Owen Wright and Stephanie Gilmore might have claimed victory at the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast but it was Cronulla’s Connor O’Leary who had the surfing world talking.
O’Leary took down favourite Julian Wilson in round three to make the surfing world take notice. In a big impact on the world title race, O’Leary’s dominant win against Wilson, Kelly Slater’s stumble and Mick Fanning’s loss leaves it open.
A starting wave of 6.7 in his fourth round under average conditions sent O’Leary straight to the quarter-finals and to the head of the rookie of the year queue.
“I was stoked to get that wave. Getting through round four is crucial. I’m speechless right now,” O’Leary said after taking down veterans Owen Wright and Jordy Smith.
The CT Tour rookie then put up a solid fight against Wright in the quarters. With a slow start to the heat, it came down to the final minute where Wright got the edge to take the win.
As the only rookie to make it this far in the men's event, O’Leary’s rookie of the year campaign is looking strong. He will head into the next event moving up to fifth on the leaderboard.
The Quiky Pro had two goofy’s in the final and was O’Leary’s first WCT event. All three surfers are products of the Surfing NSW junior system – so the state of surfing is in good hands.
The next stop on the 2017 WSL Championship Tour is the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro in Western Australia from March 29 to April 9. The event will be broadcast live via WorldSurfLeague.com, the WSL app and the WSL’s Facebook page as well as Fox Sports.
Conditions at home didn't look anything like Snapper but after a few days of solid but onshore swell it has backed right off to a small two-foot east dribble.
I took today’s pics at the Alley. It might be small but at least it’s offshore!
Swellnet predicts average surf ahead with today’s tiny offerings, the smallest of the week. “There is a chance for an early clean peaky wave on Wednesday though the swell will be easing quickly. Thursday/Friday there is a combo of south swells and not-too-strong southerly winds which should allow for a few options with bigger waves. Saturday/Sunday should have light winds and a fun, slowly easing SE swell with mainly light winds.”
In a ground breaking move the World Surf League Kumul PNG World Longboard Championships fired into a historical day of action with Tupira perfection reeling through from start to finish.
Morning’s first light revealed three-to-six foot waves as the world’s best got their true first taste of Papua New Guinea power for the first ever professional surfing event on the country's soil. Competition scorched through round one of both the men and women’s event, setting up crucial round two elimination heats.
In an amazing event for Papuans, thousands of spectators from around the PNG provinces flooded in to witness this groundbreaking event and created a standing room only atmosphere throughout the day.
In junior news, Kehu Butler (Mount Maunganui, NZ) and Alyssa Lock (Tweed Heads, NSW) have claimed victory at the fourth stop of World Surf League sanctioned Subway® Surf Series at Trigg Point in Western Australia.
After testing surf yesterday, WA’s metropolitan beaches turned on great finals day conditions with competitors relishing in clean and powerful three to four feet peaks at Perth’s premiere wave location.
Butler and Lock made the most of the improved conditions, notching up their maiden wins on the Australasian Junior Qualifying Series (JQS).
In the 30 minute men’s final, Butler used his powerful frame and strong rail game to post a combined total of 15.75 (from a possible 20), defeating local West Australian Kael Walsh (Yallingup), who was left chasing a 9.00 for the win.
The International Surfing Association (ISA) has expressed its delight following the announcement that surfing will be added to the 2018 Asian Games.
Confirmed by the Olympic Council of Asia, surfing will feature for the first time at the 2018 edition of the continental games held in Indonesia – becoming part of its 42 sport program.
The Asian Games commence on August 18, with the surfing program scheduled to begin on August 22. The competition will run for 10 days, with both Cimaja in Java and Krui in Sumatra cited as possible venue locations. Test events will be held at the former, with both shortboard and longboard disciplines taking place.
The announcement of surfing's inclusion at the Asian Games comes just six months after the ISA celebrated the sport being added to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games program.