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Owen Wright, Matt Wilkinson and More Arrive for Newcastle Surfest
Tom Bennett
Surfest, the annual event at Merewether Beach in Newcastle, Australia, was flooded this year by entries from would-be competitors -- a whopping 463 surfers from 25 countries for six events that will run over the next week-plus. The premier events of the festival are the WSL Qualifying Series contests, the men's Burton Automotive Pro and the women's Grandstand Sports Clinic Women's Pro. Across those two events alone, there are 27 athletes from the elite-level Championship Tour (CT) vying to lock up the 6,000 qualifying points available.
"I still get blown away by the number of competitors from around the globe that make the trek to Newcastle," said. Surfest director Warren Smith. "To have attracted 13 of the world's very best men to the Burton Automotive Pro and 14 of the very best women surfers to the Grandstand Sports Clinic Women's Pro is a big thumbs-up for the event's status. As a truly international event drawing competitors from around the world, Surfest provides a terrific boost for local businesses and is a great way to showcase the Hunter."
When entries closed at midday on Wednesday Australian time, 212 surfers had signed on for a spot in the Burton Automotive Pro. The 14 elite Championship Tour (CT) surfers that will compete at Merewether include Aussies Matt Wilkinson and Owen Wright -- ranked No. 5 and No. 6 in the world, respectively -- along with their countrymen Adrian Buchan, Wade Carmichael and Connor O'Leary. Brazilians Willian Cardoso, Ian Gouveia, Jesse Mendes, Tomas Hermes and Michael Rodriguez will also surf at Merewether, as well CT duo Kanoa Igarashi and Keanu Asing, with Portugal's Frederico Morais and the USA's Griffin Colapinto completing the CT contingent.
The Grandstand Sports Clinic Women's Pro received 128 entrants, including 13 CT surfers from the Championship Tour. Aussie entrants include reigning world champion Tyler Wright and world number three Sally Fitzgibbons, as well as Keely Andrew, Bronte Macaulay and Nikki van Dyke. Internationals include Hawaiian trio Coco Ho, Malia Manuel, and Tatiana Weston-Webb, defending champ Joanne Defay from France, Americans Caroline Marks and Sage Erickson, plus Paige Hareb from New Zealand, and Silvana Lima, from Brazil.
The huge number of entrants into Surfest's main events has required organisers to arrange trials for February 17 and 18, just a few hundred metres north of the break at Merewether. Merewether will be hosting the Wandiyali Indigenous Classic -- Australia's biggest event for Indigenous surfers. Sixty-four men and 32 women will be battling in the wildcard trials for one spot in both the Burton Automotive Pro and the Grandstand Sports Clinic Women's Pro.
Along with the QS 6,000-level events, Surfest is hosting The James Bros Longboard Classic for men and women and the nib Pro Junior for men and women.
Surfers who have sought a start in the six WSL events at Surfest represent Argentina, Australia, Barbados, Basque Country, Brazil, Canary Islands, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Hawaii, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Reunion, South Africa, Spain, Uruguay and the USA.
Watch the events daily on the WSL from February 19 - 25.
Burton Automotive Pro
O australiano Mikey Wright foi o campeão do Burton Automotive Pro e a havaiana Coco Ho bateu a bicampeã mundial Tyler Wright.
Tyler and Mikey Wright become the first siblings to surf in dual WSL QS Finals, while Ho wins Surfest for a second time.
O catarinense Willian Cardoso e o potiguar Jadson André ganharam os duelos brasileiros do sábado e vão disputar as quartas de final.
Can the current WSL women's World Champion get a grasp on the one bit of silverware that seems to be eluding her?
A group of Australian competitors have stamped their authority on Surfest, and will be stacking the field in the Quarterfinals.
News
Welcome back to Oz's Wild West and all the open ocean power the Western Australia Margaret River Pro has to offer.
It's time for the world's best to show what they're made of at the Western Australia Margaret River Pro with World Title aspirations and
The 2025 CT Replacement Surfer, Luana Silva, continues to show she isn't letting her opportunity go to waste with the Mid-season Cut
The current World No. 1 Gabriela Bryan earned her first CT victory at Main Break and made sure spectators remembered that with a 15.00 heat
A former CT standout and now wildcard threat, Bronte Macaulay, delivered for her hometown crowd with a blistering backhand attack to