Crews Cruises Into Day 2 with Ease at ASP Grade-4 Chill Pro Junior
Mitch Crews ripping way out West...
TRIGG POINT, Western Australia/Australia (Friday, June 4, 2010) - Western Australia’s only ASP sanctioned pro junior event, the ASP Grade-4 Chill Pro Junior presented by the City of Stirling, commenced today at Trigg Point, with small but highly contestable waves on offer for Round 1 of the men’s competition.
The event has brought some of Australia’s best under 21-year-old surfers to the WA coast, battling for $25,000 prize money. Competitors were greeted with clean two-to-three feet (1 metre) quality right and lefthand waves which gave them ample opportunity to impress with some polished displays of surfing.
This morning’s action was highlighted by the performances of Mitch Crews (Currumbin, QLD), Sam Wrench (Ulladulla, NSW), Blake Ainsworth (Coolangatta, QLD), Chris Sailsbury (Newport, NSW) and Davey Cathels (Narrabeen, NSW) who all posted impressive round one wins and confirmed their status as the surfers to beat.
Current ASP Australasia Pro Junior No. 1 seed Mitch Crews got straight down to business in the opening heat of the day, starting his campaign with the powerful and stylish surfing that has him currently holding down first place on the ASP Pro Junior ratings, after a consistent start to 2010.
Crews’ patience, superior wave ion and devastating forehand manoeuvres saw him rewarded with two of the morning’s highest scoring waves, a near perfect 8.00 out of a possible ten, and a back up 6.50 to finish with a combined total of 14.50 out of twenty.
“The waves here are really fun when they come through, the morning high tide didn’t make the going very easy, but I was lucky enough to swing into a few wider rights that I could really go to town on,” Crews said after his heat.
“We were lucky enough to get some really good waves down in Margaret River the past few days before the event started today. A pretty major change from surfing 4-6 foot barrelling waves, then coming to small beach breaks,” he said.
After his heat Crews joined 2009 Chill Pro Junior defending champion Felicity Palmateer (Hillarys, WA) in visiting two local primary schools to explain the benefits of leading a healthy and active lifestyle.
“Surfing has benefited me some much over the years that it’s good to give a little bit back,” Crews said.
Matching the efforts of the number one seed today was his closest rival Davey Cathels, who used his recent victory in New Zealand as motivation coming into this event.
Cathels posted the day one’s highest score, a 9.00 ride in a devastating opening heat, with his intensity and drive seeing him edge out younger competitors Connor O’Leary (Cronulla, NSW), and current under 18 National Champion Tim MacDonald (Point Lookout, QLD) to stake his intentions clearly to all other competitors.
“I’m pretty hungry to go back-to-back with a win here in WA,” said Cathels.
WA locals didn’t fair quite as well with only three moving through to the next round. Local Trigg surfer Darcy Maynard proved local knowledge is key, with a hard fought win. Maynard will be joined by Margaret River duo Jethro Headstrom and Matt Baldock when competition continues tomorrow.
With a positive fore for the remainder of the event, officials are hopeful the surf will build over the weekend. The women’s event will first thing tomorrow, with heats commencing at 7:30am.
For further information regarding the Chill Pro Junior at Trigg Point, please check out the event website www.chillprojunior.com
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Category: All ASP News, ASP Junior News
