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Victory Sydney Surf Pro
Victory Sydney Surf Pro
Manly Beach in New South Wales set the scene with Jordy Lawler (AUS) and Alessa Quizon (HAW) having claimed victory at the 2019 Vissla Sydney Surf Pro and Sydney Women's Pro presented by Sisstrevolution World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 6000 event. Manly Beach provided another day of super clean 2-to-3 foot surf for some of the world's best to put on a show for thousands of fans that lined the sand at one of competitive surfing's most iconic beaches.
This year, the Vissla Sydney Surf Pro saw the winner's trophy return home as North Narrabeen local Jordy Lawler(AUS) claimed the biggest win of his young career in front of huge crowds at Manly. After a few years of poor results and niggling injuries, Lawler could be on the brink of career-best form as he rockets to 4th on the QS rankings.
"I've worked my whole life to be standing here on this stage right here so to be doing it now feels surreal," Lawler said.
After falling off the elite Championship Tour in 2016, Alessa Quizon (HAW) has taken a step back from competition and has focused less on re-qualifying for the CT. The young Hawaiian has been hand picking events and taking it heat-by-heat, trying as much as possible to surf without pressure on herself. This new, more relaxed approach seems to be working as Quizon took out the first major QS event win of her career. Alessa will now have to reassess her plans for competition as she sits in fourth place on the WSL QS rankings. "I can't really believe this is happening," Quizon said, "I wasn't really planning on chasing the QS this year and going for re-qualification but I might have to rethink that."
Former WSL World Junior Champion Isabella Nichols (AUS) has been building momentum all season, she has had the best start to the QS season of her career and is now leading the QS rankings at the end of the Aussie leg.