Right now, there's more talent converged into one small stretch of sand in North Narrabeen, Australia than in any other point ever in the world. Surfing's never been more progressive, technical, and competitive, and beginning with the Billabong World Junior champions, all of those elements converged to deem the world's best junior surfer. Winning the event has been a harbinger for surfers worldwide with a bevy of champions going onto illustrious careers. Recently, Adriano De Souza and Kai Barger have both claimed their Pro Junior scalps and we've all born witness to where their careers have gone.

And yesterday, with the best of the best huddled together, we began sifting through the cream. Although the surf wasn't firing by any standards, when you're as good as these kids are, even the most meager of conditions look ripe for the ripping. Early standouts included Brazilian Wiggolly Dantas, who demolished the righthanders on his backhand to the tune of the day's highest heat score, a 14.66.

"The waves are tough out there but the righthanders are lining up much better than the lefts," Dantas said. "I have a really good board under my feet and felt really good today...Of course it would be a great honor to win the ASP World Junior Title," Dantas said. "Pablo (Paulino) and Adriano (de Souza) are great inspirations in Brazil and it is everyone's goal to follow them. There are so many good surfers here. It will be a big challenge to win the title."

Other surfers that dropped jaws included Aussie phenom Garrett Parkes. A few years prior, Parkes busted on the scene in Young Guns III when he held his own against the like of Dane Reynolds and Julian Wilson, leaving us with the revelation that Parkes could be the next big thing coming out of the Lucky Country. But today, no one cared about his cameo in the movie. He had to prove himself all over again. And that's exactly what he did when he won his heat and stuck a shuv-it in the waning moments of the comp.

"I'm pretty stoked," Parkes said. "I was struggling to get the score the whole heat, and I didn't get a good ramp until the last minute. It always feels good to come from behind on the last wave. I think everyone in town wants to see an Aussie win so we'll see what happens."

Stay tuned to GrindTV for more info as the world's best battle it out at the 2010 Billabong World Pro Juniors.