While the main spectacle of the WQS may have been going on at the Volcom Pipe Pro, the final day of the Telstra Stores Tweed Coast Pro at Cabarita was still a hotly contested affair, with South Coast journeyman Ty Watson breaking through for his first QS victory in the men’s and Japanese youngster Ren Hashimoto taking top honours in the women’s.
Held in the kind of summer slop most of us would hop in our cars and drive away from, the men’s final featured the two form surfers of the day, Culburra’s Ty Watson and South Carolina’s Cam Richards. Both surfers had posted solid heat totals in the semi-finals despite the waves, with Richards staging a trademark come-from-behind victory over Guadalupe surfer Timothee Bisso in Semi 1 while Watson dominated Brazilian Rafael Teixeira in Semi 2. Watson got busy from the get-go in the final, sticking to his forehand on the small, bumpy right-handers while Richards played the patience game on the lefts. Watson held the lead for the majority of the heat until a quick seesaw flurry saw Richards steal it for a moment before it was promptly taken back. With less than a minute remaining and Richards in need of a 7.36 for the victory, the two surfers split the peak and put their backhands to work, but in the wash-up it was Watson who took the win over his younger, more fancied rival. Mobbed by his mates on the beach, he was understandably stoked to claim victory after two injury-forced years away from competition.
‘I’m over the moon,’ he told the WSL. ‘This is my first world tour win.’
For Richards, the final comes as his second of the Australian qualifying leg, after the classy goofy-footer won the Carve Pro at Maroubra in January. A self-professed freesurfer, the twenty-one-year-old now finds himself atop the QS ratings and has all the hallmarks of a surfer who could make the leap onto the world tour.
In the women’s, Lennox Head local Stephanie Single couldn’t find the waves to match Japanese dynamo Ren Hashimoto despite a late effort. Seventeen-year-old Hashimoto put her precise backhand to work early in the final, and with waves drying up through the middle of the heat, never really looked in danger of letting go of the lead. Having recently moved to the Gold Coast from Japan to work on her surfing, the win proves she’s got a bright future in the sport.
‘I’m so happy,’ she said of the achievement. ‘I can’t believe I won the contest.’
The Aussie leg of the WQS now moves to Forster for the Komunity Project Great Lakes Pro, which starts on February 7th.
