Portugal’s Vasco Ribeiro just won the 3-star Gran Canaria Santa Pro Junior at Playa de la Cicer, Las Palmas. The defending champion re-claimed his crown in fantastic fashion, dominating the final against Spain’s Vicente Romero.

“I knew it was going to be a tough heat, he (Vicente Romero) was probably the best surfer in this whole event” Ribeiro said. “I got lucky this first wave came to me, and from them I just kept getting waves and he didn’t. I’m super happy to win this important event!”

Ranking a final 3rd last year and widely considered Europe’s next big thing, this second win sets the 18-year-old Vasco on an early lead in this year’s European Junior title race. Nevertheless the young naturalfoot keeps a level-head about the rest of the season ahead and the work that’s left for him to do:

“I think it’s going to be the hardest season for sure because all the guys are ripping like Ramzi (Boukhiam), Frederico (Morais), Dimitri (Ouvre) and Vicente” stated Ribeiro. “It’s going to be really hard to win another event this year but I’m going to try and keep pushing myself and perform at my best level. I’m also going to try to do a few Star Events to gain points and get some experience against older surfers.”

The next Pro Junior, the Sooruz Royan Atlantique Pro Junior, is set to run 12-15th July along France’s Cote Sauvage shores.