Manly Delivers Electric Atmosphere as Vissla Sydney Surf Pro Steams Towards Finals Day

Courtesy of WSL Australia / Oceania

• Quarterfinalists Decided As Huge Scores are Posted at Manly
• Massive Saturday Crowds Enjoy Kelly Slater, Tom Carroll and Matthew Johns Expression Session
• More Information at WorldSurfLeague.com

Manly Beach, NSW /AUS (Saturday, March 23, 2019) – The stage has been set for what is sure to be an epic Final Day of the 2019 Vissla Sydney Surf Pro and Sydney Women’s Pro presented by Sisstrevolution, World Surf League (WSL) Qualifying Series (QS) 6000 events. Manly continued to deliver the goods with more super clean 2-to-3 foot waves on offer for some of the world’s best surfers. Competitors made good use of conditions, posting some of the biggest scores of the event so far.

Round 5 of the Sydney Women’s Pro presented by Sisstrevolution saw some of the strongest and most consistent performances on the entire event with excellent rides being posted in almost every heat. Former CT competitor Keely Andrew (AUS) was the standout of the round with her two-wave combination of 16.76. Keely was looking sharp on her forehand as she looks to regain her spot at the elite level on the Championship Tour.

“It’s definitely good to win that heat and feel like I’m building some momentum,” Keely Andrew said. “I want to get back on the CT and it’s not going to happen without putting on performances like that. My surfing is feeling good and so is my equipment, so I’m excited to surf more heats tomorrow on Final’s Day.”

Northern Beaches native Jordan Lawler (AUS) is a surfer whose talent hasn’t translated into results in QS6,000 events with the exciting young goofy-footer struggling to progress through the early rounds. Today, in front of massive crowds and plenty of local support, Lawler put on an epic performance to book himself a spot in the Quarterfinals at the Vissla Sydney Surf Pro.

“This is such an amazing feeling,” Lawler said. “I’ve never made it through heats at a big QS event like this so I’m so over the moon. To do it so close to home and with so many friends and family cheering me on from the beach has been incredible. I want to try and stay relaxed and keep focused and see how far I can go on Final’s Day, but I do want to soak it up as I’ve guaranteed my best ever result.”

Japanese competitor Hiroto Ohara (JPN) put on a polished performance for the huge weekend crowds, boosting and carving his way to a 17.27 heat total to dominate Ian Gouveia in their Round 5 match-up. Ohara is sitting in a solid position on the QS having finished just before the Quarterfinals in Newcastle and Brazil, with Manly set to be the best result of his 2019 so far.

“I knew I could relax a little after that 8.77,” Ohara said. “I backed it up with a good score and then worked on building towards another excellent wave. I’m stoked to be into the Quarterfinals and having a go at winning this event. I love the big crowd here and all of the fans — I had people coming up and saying Hi to me on the beach which I didn’t expect so that was pretty cool.”