Whatshot
Niki Wins At Birubi Beach!
Niki Wins At Birubi Beach!
Birubi Beach, Port Stephens NSW/AUS andAustralian Niki Van Dijk has taken out the 2018 Port Stephens Toyota Pro World Surf League Qualifying Series 6000 event in clean waves at Birubi Beach. It was an exciting day of competition as the race for spots on the 2019 Championship Tour almost reached its climax.
In the final, Championship Tour competitor Van Dijk came up against young Australian qualification hopeful Macy Callaghan (AUS). Nikki was the surfer to beat all week, building momentum through every heat of every round and the final was no exception. Callaghan had the jump on the more experienced Van Dijk, posting a solid 7.17 on her first ride. She then backed it up for a heat total of 13.34 leaving Van Dijk chasing a couple of good waves. With less than 10 minutes left Van Dijk found the scores she needed, taking her second QS6,000 win for the season with a two-wave total of 14.56.
"This feels really incredible," Van Dijk said. "I started the year off with a win at the Vissla Sydney Surf Pro and then finished one of here — which is awesome. Two wins in Australia is super special. It's been such a great week surfing against all of these girls, I was pushed so much in every heat. It is a really good warmup before I head to Maui for the final CT event of the year - it could be just the confidence booster I need.
Van Dijk is currently sitting in 10th spot on the Championship Tour Jeep Leaderboard, taking the last qualifying spot for 2019. An early round loss at that event could push her outside of re-qualification, however, today's result keeps her inside qualification on the QS meaning she is guaranteed to return to the CT in 2019.