Hoping to defend her World Junior Championships title, Mahina Maeda came up just one heat win short of that back-to-back achievement Wednesday in Ericeira, Portugal. Maeda was the surfer to beat as the best wahine juniors in the world attempted
Hoping to defend her World Junior Championships title, Mahina Maeda came up just one heat win short of that back-to-back achievement Wednesday in Ericeira, Portugal. Maeda was the surfer to beat as the best wahine juniors in the world attempted to impress with sharp maneuvers in the small surf, which did grow to some sizable waves on finals day. Her mostly dominant run to the final was ultimately ended at the hands of Isabella Nichols, who punctuated her week with a 9.37 on a three-turn right with a bit of shampoo on the closeout.
Nichols added that to an earlier 8.93 for an 18.30 to 11.16 victory. The young Aussie finished first in last year’s Australasia rankings, winning three events along the way. She also had some quarterfinal appearances in QS 6,000 events, so she seems to be on a similar path as Maeda and headed for a Championship Tour bid at some point.
None of the Hawaii kane had similar luck in the men’s draw. Kalani David made the deepest run, reaching round four before falling to Kanoa Igarashi. David pulled out a gutsy win against Benji Brand in round three as those two were the only remaining Hawaii competitors in the field. Josh Moniz had lost earlier in the round to Australia’s Kai Hing.
In the end it was Brazil’s Lucas Silveira topping Timothee Bisso for the title, 16.17 to 11.74. Silveira had three top-five finishes during Junior competition in 2015 and reached the quarters at a QS 3,000 contest. He’s now off to an ideal start to 2016 and is certainly a candidate to join his brethren as a future member of the “Brazilian Storm.”
Exiting European waters, both the men and women junior competitors now move to the Sunset Pro Junior, which begins Sunday on Oahu.
Jumping up to the Qualifying Series, Kauai’s Mainei Kinimaka reached the final at the year’s first contest, Huntington Beach’s Shoe City Pro. After a second in her opening round, Kinimaka won both her quarterfinal and semifinal heats before finishing fourth overall.
It’s Mainei’s best career result in terms of pure finish. Being that this was just a QS 1,000 event, she did earn larger point totals at bigger QS contests last season. But the level of competition was still intense from the top seeds as Kinimaka outpointed both Frankie Harrer and Tia Blanco in the semifinal round.
Keala Kennelly also dipped her toe back into the competitive waters by entering the event, but the big-wave pioneer didn’t advance beyond her first-round heat.
France’s Maud Le Car earned the distinction of the year’s first QS champ, which is her first contest win at any level since 2012.
The women’s QS will continue with just 1,000-point events until the Burton Automotive Pro next month in Australia. That is also the men’s first QS 6,000 contest of the season, but they’ll run the Volcom Pipe Pro QS 3,000 event starting Jan. 28. John John Florence has won four of the past five Volcom Pipe Pros and the title carries much more prestige than its value on the QS.
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David Simon can be reached at dsimon@thegardenisland.com.
