The waves might’ve been better at most people’s locals all week, but that doesn’t mean the Vissla Sydney Surf Pro wasn’t a fun contest to watch.
For a qualifying series event, they did a great job.
The webcast was slick, the surfing was mindblowing at times considering how mediocre the waves were, and a local longshot even managed to take out the form surfer on the QS right now.
North Narrabeen’s Jordy Lawler sure looks like the real deal. Smooth, technically sound, and with a forehand air-reverse every bit the match for the heavyweight Brazilians he encountered, it’d be surprising not to see him qualify in the next few years.
He handled the final against Jaddy like a pro. While Jaddy stuck to the lefts and went for the same air-reverses that first won him a final against Slater back in 2011, Jordy smartly identified the rights as the better scorers and put Jaddy against the ropes with one that finally held up in the last few minutes. Then he played his priority card like an ace in the last 30 seconds and not only shut down Jaddy’s chances of taking back the lead, but ripped the top off the thing a handful of times for the win and the highest score of the final.
Cue madness from the North Narrabeen boys on the beach and Jordy’s feet not touching the Manly sand from the water to the podium.
It must’ve felt grand for the young fella, who not only took out the biggest win of his career and went soaring up the rankings to a well-positioned fourth, but did it in his major sponsor’s own contest.
He called it the best day of his life.
For Jaddy, it was the ultimate confidence boost coming into his first event back on the CT, with the Brazilian stalwart close to holding enough to qualify for the 2020 world tour already.
That’s crazy.
He probably wouldn’t be a bad buy for your fantasy team coming into Snapper.
Matty Banting finished third after an absolutely stellar run through the Aussie leg, with the Port Macquarie stylist now second on the QS rankings and in a good position to get the call up to the CT ala Mikey Wright last year.
Speaking of Mikey, his best mate Jesse Mendes finished equal third.
On the girls’ side of things, Caio Ibelli’s better half Alessa Quizon returned to the podium with a win over Isabella Nichols, who’s been doing a Jaddy on the women’s QS and is now way out in front on the rankings.
Bravo boys and girls.
Bravo Vissla.
Now bring on the main course at Snapper in a bit over a week.
