Sunday, August 28 th

The little bay of this pro junior event woke up this morning under clouds and fog, leaving the organisers worried about the visibility problems the judges were going to have. But luckily, the weather changed pretty fast and the last two heats of the girls' event were sent, leaving the last sixteen men of the round of 32 enough time to concentrate and prepare their battle. The men's event thus started at 8.45 am, with heat 5 of the round of 32, in 4 ft waves pumping on the sets thanks to the incoming tide. Ben Dunn (Aus) was not so impressive but took advantage of the conditions choosing exactly the waves he needed to lead the twenty-minute decider up to the end.

After showing great commitment and speed the last two days, the Americans Alex gray and Pat and Dane Gudauskas reached this last eight-men round looking quite confident about getting to the end. They joined Romain Laulhé (Fra), Aritz Aranburu (Euk), former junior world champion Gonzalo Zubizarreta (Esp), Ben Dunn (Aus) and Joan Duru (fra). With four Europeans and four internationals in the semis including three Americans, the Ericeira Billabong Pro Junior showed that the European professional junior circuit has definitely become the most important in the world.

The fog just came in again before the first semifinal and the event had to be put on stand-by around lunch time. The hooter spoke again at 1.15 pm, and Alex Gray (Usa) rushed into the heat with two waves in a row, getting first place as Gonzalo Zubizarreta (Esp) was still waiting for his first one. The machine then went on and Goni took off to rip the lip with five amazingly powerful turns, rewarded with a 9+. With the same patience, he waited for his back-up ride and managed again to impress the crowd and the judges finishing at the far end of this righthander with a big snap back just over the rocks; that gave him the lead with an 8+, giving him the ticket for his first pro junior final of the year.

Only one of the Gudauskas made it through to the last heat of the contest, Dane Gudauskas encouraging his brother for the title. The final was held with an international field, bringing together Ben Dunn (Aus), Alex Gray (Usa), Pat Gudauskas (Usa) and Gonzalo Zubizarreta (Esp). The Spanish used his knowledge and experience of the spot to repeat his strategy, feeling absolutely at home with the crowd cheering on each of his turns. Leading the heat for ten minutes, he eventually had to watch Ben Dunn (Aus) steal the crown from him as the Australian just managed to express all his talent and already mature surfing to back up his 6+ with a deserved 9.07 pointer, giving him the title five just at the end of the heat.

The 2 Star Ericeira Billabong Pro Junior took place in perfect waves, giving the competitors all they needed to express their best level. With consistent waves throughout these three days, this edition will for sure give the surfers the will to come back next year. On behalf of Asp Europe, thank you for following the coverage. Tomorrow starts the Buondi Billabong 6 Star WQS event so stay tuned.

Billabong Pro Junior is organized by Alfarroba for Billabong , and has the support of Câmara Municipal de Mafra, Junta de Turismo da Ericeira, PT, Tsunami, Fiat, Kustom, VonZipper, Hertz, Ericeira Surf Clube, Vila Galé Ericeira, Rock Sisters, Ericeira Surf Shop, Fisioteam, Ribeira d'Ilhas Bar and ASP Europe .

Media partners are Sport TV , radio Antena3 – Programa Sem Stress by Luís Monteiro, the daily newspapers Correio da Manhã and Record , SURF Portugal magazine, and websites Surf.Sapo.Pt, SurfTotal.com, Surflower.com and Surfersvillage.com .

Red Zubizarreta, Gonzalo (Esp) 2 15,00 pts 1500$
White Gray, Alex (Usa) 4 14,00 pts 800$
Yellow Dunn, Ben (Aus) 1 15,24 pts 2000$
Black Gudauskas, Patrick (Usa) 3 14,10 pts 1000$

As the sun yesterday had not allowed us to finish the girls' quarterfinals, they were the first to taste the cool water as the 3 ft waves were offering lots of potential once again. The first qualifier of the day was Pauline Ado (Fra) who confirmed her status of favourite on her two first waves. Paddling into the set waves looking relaxed but determined, she managed to rip each of the sections during a sixty-meter ride, getting a total of 18.26 points out of possible twenty, after five minutes had gone on the timer. By that time she could have left the water confidently, but she surfed securely during twenty minutes watching the three other girls fighting for second place.

The first semifinal followed the last quarterfinal heat of the men. With the crowd getting more and more excited as we were moving towards the end of the contest, the girls found great support and motivation to rip the waves and express their satisfaction of such a contest held for them. The battle took place between Lee Ann Curren (Fra) and Charlotte Caton (Fra), the two other favourites of this event, who kept on answering one another with good rides, getting some 6 to 9 pointers as they have been doing since the beginning of this event. Pauline Ado (Fra) repeated her job to qualify in style for the first Women Pro Junior Event final ever in Europe, followed by Garazi Sanchez (Euk) who stood up in front of the French domination.

With these French and the Basque Spanish surfer, the final was representative of the actual under 21 women's level in Europe. Inspite some delay in the schedule because of the main enemy of the day, the weather, who kept on spreading its fog on the contest area, the thirty minute girls' final started at 2.15 pm. Opening the battle, Charlotte Caton (Fra) was rewarded with a 3+ wave, followed by Lee Ann Curren (Fra) who answered with a 4.7 pointer.

Good friends out of the water, the girls showed no pity to claim the highest step of the podium and it was a big battle until Pauline Ado (Fra) started ripping the waves and getting just over the top with big cutbacks and re-entries on the most critical parts of the water walls in front of her. The only non French of this final got smothered by her opponents and couldn't find anything serious to worry the others. Up to the end, fifteen-year-old Pauline Ado (Fra) handled the pressure and finally was held high in the sky by her team mates to grab first ever European women's pro junior event title.

The Ericeira Billabong Women's Pro Junior was a success. With crowds on the beach, lots of encouragement to the riders and a great level, we can hope this premiere event will be an example for some future initiative in the evolution of professional surfing. Thanks for reading, will see you later.

The Billabong Pro Junior is organized by Alfarroba for Billabong , and has the support of Câmara Municipal de Mafra, Junta de Turismo da Ericeira, PT, Tsunami, Fiat, Kustom, VonZipper, Hertz, Ericeira Surf Clube, Vila Galé Ericeira, Rock Sisters, Ericeira Surf Shop, Fisioteam, Ribeira d'Ilhas Bar and ASP Europe .

Media partners are Sport TV , radio Antena3 – Programa Sem Stress by Luís Monteiro, the daily newspapers Correio da Manhã and Record , SURF Portugal magazine, and websites Surf.Sapo.Pt, SurfTotal.com, Surflower.com and Surfersvillage.com .

Red Caton, Charlotte 3 200$
White Curren, Lee-Ann 2 350$
Yellow Ado, Pauline 1 450$
Black Sanchez, Garazi 4 150$

Gregory Pujet