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ASP INT., COOLANGATTA, QLD, AUSTRALIA (Tuesday, 22nd December, 2009): Aussies Mick Fanning and Stephanie Gilmore may be the toast of the surfing world having wrapped up the men’s and women’s World Titles in Hawaii, but now the focus shifts to Australia’s fledgling junior stars to see if they can make history by claiming the world’s premier junior surfing event – the 2009 Billabong ASP World Junior Championships Fuelled by Monster Energy – due to take place at Sydney’s North Narrabeen beach over eight days beginning January 9th.
But the local contingent will have their work cut out for them if they are to reverse the trend that has seen Australia’s international reputation for dominance wane since Joel Parkinson last claimed the men’s title for the green ’n gold in 2001. Lennox Head based surfer Owen Wright (Lennox Head, NSW) looms as Australia’s ‘most-likely’ with the talented goofy-foot among six seeded locals hoping to emulate the likes of 2008 winner Kai Barger (Maui, HI) who last year defeated number-one seed Jadson Andre (Natal City, Brazil) in the all-international finals showdown. Wright will enter the event running-hot following an awesome season that saw the 19 year-old storm ahead of Barger on the World Qualifying Series rankings and not once, but twice play spoiler to American legend Kelly Slater’s attempt at a record 10th ASP Men’s World Tour title.
“Last year (in the Billabong WJSC’s) a lot of things went the wrong way for me,” reflected Wright, who hopes some famous ‘Northy’ tubes and his aerial act can take him all the way to a dream finish at North Narrabeen. “It will be tough since the field has a lot of the same faces from last year, but I’m looking forward to it. Narrabeen is an awesome location; the Alley rights are so puntable and the lefts are long and sometimes barrelling so I hope we get it pumping this year!” Joining Wright in the 48-man field is compatriots Stuart Kennedy (Lennox Head, NSW), Dean Bowen (Gerroa, NSW), Chris Friend (Sunshine Coast, Qld), Garrett Parkes (Byron Bay, NSW), local hope Davey Cathels (Narrabeen, NSW), plus the winner from the Von Zipper Trials that will play-out on Friday, January 8th. In all, the international field sees surfers from eight world regions represented -the USA, South America, Europe, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Hawaii and various wildcards. Speaking
from Hawaii this week, having just wrapped up the Triple Crown, Joel
Parkinson (Coolangatta, Qld) reflected on the importance of the
World Junior title in his list of achievements.
“Owen is World Champ material if you ask me. I've watched him evolve over the years and I honestly think he'll be the man to beat at the World Juniors for sure. And Tyler she’s already won the biggest prize purse in women’s surfing and she’s still only 15,” said Fanning. “We’ve had a pretty quiet decade title-wise with Kelly and Andy Irons dominating. Thankfully Layne, Steph and Chelsea have been bringing the titles home. Hopefully we can bag all four this year and it marks the beginning of a dominant new era for competing Australian surfers. That would be great to see.” The Billabong ASP World Junior Championships mirrors the competition format of the ASP World Tour and is considered the sport’s ‘crystal ball’ for aspiring champions. In addition, a finals placing in the tournament affords the successful surfers an unrivalled seeding on the World Qualifying Series that serves as a springboard to the ASP World Tour. Check out the Billabong World Junior Surfing Championships live at North Narrabeen, or view it via the live Internet webcast at www.billabongpro.com The
Billabong ASP World Junior Surfing Championships is made possible
thanks to the support of SONY, MONSTER ENERGY, VW, VonZipper, VIRGIN
BLUE, Warringah Shire Council, Surfing NSW, SPECIAL THANKS aspworldtour.com
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