Oakley Pro Junior Prizemoney 5 000 $ 1 STAR “PRO JUNIOR” EVENT
Plage Centrale, Lacanau Océan – France – 11-13 August 2005

Friday, August 12th

The hooter spoke this morning at 8.15 with the sun just rising above the Oakley Pro Junior competition site. After an early breakfast in front of the nice-breaking peak offering 2 to 3 ft sets, the judges entered their office preparing for a long day of surfing. With a light side-shore wind blowing, the first competitors of the day had to face the still freezing 16/17°C water, but managed to get the action underway scoring some 6+ waves.

Once again, Ben Dunn (Aus) rocked the lefthanders of the area and just smashed the clean faces of the morning to get amazing scores. After joining four upside-down re-entries with speed and power, he finished his first wave with a grab air move, to get a 9.5 reward. Feeling at ease in these conditions thanks to his technical skills, Dunn then backed up his first wave with an 8.33, totalising 17.83 out of a possible 20. This gave him the best wave score of the contest so far, as well as the best total. Just the best!!!

Last year's Pro Junior champion Jean Da Silva (Brz) managed as well to qualify for the round of 32, with an unusual score for this brilliant surfer of 9.36 points; in testing conditions, even the best can have problems to find the good scoring waves. In the same heat, last year's EPSA Pro Junior #2 Aritz Aranburu (Euk) found enough points to qualify as well. Tapia Pro Junior's winner and former world #3 of the ISA junior championships Joan Duru secured his qualification using the same precise and technical surfing he has been using since the beginning of the Junior European events this year.

The round of 32 was sent in the water at 2.15 pm, getting this Oakley Pro Junior towards its climax as the last best 32 young guns were getting in the ring to fight for their ticket in order to keep their Lacanau Pro Junior event dream alive. Once again lots of crowds stuck to the beach, feet in the water encouraging pro surfing's future warriors, and it was a beautiful day here in Lacanau which took place in a really nice atmosphere. The round of 32 saw the qualifications of favourites Ben Dunn (Aus) and Ola Eleogram (Haw), followed by last year's winner Jean Da Silva (Brz) who managed to get through despite an interference call, thanks to an 8+ pointer.

The quarterfinals will get underway at 8 am tomorrow morning, so stay tuned for all the action from the central beach of Lacanau, as we will crown the Oakley Pro Junior Champion tomorrow by lunch time. Thanks for joining us,