LIHU‘E — Taking home a team silver medal in a rebuilding year not only shows the type of young talent the Verizon Wireless Hawai‘i Junior Surf Team already has on display, but puts the rest of the world on notice
LIHU‘E — Taking home a team silver medal in a rebuilding year not only shows the type of young talent the Verizon Wireless Hawai‘i Junior Surf Team already has on display, but puts the rest of the world on notice for what to expect in the coming years.
Two of the five remaining Team Hawai‘i surfers reached their final heats at the International Surfing Association World Junior Surfing Championship, Thursday at Piha Beach in Auckland, New Zealand, but the team was unable to withstand the favored Australian squad and finished the 21-team event in second place.
Alessa Quizon, who survived three rounds of repercharge heats to reach the final, took the silver medal in the Girls Under 18 division. Quizon put up a strong score of 12.74, bested only by Australia’s Tyler Wright’s 16.00.
Quizon grabbed the lead in the final event, scoring an 8.30 by ripping a midsize left, grabbing some air and finishing with a perfect landing near the shoreline.
However, Wright spoiled the Hawaiian’s bid at a gold by scoring an 8.60 ride with just 35 seconds left in the heat to grab the top spot on the podium.
Kaua‘i’s Koa Smith finished with the bronze in the Boys Under 16 division. Smith had reached the final qualifying heat without a defeat, but suffered his first loss at that stage. He moved into the final repercharge heat and was back to his dominating ways, taking first with a 14.46 score to reach the final.
Australia’s Matt Bantring took home the gold with a 15.90. Team USA’s Jake Halstead was second with an 11.60.
Kaua‘i’s Malia Manuel had reached the final qualifying round without a defeat and looked to be in good shape to reach the Girls Under 18 final. However, she placed fourth in the qualifier and went into the final repercharge heat needing a top-two finish. It was not to be, as teammate Quizon and USA’s Lakey Peterson grabbed their spots in the final.
Last year’s gold medalist, Keanu Asing, was eliminated in Round 9 of the Boys Under 18 repercharge, even with a strong score of 13.66. Teammate Tanner Hendrickson made it one round further, getting knocked out one heat short of the final in Round 10.
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina, who came through five rounds of the repercharge in the Boys Under 18 bracket, had what was perhaps the performance of the week, putting up a 19.90 in the final to grab the gold.
The second-place finish makes back-to-back silver medals for Team Hawai‘i, which showed its strength by staying ahead of the much-hyped Team USA, while drawing from a far smaller talent pool.
These Ambassadors of Aloha personified how the birthplace of surfing will continue to display world-class spirit, both in the water and on the shores.
Coach Rainos Hayes, along with assistants Bert Ishimaru, Megan Abubo and Kahea Hart have put in the time alongside the youngsters as both trainers and chaperones.
Hawai‘i finished with 5,038 team points, while Australia ended up with 6,015.
USA took the bronze with 4,958 points, followed by South Africa in fourth with 4,163.
