Medi Veminardi and Thomas Woods triumphant in Round 1 of Billabong ASP World Junior Championships
Reunion Island’s Medi Veminardi and Australia’s Thomas Woods successfully confirmed their place in the third round of Billabong Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Junior Championships after claiming top honours in their respective Round 1 heats
on Saturday, January 21, at the iconic Burleigh Heads in Gold Coast, Australia.
With Veminardi taking first place in the 15th heat, Hawaii’s Keala Naihe was forced to settle for second place, whereas Japan’s Kaishu Tanaka rounded out third place. Both the surfers moved into the relegation round as a result
The 16th heat sent South Africa’s Michael February and France’s Pierre-Valentin Lab, who finished behind Woods in second and third place respectively, into the relegation round as well.
While the surfing conditions had been great during the morning session, the surfers found themselves facing trick two-to-three foot waves and on-shore winds during the afternoon session, making it relatively challenging to find good scores.
The difficulty in getting hold of a competitive score remained evident during the 15th heat as Veminardi took on Naihe and Tanaka.
Despite struggling to catch waves, Veminardi made the most of the ones that he actually did manage to lock. Collecting a 5.83 off his first business-wave and backing it up with a 5.50-point wave, the Reunion Island-native finished with a heat-total of 11.33
points. The score remained unbeatable until the end, consequently carrying him off to a convincing victory.
In contrast to Veminardi, Naihe had no trouble catching waves, though the same could not be said about his luck with the scores. Despite a determined search, the Hawaiian was only able to post a 3.77 and 5.10 on the score-board to finish with a resultant
heat-total of 8.87 points.
Tanaka was unable to adjust to the tricky waves and wind prevailing at the primary event site as well and thus failed to find decent wave-scores. He eventually finished with a heat-total of 7.74 points, which comprised of a 3.67 and 4.07-point wave.
The final heat of Round 1 saw Woods square off with February and Lab in a battle for the Round 3 spot.
Woods got off to a solid start, earning 6.27 points off his first business-wave early in the heat and immediately followed it up with an impressive 7.83-point wave, taking his heat-total to 14.10 points.
February trailed close behind his Australian rival after scoring a 5.63 early in the heat and adding another 7.80 points to his account later on. However, he failed to improve on his score and was eventually forced to settle for runner-up place while surrendering
victory to Woods.
Lab remained busy during the three-man battle as well, catching a number of waves to find competitive scores. However, he finished the heat with a two-wave total of 12.83 points, which comprised of a 5.93 and 6.90-point wave, consequently rounding out the
third position.
The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships Gold Coast in the third and final event of ASP World Junior Tour and will determine the men’s and women’s 2011 ASP World Junior Champion.
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