Saquarema Surf Festival opens with the Pro Junior U20 category this Thursday in Itaúna | Saquarema

Sunny Pires is from Armação de Buzios, in the Lakes Region of Rio de Janeiro, but was already part of the group of surfers prepared at the now extinct Instituto Gabriel Medina at Praia de Maresias, in São Sebastião, on the north coast of São Paulo. He debuted in the seventh heat on Thursday, which dawned with rain and strong southwest winds. The competition was scheduled to start at 8 am, but it only started at 10 am, when the wind calmed down, the rain also calmed down and the sea conditions became better.

Sunny started well, with a good wave worth a rating of 7.50, the second biggest of the day so far. The first in the excellent judging criteria had been the 8.00 received by Yan Sondahl three heats earlier. Sunny Pires was still overtaken by Lucas Rosario, who managed to score 6.17 with 7.43 in the first waves he surfed. But, Sunny found another good wave that received 7.03 and took the lead. Then, he sealed the victory with a right hand of the series, which opened the wall to combine three very strong hits and rips, which earned a score of 9.33 from the judges. It is the largest in the Pro Junior category at the Saquarema Surf Festival since 2021.

“I’m happy and there’s nothing better to know about this”, said Sunny Pires. “The level of South American Pro Junior is very high, the championship is very important for me and for the new generation, so I’m super happy to have achieved a 9.33 and a 7.50. I trained a lot for this event and I just have to thank God and the sponsors who support me. I’m happy to have passed this heat and there’s still another one today, so let’s go for it.”

Sunny Pires is now the new record holder in the Pro Junior competition at the Saquarema Surf Festival. And the 16.83 points he totaled, adding 9.33 to 7.50, were only below the 17.34 that Ceará’s Cauã Costa achieved in the first victory of his second championship at Praia de Itaúna in 2021 and 2022. Sunny Pires later competed in the penultimate match on Thursday and qualified for the quarterfinals, stopping Takeshi Oyama and Kaue Daniel in the heat won by Samuel Joca from Rio Grande do Norte.

The person who came closest to Sunny Pires’ records was the current South American Pro Junior champion, Ryan Kainalo. The São Paulo native from Ubatuba was one of the 16 seeded players who debuted in the second phase of the Saquarema Surf Festival. He was precise in choosing the waves in the difficult sea on Thursday at Praia de Itaúna. Ryan Kainalo only surfed the two that are counted and got 8.17 and 7.00. By 15.17 points, he defeated Chilean Noel de la Torre and Brazilians Noah Machado and Fabricio Jesus.

“The sea is very challenging, but it’s always good to be in the water and be able to find good waves in a difficult sea. It’s one more reason to know that every job, at some point, pays off”, said Ryan Kainalo. “There are still a few more Junior heats left to reach the goal, which is to reach the final. Today’s conditions were difficult and it’s the kind of sea where you have to be well connected. It’s at this time that we see who is who, because you have to know what to do, how to deal with the swing, the wind, the cold on the beach and in the water too. So I felt ready for the challenge and to pursue my goal.”

In the last three years, Ryan Kainalo was South American champion last year and runner-up in 2021 and 2022, in the second championship of Ceará’s Cauã Costa. The two best surfers in the WSL South America ranking qualify to compete for the World Surf League Pro Junior world title. This is, in fact, Ryan Kainalo’s big goal. He didn’t start well this season, finishing ninth in the first stage in Peru. Now he wants to climb further in the rankings, to try to finish in the top two again.

Ryan Kainalo was runner-up in the Saquarema Surf Festival final last year. The champion was another São Paulo native from Ubatuba, Gabriel Klaussner, who lost in his first title defense on Thursday. The winner of the Peru stage, Rodrigo Saldanha, who leads the ranking, also did not make it past his first heat at Praia de Itaúna. With this, a new champion of the Pro Junior category at the Saquarema Surf Festival will be known this year and the victory could be worth the lead in the 2024 South American ranking.

Only one other finalist from last year qualified for the quarterfinals, Rickson Falcão, a surfer prepared at the Surf Training Center – Léo Neves, built by the Saquarema City Council on Praia de Itaúna. He came fourth in the final of the Saquarema Surf Festival 2023 and debuted with victory on Thursday, in the heat that eliminated the defending champion, Gabriel Klaussner. Guilherme Carvalho, from Espírito Santo, managed to overcome Eduardo Mulford in the last minute, to advance together with Rickson Falcão.

“I want to thank all my sponsors, especially the Leo Neves Training Center, who gave me the wildcard (invitation) for this event. I am very happy for the opportunity to represent Saquarema for another year in this incredible championship”, said Rickson Falcão. “The sea is rough today, but there are high waves. The forecast for the next few days is also high seas and expectations are the best possible. I’m very happy, my girlfriend, my friends, my family are here cheering me on, which gives me that extra boost to show off my surfing. The biggest objective is to surpass my result from last year, perhaps becoming Pro Junior champion this time.”

The men’s quarter-finals of this fourth edition of the Saquarema Surf Festival in memory of Leo Neves, will take place right after the women’s quarter-finals, which are scheduled to open on Friday, at 8 am at Praia de Itaúna. In the first fight for two places in the semifinals, there is the runner-up of the first stage of the 2024 South American Pro Junior Circuit in Peru and vice-leader of the ranking, Guilherme Ferreira. He will face Lukas Camargo, Davi Silva and Ecuadorian Maximiliano Saenz.

The semifinalist of the last WSL Junior World Cup in California, Leo Casal, enters the second heat with Fabricio Rocha, Cauet Frazão and Argentine Tomas Goransky. In the lower bracket, which will indicate the last two finalists of the Saquarema Surf Festival, the best from Thursday, Sunny Pires and Ryan Kainalo, are in the third heat, along with local Rickson Falcão and Lucas Rosario. The last two spots for the semifinals will be contested by Samuel Joca, Guilherme Carvalho, Murillo Coura and Chilean Noel de la Torre.

The Saquarema Surf Festival in memory of Leo Neves also opened the Pro Junior women’s competition on Thursday, between the first and second phases of the men’s category. Only the four heats took place that defined the opponents of the eight seeded teams that will debut in the second phase. The highlight among the girls was the young Peruvian, just 13 years old, Brianna Barthelmess. She competed in the first heat and no one surpassed the 11.60 points she achieved, adding a score of 7.83 for the best female performance in the difficult sea on Thursday in Itaúna.

Surfers from other countries got the majority of the eight spots competed for, to face the main stars of the U20 category. Kemily Sampaio from São Paulo passed along with Brianna Barthelmess in the first heat. In the second, Peruvian Catalina Zariquiey also won and Ecuadorian Genesis Garcia blocked two more Brazilians. The third was won by Chilean Rafaella Montesi and Kiany Hyakutake from Santa Catarina advanced with her. The only Brazilian victory was achieved by Pamella Mel, who took first place from Peruvian Camila Sanday on the last wave she surfed in the fourth heat.

Peruvian Brianna Barthelmess and Ecuadorian Genesis Garcia completed the first quarterfinal clash and will face a Pro Junior champion from the Saquarema Surf Festival in 2022, Laura Raupp. The native of Santa Catarina is one of three Brazilians who will compete in the Challenger Series this year and won the first stage of the Banco do Brasil Surf Circuit this year in Torres (RS), starting ahead in the rankings for the 2024/2025 WSL South America season. Laura turned 18 years old on Wednesday and will debut in Pro Junior together with a local surfer from Saquarema Allany Tuze.

In the second heat, there is the leader of the 2024 South American Pro Junior ranking, Arena Rodriguez Vargas, champion of the first stage in Peru. Arena and two other Peruvians, Sofia Artieda and Catalina Zariquiey, will compete against São Paulo’s Kemily Sampaio. Next, the 2023 South American Pro Junior champion, Isabelle Nalu, debuts, together with Sophia Gonçalves. Chilean Rafaella Montesi and Peruvian Camila Sanday are her opponents. And the Pro Junior champion at the Saquarema Surf Festival last year, Kalea Gervasi, also from Peru, closes the quarterfinals with Argentina’s Vera Jarisz and Santa Catarina’s Kiany Hyakutake and Pamella Mel.