2023 World Surf League Australian Leg To Commence Tomorrow at Oakberry Tweed Coast Pro

Kyuss King - WSL / Cait Miers

TWEED COAST, New South Wales / Australia (Thursday, February 9, 2023) - Over 250 of Australia and Oceania's next crop of Championship Tour hopefuls have arrived in Northern New South Wales ahead of the 2023 Oakberry Tweed Coast Pro, which will kick off tomorrow. The World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 5,000 and Pro Junior events are the first of many that will see non-stop competitive surfing action around Australia for the next three months.

The opening two days of competition will play host to the Oakberry Tweed Coast Pro Junior, which will see a massive field of 20-and-under surfers battling for a spot at the WSL World Junior Championships. The draw is filled with talent and will be headlined by the prodigious reigning event winner Sierra Kerr (AUS).

Sierra Kerr - WSL / Tom Bennett

Another reigning event winner returning to the Tweed Coast in 2023 is Kyuss King (AUS), who will be making his first competitive appearance in almost six months after taking time off to recover from a back injury. King has good memories from the Oakberry Tweed Coast Pro, with last year's win being the biggest of his career and the Byron Bay local hopes to continue the trend as he aims to find himself back on the Challenger Series later this year.

"This time last year was crazy - I had my first major QS win, which was a huge goal of mine and then was sidelined with a lower back injury and had to pull out of the Challenger Series," King said. "I've been rehabbing ever since and have only recently been back surfing a shortboard, so I can't wait to get back to the Tweed Coast and put my injury behind me. I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself and just see how I go. I'm just really excited to get back in the jersey and compete again."

With solid surf forecasted for the opening few days of the event window, WSL contest directors will be looking for the most contestable waves on the Tweed Coast to get the Oakberry Tweed Coast Pro event underway.

"There's some solid surf on the way thanks to a big tropical low in the coral sea," said WSL APAC Tour Manager Ty Sorati. "Thankfully, the swell will be accompanied by mostly favourable winds, so it will just be a matter of finding a bank that will handle the conditions and getting competition underway. That's the beauty of the mobile nature of this event and a display of the many surfing options available on the Tweed Coast. The remainder of the window will see plenty of waves, so it's lining up to be another fantastic Oakberry Tweed Coast Pro."

Contest directors will meet at 7:00 a.m. local time to make a call on a competition location and start time.

The 2023 Oakberry Tweed Coast Pro will run from February 10 - 16. For more information or to watch the LIVE broadcast, head to WorldSurfLeague.com or download the Free WSL App.

The Oakberry Tweed Coast Pro is proudly supported by Oakberry Acai, The Department of Regional New South Wales, Harvey Norman, Bond University, and Tweed Shire Council.