Mount surfers in contention at junior world champs in Japan

Raiha Ensor is in good form at world junior champs in Japan. Photo / File

Mount Maunganui's Raiha Ensor and William Van Der Beek have advanced the cause of the New Zealand Junior Surfing team by advancing through crucial second-round heats in Japan.

The Moko New Zealand Junior Surfing Team is competing at the 2017 Vissla ISA World Junior Championship being held at Hyuga, Japan.

Ensor advanced out of qualifying round 2 with another strong performance late in her heat to post 10.93 out of 20. She took 10 minutes to catch her first wave but racked up 5.33 and 5.60 point rides in quick succession to go from fourth to first in the small 1.0m waves.

"It was really, really slow. In the heat before there were more waves but when ours started there were none. The other girls got waves and I was starting to get nervous but then I got a couple of fives and made it through with a win," Ensor said.

Ensor's teammate Elin Tawharu (Mount) was not so lucky in her match up, finishing third and dropping down to the repechage rounds. Tawharu did not manage to find any decent waves in her heat and finished with a 7.67 point heat total.

Van Der Beek contested his Under 16 Boys' round 2 heat which rolled over from day two. He made the most of the morning conditions to advance through his heat in second place.

Despite this being Van Der Beek's first time at the event, he said he steered clear of nerves and wanted to get out there and simply surf.

"My strategy going into the heat was actually to get fairly busy by getting a wave early on and then build from that," he said.

"But the heat ended up being pretty slow and I knew I needed to be on the best waves to get good scores, so yeah that's why I only got two waves".

Ohope surfer Jared Gebert advanced through his first repechage heat in the Under 16 Boys' division in yet another close, low-scoring battle. It was Gebert's last scoring ride of 4.67 that pushed him into second place and progression to the next round.

Both of the Kiwis in the Under 16 Girls' division were relegated to the repechage rounds after defeats.

Tegen Bishop (Christchurch) came up short to her opponents from the United States and Argentina while Saffi Vette (Gisborne) suffered a last-minute defeat, dropping to third in her heat courtesy of surfers from Japan and France.

The swell is forecast to build on day four with all 12 team members in action.