Laura Enever and Maxime Huscenot Take Worlds

By: Jeff Mull | January 18th, 2010 at 12:14am

For junior surfers, it doesn't get any bigger than competing at the Billabong World Pro Junior Championships. Winning the title has been a springboard into new contracts, a blitz of media exposure, and whole mess of expectations. And now, both Australian Laura Enever and Frenchman Maxime Huscenot can bear that burden with a smile as they both became world junior champs recently in North Narrabeen, Australia.

The final day of competition at the event saw improved conditions filtering into the North Narrabeen lineup. Surfing with the poise and fluidity of a seasoned competitor, local girl Laura Enever held the hope of the town going into her final matchup over Hawaiian Alessa Quizon. When the hooter screamed and signaled the beginning of the last showdown, Enever cut through the 3-foot rights with the precision of a surgeon. Quizon would attempt to counter, but from the outset, the day belonged to Enever.

"I just wanted to go out and have fun and that's what I did," Enever said. "This is my home and I'm so stoked to be here with all my friends and family giving me so much support. This is the best day of my life. It's been my dream forever to win here at home and now that I've done it, I'm at a loss for words."

For the men, the surfing looked to be on par with anything happening at the elite level on the World Tour, giving rise to the notion that when these juniors do eventually take the helm, we're all in for quite the show. From the outset of the comp, we've been mentioning the rising talent coming from Brazil. And as we proposed, Jadson Andre from Brazil made the final once again this year when he took on the Reunion Island's own Maxime Huscenot.

Andre, who qualified for the World Tour this year when he finished the QS in the number-three position, was turning heads from competitors and spectators alike throughout the event. His frontside waft is second to none and has become a staple in the 19-year-old's repertoire. Surfing against Huscenot, Andre seemed to be the favorite. But competitive surfing is fickle in nature, and Andre took a narrow backseat to a lightning-quick Huscenot.

"I knew I was not a big name coming here," Huscenot said. "Jadson was the best surfer, doing massive air reverses that I cannot even dream of doing. But I just surfed the best I could and I guess the judges appreciated it. I never dreamed I would be here. I was injured in October and couldn't surf for a month. But I trained hard and got the wildcard here and once I made it past the fourth round, I knew it was going to be a good event for me. It feels amazing to be the first Frenchman to claim the ASP World Junior Title."

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