Fletcher wows at Gunnamatta Ocean Beach

SOPHIE Fletcher (Cape Woolamai) and Todd Rosewall (Jan Juc) have started off their Victorian Open Series campaigns on a terrific note taking out the Open Women’s and Open Men’s divisions at Gunnamatta Ocean Beach in challenging conditions.
 The combination of a messy 3-4ft groundswell and a very strong rip made it difficult for all surfers to link up a series of manoeuvres, however Rosewall and Fletcher were able to find the best possible waves to win their respective divisions in style.
 With a stellar field of Victorian surfers competing, stakes were high with the event being a qualification pathway into the Rip Curl Pro Trials.
From the outset of today’s title, Todd Rosewall (Jan Juc) looked the goods, smashing out some massive turns early on in the day and carrying that momentum into the final.
Rosewall saw a considerable challenge in his quarter-final only advancing by a mere margin, however thereafter Rosewall didn’t miss a beat.
Rosewall traded blows with 2018 Ripcurl Pro Trials winner Carl Wright (Phillip Island) throughout the final however in the end Wright was left trailing narrowly behind as he surfed to a second place.
In third was Joel Wookey (St Andrews), and in fourth was Cahill Bell-Warren (Jan Juc) riding a vintage Greg Webber thruster from 1988.
 “It’s great to get the win here at Gunnamatta and get the three in a row,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to surfing the next couple of Victorian Open Series events and hopefully clinching the title.”
 In her respective Open Women’s division, current WQS competitor Sophie Fletcher (Cape Woolamai) was far too good for her fellow women’s finalists.
Having won her first QS event at the backend of last year, Fletcher looked a class above as she slashed her way through the rip bowls of the Mornington Peninsula.
Fletcher was able to find a few of the smaller inside right handers which provided some cleaner faces in comparison to some of the larger waves which were bumpy from the onshore wind out the back.
 “I’m stoked to get the win here today. It’s always great to get back here to Gunnamatta,” she said.
“I can’t wait to head up north soon to do all of the WQS events as well as going to Mexico and California.”
 Coming in second was 2x Open Women’s champion Bella Wilson (Jan Juc), with Jazz Wylie (Jan Juc) and Ellie Harrison (Barwon Heads) finishing in third and fourth respectively.
 The Air Asia Wave of the Day went to Josh Johnson-Baxter (Ocean Grove) for his 9.00 point ride earlier in the morning where he laid out a massive turn. 
 Results can be found at liveheats.com/surfingvictoria.

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Jan 22 2019. Filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry