s always good to take advantage of it." The Straddie star busted out of the gates, jagging a set wave before letting loose a multitude of critical forehand maneouvres to land a good-scoring 6.83 on his first wave.

In complete control, Taylor bagged an even better 8.50 to finish with one of the morning’s highest combined heat scores. Final Scores: Taylor (15.33), Jacobs (10.60), Noonan (8.70) and Pryor (7.00). Taylor, 19, will be tough to beat with conditions expected to pick up in the next few days.

Heath Joske (Nambucca Heads, NSW) continued to up the ante, weaving through the eye of a pristine backhand barrel to nab the morning’s highest individual wave score, a near perfect 9.80 out of a possible 10. “It was really fun when you got the good ones,” said Joske. “You kind of had to sit on the inside to get the barrels. It felt great to have a powerful barreling wave behind you.”

Joske, who scored a semi-final finish at the last pro junior tournament at Burleigh Heads, backed it up with a 5.83 to easily defeat Jake Stalker (Cronulla), Thomas Stubbs (Maroochydore) and Steve Ahrens (Curl Curl). 19-year-old Joske amassing a 15.63 total to Stalker’s 8.73.

Following in the footsteps laid by Taylor and Joske, Culburra ripper Owen Wright produced arguably the morning’s standout performance, locking in a pair of 8’s (8.50 & 8.67) to oust no.2 seed Nick Riley (Fairlight Beach). 

Wright, who posted a quarterfinal finish at the World Junior surfing championships at North Narrabeen in January, entertained the large crowd of spectators who gathered on the headland at Main Beach with a series vertical fin-wafts and razor sharp carves.

Final Scores: Wright (17.17), Delroy-Carr (12.27), Bell-Warren (8.47) and Riley (7.43).

Meanwhile, top seed Stuart Kennedy (Lennox Head) defied a slow start to notch a last minute victory against Joe Sear (Miranda), Jarrad Bell (Currumbin) and Sebastian Zietz (Hawaii). “I was a little nervous before my heat,” said Kennedy, who has jagged a commanding lead in the junior series ratings after posting a first, second and  a fifth in the opening three events of this year’s series.

“I actually feel relieved that I advanced. The ratings have been playing on my mind since the Burleigh event and I felt the pressure today...Hopefully I can start hitting my straps in the next round,” added Kennedy.

Kennedy is keen to impress at the revered wave haven after being beaten by Tahitian powerhouse Tamaroa McComb in the final of the ASP Australasian Pro Junior Series event at Burleigh Heads last week. Sitting in fourth place for the majority of the 20-minute heat, Kennedy bounced back in the final 5-minutes to net a high-scoring 8.00 and backed it up with a 5.17 to finish with a 13.17 heat total.

Other round two winners today included Tamaroa McComb (Coolangatta, formerly Tahiti), Ben Webb (Tweed Heads), Blake Ainsworth (Coolangatta), Chris Salisbury (Newport Beach), Jesse Adam (Merewether), Dane Atcheson (Copacabana), Perth Standlick (Bondi), Billy Stairmand (NZ) and Damien Chaudoy (Reunion Island). Competition is expected to continue tomorrow with multiple rounds of the 9-star rated tournament scheduled to run.

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 : Oakley Pro Junior underway at North Stradbroke Island
# 4 : Coming soon  

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

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Jake White

Junior Contests - Surfersvillage