Kai Harris has won the San Diego ASP World Junior Championships, defeating fellow Finalist Jackson Kee to claim the ASP World Junior Title.
"I'm so thrilled!" Harris said. "With all the incredible surfers in this competition, I would have been happy to finish in the top ten; but it all came together in my last few waves."
While Kee opened up the final with two strong scores, Harris quickly rallied, grabbing a 6.67 before taking the lead with an explosive 8.67. The Hawaiian's 15.34 out of a possible 20 would prove too much for Kee to overtake and would see Harris crowned the newest ASP World Junior Champion.
Beach local Koke climbed atop the podium this afternoon to accept his first Men's Open Division victory after a brilliant display of surfing under testing conditions in the closely contested final.
"I'm so stoked to win today, especially in these conditions." said Koko. "I didn't think I could do it ... I thought one of the younger and lighter guys would win for sure, but somehow I did it!"
The anticipated increase in swell didn't materialize today, resulting in weakening 2 foot surf that was a challenge especially for the larger surfers. But local knowledge was the key, and Koke found the right waves and blasted them apart to outscore his opponents and come home with the victory.
In the Grommets Division Shen, who also nabbed second place in the Men's Open division, was the first place winner, showing his smooth style and wise wave selection.
In the Women's Division, Natta Qua picked her way through the better set waves to rack up the most points for the win. Incredibly this was her first experience surfing at Cherating Beach.
Former ASP World Champion Pauline Li drove the Kata Surf Club to victory by posting the top scoring ride during the Final of the Crown Club Series, defeating archrivals, Konapiliahi, at Duranbah Beach today.
Li's tightly-performed forehand snaps earned an incredible 9.5 (out of ten) score for a 25.1 total score which saw Kata rise to victory with 90.1 ahead of Konapiliahi B who placed second with 88.0, Makoa A third with 69.2 and Konapiliahi A fourth with 40.7.
It was an emphatic victory for Li who held on until the closing minutes and lying just 0.9 points behind the heat leaders Konapiliahi B, sealing their victory on the final wave of the heat to win the series and go into the National Finals in Sydney as the Queensland Champions.
"We're ecstatic with our win here today," said Lacey Davies, Kata's second highest scorer behind Li. "Konapiliahi has so many good surfers and to beat them with two of their teams in the Final is just huge for us."