Victorious Airini - Image Organoff/ISA

The Rip Curl New Zealand Junior Surfing Team suffered three heavy defeats overnight Wednesday with Airini Mason (Tugun, Qld) the only girl to progress through her second round heat at the 2008 ISA Quiksilver World Junior Surfing Championships.  2007 finalist Paige Hareb was amongst the defeated surfers after small surf, hampered by extremely full tides, made conditions difficult to compete in.

After splitting from the other three surfers to ensure that she would claim one of the few waves that broke late in the heat her strategy paid off.  She scored a 3.0 to move into the lead and turn the tables on her competitors.  The South African surfer who led the heat early ultimately finished second and along with Mason eliminated Malia Manual from Hawaii.  Straight after the Airini’s win the event was put on hold until the tide went out and conditions again became contestable.

The story was different for Mason’s fellow three Kiwi competitors.  Alexis Poulter (Rag) fought hard in her heat but came up short with a heat score of 7.24 requiring 4.33 to advance.  Poulter was eventually eliminated by surfers from Hawaii and Peru.

Paige Hareb (Tara) was also in contention in her heat but finished in a frustrating third place scoring 10.07 still requiring 5.87 to move up into second place and progression.  Hareb was eliminated by Leila Hurst (Haw) and Justine Dupont (FRA).

Rosa Thompson (Aus) suffered the same fate as Poulter and Hareb in her heat falling just short of progression with a heat score of 9.00 requiring 5.01 for progression.  All three girls will now move down to the repercharge rounds where it becomes do or die.  The life line still allows the three surfers to gain a world title and despite the long road to the top reports are that all of the surfers are in high spirits and more than determined to plough past their opponents.

The under 18 boys and under 16 boys had the day off competition, instead offering solid support for the girls.  It is likely that all team members will be in the water on day five.

Forecasted wave conditions look to improve slightly tomorrow with a larger swell predicted.

The 2008 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Championships takes place from the 24^th of May through until the 1^st of April.  Live action can be viewed via the following website: http://www.isaworldchamp.com/. Action commences at approximately 6.00pm (NZ time) each night.

Media releases on the teams performance will be distributed daily throughout the event.  For further information regarding the Rip Curl New Zealand Junior Surfing Team, please contact Ben Kennings at Surfing New Zealand 07 8250018, 0212278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.

All surfers heats have been logged and can be viewed on http://www.isaworldchamp.com/ by clicking on ‘heats on demand’.

Support faxes can be received by the team in France through the following fax number - 0033 825 380 370.

The 2008 Quiksilver ISA World Junior Surfing Championships is an annual event having been held since 2003.  New Zealand has competed at the event since its inception as well as competing at the World Grommet Titles as it was formerly known since 1989.  New Zealand has been one of the top nations at each event with Jay Quinn (Gis) securing New Zealand’s first World Championship in the Under 18 Men’s division in 2001.  New Zealand also placed fourth in 2007 – it’s highest placing since 2001.  The 2007 team were aided by finals berths for Matt Hewitt who placed third in the under 16 boys and Paige Hareb who placed fourth in the under 18 girls.  28 countries are competing at the event in 2008.

The tour would not be possible without the support of Rip Curl, New Zealand Community Trust and Surfing New Zealand.

Surfing New Zealand are proudly partnered by

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