JUNIOR surfer Ben Bates finished third in the under 12 division and made the final of the Billabong British Junior surf championships held at Newquay on Saturday.

He was one of 19 young Islanders in a field of 200, and according to head coach Joe Davies, he ‘not only won all of his heats leading up to the final, but surfed with power and flow all the way through the event’.

‘Having said that, I’m proud of our team’s performance but have to accept that the English simply dominated the event. The standard of surfing was extremely high and we struggled in the girls’ divisions, but the boys put on a good display in front of the British squad coaches who were keen to see the Jersey team in action.’

Davies’ words were echoed by Dave Ferguson, coach and president of the Jersey Surfboard Club. ‘These championships are the benchmark for the selectors who use them to see who are the best young surfers in Britain. Any aspiring championship surfer has to excel at this level if they want to progress and although only Ben finished in the top three in his age group, another seven made it into the top ten.’

• Picture: Ben Bates getting in some practice in the St Ouen surf