LENNOX HEAD BEACH (Monday, 10 July 2023): Competition intensified as the 2023 Skullcandy Pro Junior, World Surf League (WSL) Junior Qualifying Series (JQS) event saw all semi-finalists decided after a day of exciting battles in near-perfect four-to-five foot conditions.
Marlon Harrison (Coolangatta, Qld) showed why he had claimed the grommet age divisions multiple times over the past decade, throwing down a mix of brilliant snaps, carves and aerial maneuvers to move through the quarters and seal himself a position in tomorrow’s semi-finals. Harrison shone across the earlier divisions today, posting a massive two-wave 16.43 total in the round of 32 as well as a decent 14.26 total in the quarterfinals. Harrison will meet Tim Bain (Sunshine Coast, Qld), Mannix Squiers (Wollongong, NSW) and Xavier Bryce (Long Reef, NSW) in his semi-final tomorrow.
“I’ve been competing in this event for over a decade and I remember winning the Under-12 Boys division when I was really young, so I’d love to be able to close out my time competing in Lennox with a win in the Pro Junior,” said Harrison. “After I injured myself before the World Juniors last year, I really hope I can keep getting results throughout the Australian Junior leg of events and make it back there in 2023.”
Harry Martin (Gold Coast, Qld), Oliver Ryssenbeek (Newcastle, NSW), Rico Haybittle (Burleigh, Qld) and Mitchell Peterson (Noosa, Qld) will feature in the second Pro Junior semi-final tomorrow.
15-year-old Milla Brown (Bungan, NSW) put on a clinic in the solid conditions, smashing out a series of critical re-entries to lock in a decent 14.53 two-wave heat total in the quarterfinal of the Women’s Pro Junior division. Competing against fellow standout Sierra Kerr (Coolangatta, Qld), Brown showed she wasn’t daunted, as she nailed the aforementioned score and claimed the win in the quarterfinal. Brown then backed up her performance in the Under-18 Girls division posting the only perfect 10-point ride of the event, for a giant frontside straight air, which she was then able to back up with an excellent 9.4 to take her two-wave total to 19.40, the highest heat total of the entire event so far.
“I’ve never got a ten-point ride before, so to get one here feels amazing,” said Brown. “My whole goal was to lock in a couple of keeper scores and then just try to send it as hard as I could. Those airs were something I’ve been working on a lot with my coaches at Surfing Australia and I hope I can do more of them in my age division and the Pro Junior tomorrow.”
Other Women’s Pro Junior standouts included Ava Holland (Dromana, Vic), Rosie Smart (Coffs Harbour, NSW) and Isla Huppatz (Bilinga, Qld) who all won their respective quarterfinal battles.
All other Pro Junior results can be seen here.
All age division results can be seen here.
All champions will be crowned tomorrow.
The six-day event will run from 6 July –11 July 2023 and will comprise of a World Surf League (WSL) sanctioned Pro Junior Qualifying Series (JQS) event as well as an elite competition for promising grommets in the 14, 16 and 18-year age divisions.
In a similar vein to preceding years – where the event has attracted surfers from ten different countries – a full international field is again expected in 2023 with surfers coming from as far away as Europe, USA, Hawaii, Indonesia and Japan to make up a field of more than 270 surfers across all divisions.
A five-person judging panel comprised of current WSL Championship Tour and Qualifying Series judges will be on-site as well as a live webcast that collectively sets this event above any other junior competition in the world.
Former event competitors include a range of current and former World Championship Tour such as, Molly Picklum, Mikey, Owen and Tyler Wright, Jack Robinson, reigning World Junior Champion Jarvis Earle and local surfers Mikey McDonagh and Nyxie Ryan.
The event will get underway by 7.00am each day.
Daily press packages will be sent out over the course of the event.
All event divisions will be broadcast live worldwide on skullcandyozgromopen.com.au from Friday, 7th July, 2023
For more information on the event, please contact info@surfingnsw.com.au or call (02) 9093 6035
