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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, January 4, 2008

Six from Hawaii in contention

Advertiser Staff

Six Hawai'i surfers are among the 32 still in contention in the men's division of the Billabong World Junior Championships.

The second round of the prestigious contest was run yesterday in 3- to 4-foot waves at North Narrabeen, Australia. The first round was completed Wednesday.

The Hawai'i surfers advancing to the third round were Clay Marzo and Granger Larsen from Maui, Mason Ho from O'ahu, Tonino Benson, and Casey Brown from the Big Island, and Kyle Ramey of Kaua'i.

The contest is recognized as the world championship for surfers age 20 and younger, professional or amateur.

Benson, Larsen and Ho won their respective first-round heats to advance directly to the third round.

Benson, a former world amateur champion, was one of the standouts of the first round. He received a score of 8.0 (out of 10) for his best wave.

Marzo, Brown and Ramey did not win their first-round heats, but rebounded with victories in the second round.

Two other Hawai'i surfers — Torrey Meister and John John Florence — were eliminated in the second round. Also, Dusty Payne of Maui withdrew due to an injury.

The girls division did not run heats yesterday. Hawai'i surfers in the girls division are Coco Ho and Alessa Quizon of O'ahu, and Leila Hurst from Kaua'i.

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