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 Chris Friend (Alex Headland, Qld) today won the prestigious Mick Fanning Red Bull Junior Surf Masters on the Gold Coast walking away with a whopping $AUS 10,000 ! Photo Credit: Calderon/Surfing Queensland.
In excellent, one-metre conditions, Friend outpointed youngster Matt Banting (Port Macquarie, NSW), in a thrilling final which was decided by the smallest of margins.
In a seesawing final, Friend posted a combined two-wave heat total of 14.60 (out of a possible 20) to Banting’s 14.50 clinching the win by only 0.10 of a point.
One of 12 Mick Fanning hand picked wildcards, Friend was in blistering form throughout the entire with the elated Sunshine Coaster ecstatic with his historic win.
“I finished second in the Hurley Burleigh Pro Junior at the beginning on the year and missed out on $25,000 at that event, so this is definitely a nice reward,” said Friend.
“To surf in front of two-time world champion Mick Fanning was a massive thrill and competing against Australia’s best junior surfers always pushes you to want to do well,” he said.
Friend was one of only a handful of the country’s top junior surfers selected by Mick Fanning to compete in the event, which is a specialty, invitational competition.
For his efforts today, Friend walked away with a whopping $AUS 10,000 – one of the biggest cheques in professional junior surfing.
Meanwhile, Matt Banting once again solidified himself as a future surfing champion with the 16-year-old giving away up to four years age difference to some of his rivals.
Banting will undoubtably be making massive inroads into the Pro Junior series in years to come.
There was also plenty of action outside the surf, there live music from Brisbane indie sensation Yves Klein Blue sending the crowd abuzz.
Stoked to give something back to the groms, Mick Fanning will be attended the Finals to today to show his support and also check out who the next big name in surfing will be!
ABOUT RED BULL JUNIOR SURF MASTERS
Mick Fanning’s Red Bull Junior Surf Masters is being held at Broadbeach on the Gold Coast from 9-11 July, and is giving junior surfers, aged 14-20, an amazing opportunity to go head-to-head with Australia’s best pro junior surfers. There are plenty of awesome giveaways for each participant and the total prize pool for the event is over $35,000.
A total of 48 of the best performing junior surfers from QLD, NSW, VIC, WA and SA will be invited to compete in the Red Bull Junior Surf Masters Trials held on Friday 9 July. The top 8 finishers from the Trials will earn a spot in the Finals on Saturday 10 July and compete against 12 wildcards hand-picked by Mick Fanning.
Using the ‘torched’ format, the top 4 finishers from Saturdays’ Finals will go straight through to the quarter-finals on Sunday 11 July. The remaining 16 surfers compete in Sunday morning’s heats for a second chance to go through to the quarter-finals.
Chad Calderon Surfing Queensland |
