Kalani Ball (Stanwell Park) and Molly Picklum (Shelly Beach, NSW) have taken out the 2020 Kiama Open – stop five on the Australian Open of Surfing series – after dominating the tiny one-foot waves on offer at Werri Beach.
The Open Men’s division saved the best for last, seeing a relentless battle between recent Volkswagen Cronulla Open Champion Kalani Ball and Dylan Moffat (Narrabeen) who went toe-to-toe for the top spot, trading off a barrage of gigantic turns in the tiny waves. After two runner-up finishes in Australian Open of Surfing events in Cronulla and Port Macquarie, Moffat looked like he may have done enough to one step further as he held down the lead for the first ten minutes of the heat thanks to two solid waves that him a 16.10 heat total, but Ball remained patient and then went to post an 8.10 wave score, before backing it up with the highest score of the event a 9.67. Ball’s 17.77 two-wave total meant Moffat was left chasing a near-perfect 9.61 wave score to regain the lead.
Ball was also part of the winning Scarborough Boardriders Team at the recent nudie Australian Boardriders Battle on Saturday.
“I was just stoked to make the final in this event,” said Ball. “Everyone was surfing so well over the course of the event in some pretty tricky conditions, especially all the finalists. To get the win against someone like Dylan who has been ripping so hard over the course of the last few comps feels pretty good and I’m stoked to get the win again.”
After finishing in the runner up position at last week’s Port Macquarie Open, Molly Picklum was able to go one step further in Kiama, claiming victory. Picklum put on a dominant performance over the entirety of the event, consistently posting scores in excess of 8.00 in the opening stages of each heat in the competition. In the final, Picklum remained patient in the opening minutes, only posting scores in the four-point range, before nabbing an 8.17 for an array of beautiful snaps and carves. Runner-up Sarah Baum (Newcastle) put on a decent performance but fell slightly short of the 6.41 wave score required to take away Picklum’s lead.
“Most of my heats I began with an eight-point ride, but in the final, I began with two fours until the final 10 or 15 minutes,” said Picklum. “That heat was super tight and all the other surfers rip, so I definitely wasn’t taking it lightly, but I’m just really happy I was able to keep up the same consistency over the entire event and get the win.”
The prime locations for the nudie Australian Boardriders Battle and the Kiama Open were Bombo and Jones with backup locations of Werri Beach
The entire Australian Open of Surfing series features eight events that will take place in the latter months of 2020 and provide professional and aspiring surfers with the opportunity to win prize money and gain momentum going into 2021.
Each event in NSW will see a total $7000 prize purse with $1500 going to the winner of the Men’s and Women’s divisions.
In addition to a larger prize purse, all events on the Australian Open of Surfing series will be webcast live through surfingnsw.com.au and the Surfing NSW Facebook.
Surfing Australia and Surfing NSW are stoked to announce the next three state qualifying events and the National Final in the 2020/21 nudie Australian Boardriders Battle Series and the remaining Australian Open of Surfing series events will be streamed live on Kayo Sports.
The 2020 Australian Open of Surfing series will see events in:
Sunshine Coast, Qld – 19th – 20th September 2020
Gold Coast, Qld – 31st October – 1st November 2020
Cronulla – 8th – 9th November 2020
Port Macquarie – 14th – 15th November 2020
Kiama – 22nd – 23rd November 2020
Coffs Harbour – 29th – 30th November 2020
Far South Coast Open – 5th – 6th December 2020
Northern Beaches – 13th – 14th December 2020
All events will adhere to strict COVID-19 policies and regulations outlined by the Australian Government and council protocols.
The 2020 Australian Open of Surfing NSW Series is proudly supported by the NSW Government through its tourism and major events agency, Destination NSW. The event is also supported by Destination Kiama, Coffs Harbour City Council, Sutherland Shire Council, Port Macquarie Hastings Council, Eurobodalla Shire Council and Northern Beaches Council.
RESULTS:
Open Women
1 – Molly Picklum (Shelly Beach)
2 – Sarah Baum (Newcastle)
3 – Tru Starling (Narrabeen)
4 – Anne Dos Santos (Dee Why)
Open Men
1 – Kalani Ball (Stanwell Park)
2 – Dylan Moffat (Narrabeen)
3 – Jarvis Earle (Cronulla)
4 – Nathan Kawani (Brazil)
