Brazil’s Mateus Herdy Just Won The 2018 World Junior Title

The WSL World Junior Championships just concluded in high performance Taiwanese surf. 

Jinzun Harbor has provided the goods all week, with A-frame wedges breaking over a bed of cobble and sand. Best of all, the wind has been blowing directly into the righthand peaks, creating ideal conditions for the aerial-minded minors.

And in 2018, pretty much all of them are aerial-minded. 

Brazil’s Sammy Pupo made it to the semis before being bested by the American air-hammer Eithan Osborne. Nevertheless, Sammy’s punts are the most ballerina-esque of the pack. Photo: WSL

Following his Big Air victory at Stab High and finals finish at Red Bull Airborne (earning him a spot on the 2019 WSL Air Tour), USA’s Eithan has been riding on a cloud of supreme confidence, culminating in his finals showing in Taiwan. Using a mix of air and water maneuvers, Eithan saw himself past Brazilians, Kiwis, Americans, and Japanese surfers throughout his multi-day run.

Despite landing the below punt earlier in the event, Eithan came up short in the final.

After getting 2nd at the Hawaiian Pro, Brazil’s Mateus Herdy inched within sniffing distance of a 2019 CT berth, but an early Sunset loss saw the 17-year-old’s dreams getting pushed back another season. 

Flying to Taiwan directly after that loss, Mateus placed his disappointment firmly on the head of his teenaged peers and proceeded to hack at it with an axe. He put together multiple excellent heat totals en route to the final, where he dropped a near-perfect 9.77 and an 8.6 in his victory over Osborne.

Herdy’s nearly-stomped backflips in the final serve to validate his surfing prominence. Like many World Junior Champs before him, Mateus will, barring some terrible catastrophe, almost certainly qualify for the CT and have an illustrious professional career.

He’s too good not to.