Quarter Final:
Finals day at the Usher Cup World Club Challenge and it was two Usher Cup, World Club Challenge perennial finalists Morgan Cibilic 14:10 & Alister Reginato 12:07 who set the tone for the day in perfect Snapper Rocks conditions. Padma’s, I Made Darma Putra 11.43 and Burleigh Heads Maddy Job 10.80 relegated from the open men’s division.
Xavier Huxtable 14:47 continued his great UCWCC form, edging out North Shelly surfer Joel Vaughan 14:16 in heat 6 with Noosa’s Cooper Davies 11.67 third and Coffs Harbours Creed Smart 11.54 fourth.
Harley Walters 15.63 and Huntington Beach surfer Brett Simpson advanced in heat 7 ahead of North Ends Chris Zaffas 12.77 and North Shore surfer Luke Brumby 10.03
Former World Champion and host club surfer Joel Parkinson then asserted his dominance on the contest with a crowd-pleasing display in heat 8, the Snapper Rocks star scoring a massive 16.10 to finish ahead of Windansea surfer Reef Hazelwood 14.20 with Legian’s I Made Darma Yasa 13.87 third and Point Lookouts Lincoln Taylor 11.80 4th.
Quarter-final one and former Usher Cup World Club Challenge champion Sheldon Simkus 11.64 claimed top ahead of Indonesia’s I Made Joi Satriawan 11.30 with wildcard Thomas Carvello 9.93 and Torquay’s Troy Brooks 9.66 eliminated.
North Narrabeen’s Dylan Moffat 15.90 dominated Quarterfinal 2 finishing 3.57 points clear of Kawana’s Zeb Stokes 12.33 with Coffs Harbour surfer Jayke Sharp 10.27 finishing in third place ahead of one of the events early favourites Jaggar Bartholomew who bowed out of contention with a score of just 8.10.
Quarter final 3: Joel Vaughan 17.14 and Xavier Huxtable 16.10 advanced in a powerful third quarterfinal with Alister Reginato 15.86 and Morgan Cibilic 11.33 ousted from the 2024 event.
Quarter final 4: Quarterfinal four saw Windansea’s Reef Hazelwood 15.60 relegate Parkinson 15.06 to second place by 0.54 points with Harley Walters 14.53 third and Huntington Beach surfer Brett Simpson 13.47 third.
MEN’S SEMI FINAL
Sheldon Simkus 14.93 representing host club Snapper Rocks was the best of semi-final one in the open men’s edging out I Made Joi Satriawan 13.54 to see both surfers through to the decider with North Narrabeen’s Dylan Moffat 12.47 and Kawana’s Zeb Stokes 11.45 finishing in 4th place.
Joel Parkinson claimed Semi-final 2 with a score of 17.27 ahead of North Shelly’s Joel Vaughan 13.43, Windansea’s Reef Hazelwood 13.00 finishing in third place ahead of Torquay’s Xavier Huxtable 9.26.
OPEN MEN’S FINAL
Two Snapper Rocks competitors in Joel Parkinson and former Usher Cup winner Sheldon Simkus led the charge heading into the men’s decider up against North Shelly surfer Joel Vaughan and Indonesia’s Legian competitor I Made Joi Satriawan.
Joel Vaughan was quick to get to work, surfing four waves before Parkinson had registered a score, Simkus was brilliant in his weave selection, his first wave awarded 8.33 which he quickly followed up with a 6.33 second ride to claim the lead by 2.49 from Vaughan with I Made Joi Satriawan third with a combined score of 8 points.
Parkinson set off on what looked to be a high scoring assault on the wave, but was unable to hold onto his final turn, placed in 4th after a 4.50 score.
Simkus then paddled into a steep clean wave which generated plenty of speed, the Snapper surfer going to the air with incredible success, scoring an 8.83 to take a 5.09-point lead at the midway mark of the decider.
Vaughan also decided that there were points in the air scoring a 7.33 to go with his 7.17 for a combined total of 14.50 while Parkinson scored a 6 on his second ride to move into third place and score the Snapper Club valuable club points.
The former world champ then absolutely slammed the face of a steep wave with a series of big power moves to snag an 8.93 score and move into second position before Vaugh paddled into a set with just 15 seconds left on the clock to secure second place with an 8.7-point ride behind Sheldon Simkus with Parkinson third and I Made Joi Satriawan fourth.
It was Simkus second win in four years at the Usher Cup.
- Sheldon Simkus (Snapper Rocks ) 17.26
- Joel Vaughan (North Shelly). 16.03
- Joel Parkinson (Snapper Rocks). 14.93
- I Made Joi Satriawan (Legian). 8.73
WOMEN’S SEMI’S
The first semi-final of the open women’s contest saw four of the events inform and most entertaining surfers battling for two finals positions, and it was San Clemente’s Kirra Pinkerton 15.93 who set the break on fire, holding on to edge out North Shelley’s former UCWCC Challenge Champion Macy Callaghan 15.63 with wildcard Raya Campbell 12.27 third ahead of Burleigh Heads Mia Huppatz 11.30.
Kauai’s Malia Manuel 14.06 ensured two internationals would contest the women’s final with a 2.03-point win over Snapper Rocks Kobie Enright 12.03 with Noosa’s Gia Lorentson 10.60 third and Japan’s Olympic medallist Amuro Tsuzuki 4th.
WOMEN’S FINAL
Macie Callaghan, the injured Kirra Pinkerton, Malia Manuel, and home crowd favourite Kobie Enright paddled out for the open women’s final.
It was former event champion Macy Callaghan who was quick to register an opening scoring ride of 6.50, however the wounded Pinkerton pushed through the pain barrier to claim the early lead with a combined score of 11.00 points.
Kobie Enright waited for almost ten minutes before paddling into her first wave, the Snapper representative shooting into third place with a 5.97 before Malia Manuel relegated her to fourth position with a 6.30-point effort. It was Pinkerton and Callaghan who traded scoring shots as the clock wound down.
Callaghan improved her score to move within 0.93 of the lead before Enright slotted into her best wave of the final, the 6.13 point ride elevating her into third and in sight of the leaders.
After languishing at the bottom of the leader board for much of the final, Manuel blew the decider apart with an 8.10-point ride which took her into second place behind Pinkerton who responded with an 8.17 ride to hold on by the slenderest of margins.
The Kauai star and former world tour surfers’ persistence paying off with a minute to go, an incredible 8.60-point ride seeing her into the lead for the first time in the which she held until the final siren to become the first international winner of the open women’s event ahead of San Clemente’s Kirra Pinkerton, Macy Callaghan and Kobie Enright.
- Malia Manuel Kauai (Hawaii) 16.70
- Kirra Pinkerton (San Clemente) 15.50
- Macy Callaghan (North Shelly) 13.23
- Kobie Enright (Snapper Rocks) 12.90