Ethan Ewing & Kobie Enright take out Subway Pro Junior Avoca 2016

Ewing came up against Reef Heazlewood (Moffatt Beach, Qld) in a final that was packed with excitement, despite the challenging conditions. Ewing took control early, posting an excellent 8.75 (out of a possible 10 points). Heazlewood was left chasing a score for the next 15 minutes until he finally found a righthander that offered him the opportunity to take the lead, leaving Ewing requiring a 5.25. Heazlewood looked as if he had the win in the bag, but with less than 10 seconds left, Ewing found a lefthander that he went to town on with three massive backhand turns and was rewarded a 7.25 and his first win on the 2016 Subway Surf Series.

 “I knew if a wave came I could get the score, but it just didn’t look like one would come so I was pretty glad when I got one as they were counting down,” Ewing said. “I don’t usually go so well when the waves are small like this so I’m stoked to win.”

 Heazlewood, although coming within seconds of taking top honours was still positive with his second place finish.

“It was so inconsistent and I couldn’t see one coming so I was confident I was going to win,“ Heazlewood said.  “Ethan surfed that last wave really well so he definitely deserved to win. I’m really happy with second.”

 Enright kept busy in the final against Alyssa Lock (Tweed Heads, NSW), taking off on a number of waves, finding two that opened up enough for her to complete a number of manoeuvres, a hard feat in small conditions. For her efforts she was scored a heat total of 14.10 by the judges, which was enough to take her first Pro Junior win of the 2016 Subway Surf Series.

 “After getting knocked in the first round at the last contest I was stoked to make a few heats, but am over the moon to take the win,” Enright said. “It’s always hard coming up against a good friend from home especially when its small and tough conditions like this. I wanted to catch as many waves as possible because you never knew which one was going to run or offer a wall so once I got a good one I felt I was on a bit of a role. Hopefully I can keep this form in the next few contests."

 Lock surfed an amazing event but was unable to match it with Enright in the final. This second place is Lock's best result so far in 2016.

 “I’m really happy to make the final,” Lock said. “I tried so hard all of last year, but it’s so hard with the level of talent at these events. It was a bit of a game of chance out there, if you were in the right spot you could get a score, but it was hard to find where those waves would be. Surfing with Kobie out there was like a freesurf, I’m really happy for her to take the win.”

 Competitors now shift their focus to the next event on the Subway Surf Series at Phillip Island which will run from March 5 to 6.

 The Subway® Surf Series forms  part of the 2016 WSL Australasian Junior Qualifying Series (JQS), providing the winning athletes with an opportunity to win a coveted world title, at the WSL World Junior Championships in early 2017. The Series is proudly supported by WSL, Surfing Australia and Billabong.

RESULTS

Boys

1 - Ethan Ewing (Point Lookout, Qld)

2 - Reef Heazlewood (Moffatt Beach, Qld)

Girls

1 - Kobie Enright (Tweed Heads, NSW) 

2 - Alysssa Lock (Tweed Heads, NSW)

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