LENNOX HEAD BEACH (Friday, 7 July 2023): The 2023 Skullcandy Oz Grom Open pres. by Vissla saw a drop in swell today as competitors sought to move through the requalification rounds and book themselves positions into the quarter and semi-finals.
Will Martin (Coffs Harbour, NSW) and Jai Neild (Coolangatta, Qld) performed one of the biggest upsets of the event eliminating former event champion and perennial grom comp standout Max Mcgillivray (Evans Head, NSW) in the Under 16 Boys. Both Martin and Neild put on an electric performance in the small surf, with each surfer posting respectable heat totals in excess of 13.00 to take out first and second respectively. Both surfers will make their next appearance in the quarterfinals.
Other Under-16 Boys winners included Dylan Dean Wilcoxen (Indonesia), Maverick Wilson (Dunsborough, WA), Ocean Lancaster (Merewether, NSW), Ben Zanatta (Manly) and Caden Francis (Gold Coast, Qld). All aforementioned surfers will feature in the upcoming quarterfinals.
Talia Tebb (Avoca, NSW), Lucy Darragh (Kiama, NSW), Leihani Zoric (Broken Head, NSW) and Lani Cairncross (Kiama Downs, NSW) all made a massive impression on the Under-14 Girls division, earning themselves spots into the semi-finals. All four ladies put on impressive performances in the small surf, each nailing a chain of decent snaps and carves to take wins in their respective quarterfinal heats.
The 2023 Skullcandy Oz Grom Open pres. by Vissla will see all remaining quarterfinals finalised tomorrow, before going into the World Surf League Pro Junior Qualifying Series event on Sunday.
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 7.30am 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
