Five years after surviving a shark attack, Kaua'i's Bethany Hamilton is a runner-up for a world championship.

Hamilton placed second in the women's division of the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships yesterday at Sydney, Australia.

Pauline Ado of France beat Hamilton in a close one-on-one final, 13.43-12.47.

"I'm really happy with my performance at this event," said Hamilton, 18. "To make the final is really good for me. I haven't had a good result in a while, so hopefully this will give me some confidence for the rest of the year."

The contest is considered the world championship for surfers age 20 and younger.

Hamilton made international headlines when her left arm was severed in a shark attack off Kaua'i in October of 2003. She returned to competitive surfing about a year later, and has worked her way up the professional rankings in recent years.

She will compete on the World Qualifying Series in 2009 in an attempt to qualify for the elite Women's World Tour.

In yesterday's final, Hamilton received a score of 7.5 (out of 10) for her opening wave, but could not find a good wave after that. Needing a score of 5.93 in the final minutes, Hamilton fell on her last wave and got a score of 4.97.

"I think my nerves got the better of me in the final," Hamilton said. "I should've made a couple of turns where I fell. I'm kind of bummed about that last wave, but I guess that's surfing."

Ado received $3,500 for the victory; Hamilton received $1,800.

Hamilton is the first Hawai'i surfer to reach the final of the women's division of the World Junior Championships.

The quarterfinals, semifinals and final were all run yesterday in 3- to 4-foot waves at North Narrabeen.

Earlier in the day, Hamilton upset Australia's top seed, Laura Enever. In the semifinals, Hamilton defeated fellow Kaua'i surfer Leila Hurst, 11.5-10.7.

"I just got knocked in the last minutes when Bethany got a 6, but it's a great start to the year," Hurst said. "This is my best result here at the (World Junior Championships) after three years."

Honolulu's Carissa Moore qualified for the contest, but did not enter due to school commitments.

THREE FROM HAWAI'I STILL IN MEN'S DRAW

Kiron Jabour from O'ahu's North Shore and Maui surfers Kai Barger and Granger Larsen advanced to the fourth round of the men's division.

The third round of the men's draw was also run yesterday, prior to the women's final.

Larsen was one of the standouts of the day, receiving a two-wave score of 16.0 in his victory over Florida's Travis Beckmann.

"This is great preparation for the ASP (World Qualifying Series)," said Larsen, 18. "I'm still young so I'm not too worried about a big result here. There were a few good waves. The lefts are good."

Jabour finished his heat in a tie with Medi Veminardi of Reunion Island. Both surfers had a total score of 8.9. However, Jabour was awarded the victory because he had the best wave of the heat.

Barger defeated Charles Martin of Guadeloupe, 13.17-9.84.

Four other Hawai'i surfers were eliminated, including Tonino Benson of the Big Island and Dusty Payne of Maui. Benson and Payne were considered two of the top contenders from the Hawai'i contingent. Casey Brown of the Big Island and Sebastian Zietz of Kaua'i were also eliminated.