Held in messy one metre (three foot) conditions at North Narrabeen Beach in Sydney, Australia, number one seed Adriano de Souza (BRA) and number two seed Jordy Smith (ZAF) made the most of what was on offer to lock in large total scores to overcome their foes and in turn had the crowd in awe.
Smith in particular was in devastating form as he wound through some lumpy sections executing turn after turn, even landing a nice aerial in the process.
In his post heat interview Smith indicated that he doesn't feel confident in the famed Narrabeen lineup but that certainly didn't look the case today as he pushed the performance bar up high.
"I don't think the waves suit me that well here," said Smith. "But I managed to pick off some rights and I just tried to make the best of them. I just knew that the two guys I had in the heat are great surfers so I had to pull out something big."
Smith, who in July 2006 made it all the way to the semifinals of the Foster's ASP World Tour, Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay event as a wildcard, has grown as a surfer and a competitor of late, but despite his experience he is still very wary of his rivals here in the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships.
"There are a lot of good guys here," said Smith. "Guys like Adriano de Souza and Matt Wilkinson are flipping ripping! And then there are all the guys like Laurie Towner and a host of others. I'm just going to take it heat by heat and hopefully get through to the final."
De Souza, who quite the opposite to Smith feels very confident in the choppy conditions due to them being like his home in Brazil, was relaxed and he cruised through for a win in heat eight over Luke Cheadle (AUS) and Dusty Payne (HAW).
The pint sized powerhouse, a former winner in 2003 and who is now ranked number 20 in the world, used every bit of his top tour experience to ensure that he was in exactly the right spot whenever a ripple came his way.
"It's great to be back at Narrabeen as I've had some good results here," said de Souza. "It's just good to be back surfing with all the guys from my generation. I'm very excited as I have one more year to win and I'd like to match Joel Parkinson and win it twice."
De Souza, like Smith, knows he has to pull out all the stops in order to beat the hungry field who, by no means, are intimidated by the fact that he regularly spars with the best surfers in the world.
"There are a lot of good guys here, Matt Wilkinson, Smith… anyone can do well here," said de Souza. "I just have to be on my toes the whole way through."
The youngster was also hoping that like when he claimed his 2003 victory the mass of Brazilians who reside or holiday in nearby suburbs will come out in support for him.
"When I won in 2003 there were a lot of my people here to cheer me on," said de Souza. "I hope they all come to Narrabeen to do it again. That would be special."
Also excelling in the testing conditions was Australian Wilkinson, who stood tall on everything he could grapple. The goofyfooter claimed that by getting down to Narrabeen early in the week and surfing every day he was feeling extra confident.
"I've been surfing here the past few days as I've been staying close by," said Wilkinson. "I went out and knew that the rights were going to be better scorers and luckily I opened with two good ones straight away."
Wilkinson was also confident that the Australian team could wrestle a win here in this year's event, given that the trophy has gone to a host of Brazilians and a Hawaiian in previous years.
"We haven't done so well over the past few years," said Wilkinson. "But looking at the team this year it's really strong and if there are a few waves then I think we'll do well."
Heading up the star performers in the women's division was world beater Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), who despite qualifying for the ASP Women's World Tour in 2007 was eager to come back to add another junior notch to her belt before moving on.
"You can't turn down an invitation for a world title," said Gilmore. "Especially since the event is only in its second year. I'd really love to be up there at the ASP Banquet alongside Layne Beachley and Kelly Slater. That would be an honour."
On her performance Gilmore was happy that she finished the job in front today.
"There were a few waves here and there as luckily it was consistent," said Gilmore. "I was just floating around grabbing what I could and I managed to do the job. I couldn't hear the announcers and I was a bit worried… At the end of the day you always want the win."
Organisers will return tomorrow morning at 7.30am with the aim of getting underway at 8am.
The conditions are expected to be similar with a slight increase in swell size.
Stay tuned to www.aspworldtour.com or www.billabongpro.com for all the updates.
Round 1 Men's Results: (1st to round 3 2nd and 3rd to round 2)
Heat 1: 1. Heitor Pereira (BRA) 10.90; 2. Casey Brown (HAW) 8.83; Julian Wilson (AUS) 7.14
Heat 2: 1. Damien Fahrenfort (ZAF) 11.10; 2. Vincent Duvignac (FRA) 9.83; 3. Sterling Spencer (USA) 8.57
Heat 3: 1.Dion Atkinson (AUS) 12.07; Romain Cloitre (FRA); Heath Joske (AUS) 8.93
Heat 4: 1. TJ Barron (HAW) 13.17; 2. Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN) 9.00; Reubyn Ash (GBR) 6.46
Heat 5: 1. Hank Gaskell (HAW) 13.17; Halley Batista (BRA) 9.06; Shota Nakamura (JPN) 8.43
Heat 6: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 16.83; 2. Bernardo Martins (BRA); 12.00; 3. Klee Strachan (ZAF) 10.77
Heat 7: 1. Torrey Meister (HAW) 12.66; 2. Tamaroa McComb (PYF) 10.70; 3. Ola Eleogram (HAW) 10.56Heat 7: 1. Torrey Meister (HAW) 12.66; 2. Tamaroa McComb (PYF) 10.70; 3. Ola Eleogram (HAW) 10.56
Heat 8: 1. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.67; 2. Luke Cheadle (AUS) 9.77; Dusty Payne (HAW) 9.33
Heat 9: 1. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 17.67; 2. Marc Lacomare (FRA)11.56; 3. James Wood (AUS) 7.43
Heat 10: 1. Mitch Coleborn (AUS) 15.17; 2. Sam Page (AUS) 8.17; 3. Eric Geiselman (USA) 8.13
Heat 11: 1. Dylan Graves (PRI) 11.06; 2. Kento Takahashi (JPN) 10.37; 3. Matias Mulanovich (PER) 8.36
Heat 12: 1. Mason Ho (HAW) 11.84; 2. Shu Hagiwara (JPN) 9.50; Angelo Lozano (MEX) 7.94
Heat 13: 1. Hideyoshi Tanaka (JPN) 13.67; 2. Laurie Towner (AUS) 11.20 (AUS); Pierre Valentin (FRA) 9.40
Heat 14: 1. Granger Larsen (HAW) 12.43; 2. Rory Beach (ZAF) 10.10; 3. Nick Rozsa (USA) 5.94
Heat 15: 1. Thiago Camarao (BRA) 13.83; 2. Gavin Gillette (HAW) 12.37; Wade Goodall (AUS) 9.57
Heat 16: 1. Jean Sebastien (FRA) 11.40; 2. Brandon Jackson (ZAF) 9.36; Adrien Toyon (REU)
Round One Women's Results: (1st to round three 2nd and 3rd to round two)
Heat 1: 1. Nikita Robb (ZAF) 12.37; Marina Werneck (BRA) 9.70; Nao Omura (JPN) 4.47
Heat 2: 1. Arini Mason (NZL) 10.50; 2. Erica Hosseini (USA) 8.83; 3. Alize Arnaud (FRA) 6.96
Heat 3: 1. Steph Gilmore (AUS) 12.73; 2. Sayuri Hashimoto (JPN) 6.93; 3. Lee Ann Curren (FRA) 6.57
Heat 4: 1. Nicola Atherton (AUS) 10.50; 2. Kirstie Jones (AUS) 9.17; Jessica Hickson (AUS) 7.33
Heat 5: 1. Leila Hurst (HAW) 10.50; 2. Pauline Ado (FRA) 7.80; Tammy Lee Smith (ZAF) 7.10
Heat 6: Coco Ho (HAW) 12.10; 2. Sage Ericson (USA) 10.40; 3. Anali Gomez (PER) 8.84
Men's Round Two Heat Draw:
Heat 1: Sam Page (AUS) vs Klee Strachan (ZAF)
Heat 2: Ola Eleogram (HAW) vs Tamaroa McComb (PYF)
Heat 3: Nick Rozsa (USA) vs Bernado Martins (BRA)
Heat 4: Gavin Gillette (HAW) vs Halley Batista (BRA)
Heat 5: Dusty Payne (HAW) vs Reubyn Ash (GBR)
Heat 6: Marc Lacomare (FRA) vs Heath Joske (AUS)
Heat 7: Eric Geiselman (USA) vs Vincent Duvignac (FRA)
Heat 8: James Wood (AUS) vs Julian Wilson (AUS)
Heat 9: Luke Cheadle (AUS) vs Matias Mulanovich (PER)
Heat 10: Shota Nakamura (JPN) vs Angelo Lozano (MEX)
Heat 11: Nobuyuki Osawa (JPN) vs Laurie Towner (AUS)
Heat 12: Romain Cloitre (FRA) vs Rory Beach (ZAF)
Heat 13: Sterling Spencer (USA) vs Wade Goodall (AUS)
Heat 14: Casey Brown (HAW) vs Adrien Toyon (REU)
Heat 15: Kento Takahashi (JPN) vs Brandon Jackson (ZAF)
Heat 16: Shu Hagiwara (JPN) vs Pierre-Valentin Laborde (FRA)
Women's Round Two Heat Draw:
Heat 1: Tammy Lee Smith (ZAF); Lee Ann Curren (FRA); Alize Arnaud (FRA)
Heat 2: Anali Gomez (PER); Jessica Hickson (AUS); Nao Omura (JPN)
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