BELMAR, New Jersey/USA (Friday, September 14, 2012) – The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 1-Star Fins Pro Junior kicked off opening day of competition in one foot (.5 metre) waves in Belmar, New Jersey and completed the opening two rounds of competition.
The Fins Pro Junior represents the final stop on the ASP North America Pro Junior Series and offers important points for young surfers looking to build a seed for the 2013 regional tour.
Evan Thompson (Jacksonville, FL), 20, top seed in the Fins Pro Junior, was electric in the trying conditions, and used his small wave prowess to donate the day’s highest scores including a near-perfect 18 point heat total in Round 2.
“I’m just stoked to be in Belmar again, I love this place,” Thompson said. “The waves weren’t what they were last year, but I’m stoked that it’s rideable and I just keep getting lucky in my heats. My first heat it turned on and turned in to mini Trestles and in my last heat I got the two best lefts of the day. It’s a lot of luck, but if anyone had the two lefts that I had I’m sure it would have been flip flopped. Hopefully that luck carries on to the next heats.”
While Thompson is a favorite in the Fins Pro Junior, his early round success was no easy task. The Floridian had trying match-ups in the early rounds and maintained his form, topping international standout and event dark horse Miguel Tudela (PER).
“I was kind of nervous because Miguel (Tudela) is one of the best juniors in the world right now, he’s gnarly in all conditions,” Thompson said. “Tucker is a mad man and I knew it was going to be the hardest heat of the round so I’m glad I stepped up and I made it.”
Addison Miles (Myrtle Beac, SC) was one up and comer to put on a strong showing today. The young East Coaster posted the highest scores behind Thompson to advance through two heats and Miles hopes to use the Fins Pro Junior to climb the ranks on the ASP North America Pro Junior Series.
“The waves are really bad and wind-blown and there is a chop in the wave, so it’s hard,” Miles said. “I’ve only done one ASP event so far in Florida and I didn’t do so well. I finished dead-last in my first heat, but today, I got a couple of good ones to start and tried to better them throughout the heat. I had that 8, it looked liked a really bad wave and it had a good air section, so I just went for it. I didn’t expect to make the Quarterfinals in this event. I thought I’d make one heat, maybe, because I had a stacked first heat, but the waves were small and luckily I got through that one.”
Daniel Glenn (New Smyrna Beach, FL) was also successful today and stuck to a selective wave strategy to advancing through two heats to earn his Quarterfinals berth.
“I kind of kept a low profile today, not doing too much running around and wasting my energy, “ Glenn said. “I just surfed and did my thing and didn’t let the contest format get in my head. Hopefully the surf builds a little bit and we get a little bump in this swell. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Glenn, who recently attended Camp Hobgood, confidently applied his refined competitive strategy and hopes he can maintain his form in the latter rounds.
“C.J. (Hobgood) was real good about helping us with our contest strategy and stuff like that,” Glenn said. “We did run a lot of mock heats and ran all different formats.”
The Fins Pro Junior runs from September 16 through 18, 2012 and LIVE webcast will begin tomorrow via www.belmarpro.com
