**the final of the contest was a hard one to judge. it could have gone either way to shinpei or jun. i watched the whole heat and never missed a wave. jun got a 9.8 on his first wave and a solid back up. shinpei got 2 solid scores on big waves. being that both jun and shinpei are close friends of mine, i’m going to tell you how i honestly feel if i were a judge…..
jun jo got 2nd. jun is the only outsider that took JPSA grand champion title belts. yes, more than one. it’s something sumo wrestler konishiki couldn’t even do. jun broke down the door in japan and has paved the way for guys like nick mita, kekoa uemura,darren turner, and even me getting into the JPSA. jun’s got the talent to make the WCT top 44 if he tried, but rather spend family time in hawaii. i totally respect that….
jun took off on the biggest wave of the final. he got barreled on the outside, did a big carve, and got barreled again on the inside. the judges scored it a 9.8. screw that, that was a solid 10 point ride and if ask anybody on the beach, they would agree…. this wave is freaking BIG! jun finally got a second wave in the last minute but wasn’t solid enough to overcome 2 solid scores from shinpei.
shinpei horiguchi won! he surfed smart in the final. he waited on the outside with a little bigger board than the others and caught only sets. sets score points and shinpei not only caught sets, he ripped it and even got barreled. shinpei told me that he was going to win the contest and he won it. i love his confidence!
i still think shinpei should be invited into the eddie aikau contest along the side with wakita. both big wave riders that the international world of surfing respects. i’m sure it’s shinpei’s dream to get into that contest and he’s taking huge steps to get there. if shinpei gets invited into the eddie aikau, i’ll swim out to waimea bay and shoot the whole contest with my fisheye. and i ain’t joking…
**jun jo and shinpei are 2 official go-naminori bloggers. i want to thank them for their support and also want to congratulate them on outstanding results. in my eyes, they are both winners!!!
**CLICK HERE FOR JUN JO GO-NAMINORI OFFICIAL BLOG…
**CLICK HERE FOR SHINPEI HORIGUCIH GO-NAMINORI OFFICIAL BLOG….
