BILLABONG ASP WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS ROUND TO BEGIN AT 8am LOCAL TIME

North Narrabeen, Australia (Tues. Jan 2, 2007) – Starting guns are at the ready for the first round of the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships as the swell at Narrabeen Beach Australia has jumped over night and competitors are excited about surfing some really fun waves.

Despite the rain making things look a little ugly, the swell is forecast to continue to rise throughout the day and will provide a great platform for the best under 21-year-old surfers in the world to strut their new-school surfing wares.

Contest Director Luke Egan had no qualms about sending out the first round of the men's division, which will consist of 16 three-man heats.

He will then look at the potential for running the first round of the women's division.

"It's increased over night and the guys will have some fun walls out there," said Egan. "We'll get the guys out first thing and aim to run the whole first round. The girls are on standby also."

Stay tuned to www.aspworldtour.com and www.billabongpro.com for all the updates.

Men's Round One Heat Draw

Heat 1: Heitor Pereira (BRA); Casey Brown (HAW); Julian Wilson (AUS)
Heat 2: Damien Fahrenfort (ZAF); Sterling Spencer (USA); Vincent Duvignac (FRA)
Heat 3: Dion Atkinson (AUS); Romain Cloitre (FRA); Heath Joske (AUS)
Heat 4: TJ Barron (HAW); Nobuyuki Osawa (JAP); Reubyn Ash (GBR)
Heat 5: Hank Gaskell (HAW); Shota Nakamura (JPN); Halley Batista (BRA)
Heat 6: Matt Wilkinson (AUS); Klee Strachan (ZAF); Bernardo Martins (BRA)
Heat 7: Ola Eleogram (HAW); Torrey Meister (HAW); Tamarao McComb (PYF)
Heat 8: Adriano de Souza (BRA); Dusty Payne (HAW); Luke Cheadle (AUS)
Heat 9: Jordy Smith (ZAF); Marc Lacomare (FRA); James Wood (AUS)
Heat 10: Sam Page (AUS); Eric Geiselman (USA); Mitch Coleborn (AUS)
Heat 11: Dylan Graves (PRI); Kento Takahashi (JPN); Matias Mulanovich (PER)
Heat 12: Mason Ho (HAW); Shu Hagiwara (JPN); Angelo Lozano (MEX)
Heat 13: Hideyoshi Tanaka (JAP); Pierre-Valentin Laborde (FRA); Laurie Towner (AUS)
Heat 14: Nick Rozsa (USA); Granger Larsen (HAW); Rory Beach (ZAF)
Heat 15: Gavin Gillette (HAW); Thiago Camarao (BRA); Wade Goodall (AUS)
Heat 16: Jean Sebastien Estienne (FRA); Brandon Jackson (ZAF); Adrien Toyon (REU)

Women's Round One Heat Draw

Heat 1: Nikita Robb (ZAF); Marina Werneck (BRA); Nao Amura (JPN)
Heat 2: Erica Hosseini (USA); Arini Mason (NZL); Alize Arnaud (FRA)
Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS); Lee Ann Curren (FRA); Sayuri Hashimoto (JPN)
Heat 4: Nicola Atherton (AUS); Jessica Hickson (AUS); Kristie Jones (AUS)
Heat 5: Tammy Lee Smith (ZAF); Pauline Ado (FRA); Leile Hurst (HAW)
Heat 6: Anali Gornez (PER); Sage Erickson (USA); Coco Ho (HAW)