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 Lee Ann Curren (Biarritz, FRA), 19, claimed the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Grade-2 Rip Curl Pro Junior Mademoiselle today at Les Bourdaines in Seignosse. Curren, who defeated Justine Dupont (FRA), Pauline Ado (FRA) and Marie Dejean (FRA) in a 100% French final, took the best out of the good hollow four foot (1.2 meter) waves in the seventh event of the season.
Lee Ann Curren, reigning ASP European Women’s champion, who advanced through four heats in two days to reach the final encounter, won with a low 11.50 point score tally (out of a possible 20) after getting through three rounds in a row in the solid conditions. Posting a good 6.75 point ride (out of a possible 10) en route to victory, Curren led the final all the way to the end.
“I am super stoked”, Curren said. “It took me some time to find a good wave but finding the good option was the key to win. There was a lot of current so I chose to ride a bigger board to paddle out faster. It was fun to try barrels and different moves.”
With this victory, Curren wins the precious wildcard to compete against the ASP Top 17 in the Rip Curl Pro Mademoiselle, Stop No. 3 of 8 on the ASP Women’s World Tour, and jumps to 2nd on the regional ratings.
“I placed 2nd and 3rd in the last events and I really wanted to win this one", Curren said. " I am stoked to win the wildcard to compete in the Women’s World tour event. This is a fantastic opportunity!”
Runner-up Justine Dupont (Lacanau, FRA), 17, put an excellent effort in her final battle but was unable to find the scores needed to claim the title. Dupont posted a low 6.10 point heat tally (out of possible 20).
“I really enjoyed the conditions today,” Dupont said. “Some waves were very big and gave me an adrenaline rush. I chose the outside section and I think it was the best option to score better but I paddled most of the 30-minute final."
Dupont is now No.4 one the ASP Junior ratings and increases her chance of qualifying for the 2009 ASP World Junior Championships (WJC) in Narabeen, Australia, where the end-of-the-year regional Top 2 will surf.
“I felt very good today because it was my birthday!” Dupont said. “To win this event would have been the best present I could get ! I am still very happy with this result because I get closer to the ASP Junior Top 3.”
Pauline Ado (FRA), 17, who was very consistent this year, placed 3rd in the final and remains well in position on the regional ratings. Ado will still be chasing big results if she wants to stay in the race with ratings' leader Alizee Arnaud (FRA).
Arnaud, 18, could not counter fellow French surfers Lee Ann Curren and Justine Dupont and was eliminated in Semifinal 1 finishing with an unusual low 2.60 point heat tally (out of a possible 20). Arnaud will need a big result in the last Pro Junior in Carcavelos next October to secure her leading place in the regional ratings.
Europe’s best under-21 competitors will meet next at Carcavelos in Portugal from October 17 to 19 for an ASP Grade-2 Pro Junior, final event of the 2008 ASP European Women’s Pro Junior tour.
The ASP Top 17 will meet tomorrow, Tuesday, August 28 for the kick off of the Rip Curl Pro Mademoiselle at Les Bourdaines in Seignosse.
FINAL
Heat 1: Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 11.50 pts, Justine Dupont (FRA) 6.10 pts, Pauline Ado (FRA) 4.10 pts, Marie Dejean (FRA) 2.70
SEMIFINALS
Heat 1: Justine Dupont (FRA) 10.65 pts, Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 9.20 pts, Bianca Buidentag (ZAF) 8.00 pts, Alizée Arnaud (FRA) 2.60 pts
Heat 2: Marie Dejean (FRA) 15.80 pts, Pauline Ado (FRA) 6.85 pts, Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 6.15 pts, Nikita Robb (ZAF) 5.00 pts
QUARTERFINALS
Heat 1 : Justine Dupont (FRA) 14.00 pts, Bianca Buidentag (ZAF) 13.35 pts, Marjolaine Ado (FRA) 5.10 pts, Cannelle Bulard (FRA) 4.10 pts
Heat 2 : Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 7.00 pts, Alizée Arnaud (FRA) 6.90 pts, Raine Jackson (AUS) 6.25 pts, Merril Delanne (FRA) 1.90 pts
Heat 3 : Nikita Robb (ZAF) 14.75 pts, Pauline Ado (FRA) 12.00 pts, Francesca De Santos (PRT) 1.00 pts, Alix Cranet (FRA) 0.00 pts
Heat 4 : Marie Dejean (FRA) 10.50 pts, Bruna Schmitz (BRA) 9.25 pts, Laetitia Sudre (FRA) 3.50 pts, Leticia Canales Bilbao (EUK) 0.20 pts
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 Miguel Pupo (Sao Paulo, BRA), 17, claimed the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Grade-1 Oakley Pro, his maiden title in front of a massive French crowd at Lacanau today. Pupo, who came all the way from Round 1, put on a show in the 30-minute final, taking the best out of the clean three to four foot (1 to 1.2 meter) waves to defeat Marc Lacomare (FRA), Thomas Fok Cheong (REU) and Charles Martin (GLP).
Pupo, who advanced through seven heats during three days of intense action to reach the final encounter, won with a solid 17.16 point score tally (out of a possible 20) after getting through three rounds today. Posting an excellent 9.43 point ride (out of a possible 10) en route to victory, Pupo led the final all the way to the end.
“I am super stoked”, Pupo said. “The final was very hard to win and I never expected to finish ahead of such good surfers. I was lucky to get a bomb and make this big air. I am very happy to win the wildcard to compete in the ASP WQS 6-Star Sooruz Lacanau Pro next week.”
Pupo, who placed equal 3rd in the ASP Grade-1 Oakley Pro Junior in Ubatuba, Brazil, last May, qualifies for the Oakley Global Challenge Final which will take place from October 7 to17 in Bali, Indonesia. “I am looking forward to take part in the Oakley Global Challenge”, Pupo said. “Until then, I will do my best without pressure and try to keep surfing well and have fun in Europe. So stoked to get this win.”
Runner-up Marc Lacomare (FRA), 18, current No.2 on the ASP European Junior rating, was confident during the event and reached his goal as his 2nd place gives him a wildcard in the Oakley Global Challenge as well.
“I am very happy because I aimed at qualifying for Bali and it is done”, Lacomare said. “This competition was very tough. The surfing conditions changed a lot and I tried to adapt every day so I am stoked to get back home with this runner-up finish.”
Lacomare has been very consistent this year with two victories thus far including the ASP Grade-3 Rip Curl Pro Junior in Portugal and the ASP Grade-1 Vans Pro Junior in San Sebastian and placing equal 5th in the ASP Grade-2 Island Pro Junior in Sopelana last week.
“There are two Pro Junior events remaining”, Lacomare said. “Last year I missed my ASP World Junior Championships (WJC) ticket so I will do my best to stay in the Top 5 to win it and make sure i make it to Narabeen.” Lacomare will still have to secure at least one big result if he wants to keep any ASP European Junior crown hopes alive as Maxime Huscenot (REU) remains ahead after Lacanau.
Thomas Fok Cheong (REU), 19, got a second consecutive excellent result reaching the semifinals to grab a 3rd place in the final. Fok Cheong got through six rounds but was unable to find any good enough scores to grab the crown. “Miguel (Pupo) and Marc (Lacomare) were amazing”, Fok Cheong said. “I had some bombs in the heat but I did not make the best out of it and I could not catch up with any of them.”
Charles Martin (GLP), ASP World Junior No. 3 and competing in his first event this summer due to school obligations and a recent injury, finished 4th in the final after displaying solid surfing in Quarterfinals and Semifinals. Martin, who knows he cannot hope for any Top 5 finish this year, entered the event to have fun and get back to competition.
Women will meet Monday, August 11 for the ASP Grade-1 Oakley Women’s Pro Junior at Lacanau.
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 The Oakley Pro Junior Japan finished up today in Shidashita Point of Chiba, Japan. Early morning fog and small wave conditions greeted the surfers in the early morning hours.
Cadet Class (U-16) took the first plunge of the competition. Kaishu Tanaka, who achieved good results from the previous day trial seed round wowed the judges once again and scored high points in the Cadet class. Mid summer waves of the Shidashita beach are only waist to chest high. However the shapes are very regular, fulfilling the needs of the 20-minute-heats. During the round of 24 in the Junior (U-21) competition, top seed riders who hold positions in 2007 and 2008 WQS ranking showcased the dead heat. Junior (U-21) kicked off its game under such condition. Keito Matsuoka, who is the current Japanese record holder of WQS World Tour, earned high scores from the beginning of the heat, creating a more advantageous condition than other riders. Nobuaki Osawa, Kento Takahashi and Shota Nakamura, who are eligible to represent Japan in the World Junior Champions 2008 astonished the audience with their talent as top seed riders and qualified for the finals together. Kai Kojima, who competed in France as a amateur Japanese surfer in May competed in Round of 16, Koki Nakamura qualified in Semi Finals. Sho Kobayashi, who has already joined the WQS in the USA came back to Japan during his summer vacation and joined the competition. He won until Semi Finals but his luck ran out when he had to compete against the World Junior Team, disabling him to join the Finals. The riders had to improvise their move as the onshore condition changed due to the north eastern wind in the afternoon. Arashi Kato, the 2007 Cadet champion, Sho Kobayashi, the resident of the USA, Mao Terashima and Yoto Ohara fought over the Cadet Championship for 25 minutes. Arashi won the title, making himself the consecutive championship holder. Junior Championship was a high level battle, which lasted even in the last 10 seconds. Nobuyuki Osawa, a first time competitior, won the Championship in the end. OAKLEY PRO JUNIOR
Junior Class（U-21）
Finals Result
１． Nobuyuki Osawa
２． Shota Nakamura
３． Keito Matsuoka
４． Kento Takahashi Cadet Class (U-16)
５． Arashi Kato
６． Sho Kobayashi
７． Mao Terashima
８． Yoto Ohara |
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 Maui’s Kai Barger, 18, of Haiku, scored the first major ASP Pro Junior victory of his career at Waikiki Beach today in the $5,000 Macy’s E-Series Pro Junior presented by ASP Hawaii.
Against an all-star lineup of Hawaii’s hottest juniors, Barger surfed through five rounds to take the honors, winning $2,000 and accounting for top names the likes of Clay Marzo (Maui), Casey Brown (Big Island), and Ha’a Aikau (Oahu) along the way.
Second place today was Sebastian Zietz (Kilauea, Kauai), 20 third was 15-year-old Keanu Asing (Ewa, Oahu) and fourth was Albee Layer (Haiku, Maui).
Surf for this one-day event was highly contestable in the two-to-three foot (1.5 metre) range. However, the afternoon’s high tide brought with it inconsistent conditions that emphasized the importance of a solid start to the 30-minute final. Just 13 waves total were ridden during the final heat all but one were posted in the first 15 minutes before the high tide slowed conditions to a virtual standstill.
With so little surf on offer for the all-important heat of the day and with the carbon copy wave nature of the Queen’s surf break, the playing field was so level and the calibre of surfers so close that the win came down to a countback between Barger and Zietz. In the end, Barger won with 12.5 points out of 20 (individiual wave scores of 7.25 and 5.25) to Zietz’s 11.9 (7.5 and 4.4).
The critical edge turned out to be Barger’s more vertical backhand attack over that of his three regular-footed rivals.
"The thought of winning a pro junior for me was a dream," said Barger. "I’ve never made a pro junior final. I’ve watched all my friends win, and finally... I’ve been hurting for one. I think I might have had the slight advantage being backside. When it’s so small, you can kind of just throw it up there and it might look a little better to the judges. I was surprized, actually. I thought I didn’t win."
The Macy’s E-Series Pro Junior is one of three ASP Pro Junior events to be held in Hawaii this year and is a qualifier for the prestigious Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Australia in January of 2009.
The Macy’s E-Series Pro Junior was the third and final event of the 2008 Macy’s E-Series, staged this summer. The first two events were ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS)1-Star events as part of the ASP World Tour.
ASP Hawaii and Macy’s collaborated to produce the Macy’s E-Series, giving Hawaii’s pro surfing community a much needed opportunity to win valuable ASP ratings points and prize money at home breaks.
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DANA POINT, Calif. (Aug. 13, 2008) –The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Qualifying Series (WQS) 2-Star Oakley Newport Beach Pro returns Sept. 16-21, 2008 to Newport’s famed 54th Street break. The ASP Grade-2 Oakley Pro Junior and 20th Annual Newport Beach Surf Championships will run concurrently with the contest, which serves as stop number two on the Macy’s California Trifecta Surf Series.
“A result in Newport is critical for both WQS and Junior competitors chasing the Macy’s bonus,” says Action Sports Group Events Director Sean Nielsen. “It will be exciting to see who steps up and ignites the race leading into the O’Neill Cold Water Classic.”
As has been proven for the last few years, the Oakley Newport Beach Pro is a pivotal stop on the three-event Macy’s California Surf Series. Last year’s race heated up significantly after the Oakley Newport Beach Pro where Nate Yeomans (San Clemente, CA) clenched his second consecutive Oakley Newport Beach Pro victory. Going into the final Trifecta event, the O’Neill Cold Water Classic in Santa Cruz, Yeomans had a slight Trifecta points advantage over 2007 Oakley Newport Beach Pro runner-up Adam Virs (Ventura, CA) and third-place finisher Austin Ware (Solano Beach, CA). In the end Virs, Yeomans and Ware finished first, second and third, respectively, on the Trifecta.
The previous year saw a similar situation. Yeomans took the 2006 Oakley Newport Beach Pro victory with Nathaniel Curran (Oxnard, CA) taking second, and Dustin Cuizon (Ewa Beach, HAW) fourth. The three finished the 2006 Trifecta series ranked first, second and third, respectively.
Asher Nolan (Neptune Beach, FL) reigned victorious with the inaugural Trifecta win in 2005 after a third-place finish at the Oakley Newport Beach Pro. Curran, who had taken the Oakley Newport Beach Pro championship that year, finished in second on the Trifecta and Brett Simpson (Huntington Beach, CA), who finished second in Newport, finished in third on the Trifecta.
This year, the Trifecta race is still anyone’s game going into the Oakley Newport Beach Pro, and many will be trying to end Yeomans’ quest for a third Oakley Newport Beach Pro win.
“I want to be the three-time Newport Champ,” says Yeomans. “That would fit well going with the Macy’s California Trificta Series. I want my nickname to be ‘Newport Nate’ and I think that can only happen if I win it three times. There is always good competition in Newport, and I’m sure there are plenty of guys who want to take me out. So, game on.”
In conjunction with the Oakley Newport Beach Pro, this Oakley Pro Junior stop will also be a critical event for juniors vying for points on the Macy’s California Trifecta Surf Series. Oakley’s Sebastian Zietz (Hanalei, HAW) leads the Trifecta after his win at the 6.0 Lowers Pro at Trestles in May. He’s followed closely by top ranked juniors Jason Harris (Huntington Beach, FL), Travis Beckman (Vero Beach, FL), Dusty Payne (Maui, HAW) and last year’s Oakley Pro Junior Newport Beach Champ Adam Wickwire (Satellite Beach, FL).
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 LACANAU, France (Monday, 11 August, 2008)- 0b0Pauline Ado (FRA), 17, clinched the ASP Grade-1 Oakley Pro Junior in solid five to six foot (1.5 to 2 meter) waves at Lacanau in France today. Ado, who defeated reigning ASP European Women’s champion Lee Ann Curren (FRA), current ASP European Pro Junior ratings leader Joahnne Defay (FRA) and Marie Dejean (FRA) in a 100% French final, takes her win this year.
Ado, who ended up winning with a low 7.83 point score tally (out of a possible 20) due to the testing conditions, made it through four rounds today. Ado was a standout today and defended her ASP Junior regional crown with solid surfing.
"It was really difficult to express my skills out there and I am a bit disappointed with my scores," Ado said. "Lee Ann (Curren) dominated the whole final but I was Lucky in the end and it is not really you want to win. "
Ado, who will try at least to make the end-of-the-year regional Top 2, remains in contention for a possible second consecutive ASP European Junior title.
Lee Ann Curren (FRA), 19, who lost his seed right due to a late entry, had to get through a 6-heat marathon-day to make the final, missing the crown by 0.15 point. Curren posted both highest heat result and wave score, respectively a 17.33 point heat tally (out of a possible 20) and a perfect 10.00 point ride (out of a possible 10) in Round 2.
"I knew I had to find the best position and I chose the outside", Curren said. "The waves doubled throughout the day and it was very hard to find big scores. I had to change boards to adapt but it did not pay in the end."
Curren, who competed in two events only this year, sits No.12 on the regional ratings and will need big results to hope for any Junior title at the end of the year.
Joahanne Defay (FRA), 14, confirmed her regional lead by reaching the final for the second consecutive event but finished 3rd to Curren and Ado, still keeping her No. 1 spot in Europe.
"It is very hard to surf in these huge hollow waves", Defay said. "I am happy I made the final and managed to reach the outside because it was a real challenge for me."
Defay is looking forward to keeping good form and secure a spot for the ASP World Junior Championships (WJC) in Narabeen next January.
"There are four Pro Junior events remaining", Defay said. "I will do my best to stay in the Top 3 and try and win my ticket for Narabeen."
Marie Dejean was the last finalist in the Oakley Pro Junior and remains consistent this season thus far.
Cannelle Bulard (REU) and Oakley Pro Junior defending champion Alizée Arnaud (FRA), suffered early eliminations leaving an open door to all ratings’followers to catch up in Lacanau.
"The conditions were very hard", Bulard said. "I surfed the foam because I couldn’t paddle out because of my boards being too short."
Europe’s best under-21 competitors will meet next week end in Hourtin, France, 30 minutes North to Lacanau for the ASP Grade-2 Kana Miss Cup Pro Junior, Stop No. 5 of 8 on the ASP European Women’s Pro Junior tour.
All results, news and photos available at www.aspeurope.com
FINAL
Heat : Pauline Ado (FRA) 7.83 pts, Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 7.67 pts, Joahnne Defay (FRA), 3.73 pts, Marie Dejean (FRA) 2.53 pts
SEMIFINALS
Heat 1: Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 7.34 pts, Pauline Ado (FRA) 4.97 pts, Cannelle Bulard (FRA) 3.80 pts, Joahnne Panzini (FRA) 0.67 pts
Heat 2: Joahnne Defay (FRA) 9.33 pts, Marie Dejean (FRA) 7.20 pts, Nikita Robb (FRA) 6.23 pts, Alizée Arnaud (FRA) 5.13 pts
QUARTERFINALS
Heat 1: Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 6.00 pts, Cannelle Bulard (FRA) 3.10 pts, Francesca de Santos (PRT) 2.47 pts, Alix Cranet (FRA) 0.56 pts
Heat 2: Pauline Ado (FRA) 6.27 pts, Joahnne Panzini (FRA) 5.50 pts, Merril Delanne (FRA) 0.77 pts, Garazi Sanchez (EUK) 0.30 pts
Heat 3: Joahnne Defay (FRA) 7.73 pts, Alizée Arnaud (FRA) 6.76 pts, Justine Dupont (FRA) 2.00 pts, Marjolaine Ado (FRA) 1.43 pts
Heat 4: Nikita Robb (FRA) 10.10 pts, Marie Dejean (FRA) 6.74 pts, Fransisca Sousa (PRT) 6.60 pts, Camille Davila (FRA) 1.94 pts
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