Kalani Ball and Cedar Leigh-Jones win Volkswagen Cronulla Open.

CRONULLA BEACH, SYDNEY November 2020): Kalani Ball (Stanwell Park) and Cedar Leigh-Jones (Avalon) have taken top honours at the Volkswagen Cronulla Open, the first NSW stop on the 2020 Australian Open Surf series after an array of exciting heats in playful two-foot conditions.

Kalani Ball (Stanwell Park) capitalised on his opening day momentum taking out the Open Men’s division. The lightning-fast natural footer shone over the entirety of the event, eliminating top seed and fellow Scarborough Boardriders member Nic Squires (Corrimal) in his opening heat and then backed it up with massive scores in his following heats. Ball finished the final with a gigantic 18.04 two-wave heat total to sneak ahead of event standout Dylan Moffat (Narrabeen) in the dying moments of the heat.

“This is the first event I’ve done this year so to get the win feels awesome,” said Ball. “I think the win ahead of Nic yesterday helped give me the confidence to keep getting through heats. That final came right down to the wire but I knew I had to get those rare waves that would dish up two steep sections. I’m stoked I found them.”

Cedar Leigh-Jones (Avalon) surfed a smart heat en route to her victory, striking in the final minute of the heat with an 8.33 to get the jump on Sarah Baum (Wallsend) who held down the lead for a giant portion of the final. The 16-year-old natural-footer nailed an array of beautiful snaps and carves to claim the win ahead of some fancied opposition.

“I’m so stoked to have won this, especially against some of the girls in this final,” said Leigh-Jones. “I look up to all the girls in the final so much, so to get a win against them feels incredible. It was quite hard to find a good wave out there, but my whole game plan was to just find the best wave I possibly could and hope it would link right through to the inside shorebreak.”

All scores and results can be seen on liveheats.com

The next event on the 2020 Australian Open of Surfing series will take place at Port Macquarie this coming weekend.

The Volkswagen Cronulla Open was the first of six NSW based Australian Open of Surfing events.

The entirety of all surfing action were broadcast via the Surfing NSW webpage and Facebook page.

The Volkswagen Cronulla Open saw a total $7000 prize purse, with $1500 going to the winner of the Men’s and Women’s divisions.

The 2020 Australian Open of Surfing events were created for Australia’s best surfers in iconic Australian surf locations.

The events will take place in the latter months of 2020 and provide professional and aspiring surfers with the opportunity to win prize money and gain momentum going into 2021.

The NSW leg of the 2020 Australian Open of Surfing will see events in:
Cronulla – 8th – 9th November, 2020
Port Macquarie – 14th – 15th November, 2020
Kiama – 22nd – 23rd November, 2020
Coffs Harbour – 29th – 30th November, 2020
Far South Coast – 5th – 6th December 2020
Northern Beaches – 13th – 14th December, 2020

All events adhered to strict COVID-19 policies and regulations outlined by the NSW Government and council protocols.

The NSW leg of the 2020 Australian Open of Surfing series is proudly supported Destination Kiama, Coffs Harbour City Council, Sutherland Shire Council, Port Macquarie Hastings Council, Eurobodalla Shire Council and Northern Beaches Council.

RESULTS:
Open Men
1 – Kalani Ball (Stanwell Park)
2 – Dylan Moffatt (Narrabeen)
3 – Aidan Lewand-Parsons (Ulladulla)
4 – Joel Vaughan (Bateau Bay)

Open Women
1 – Cedar Leigh-Jones (Avalon)
2 – Sarah Baum (Wallsend)
3 – Philippa Anderson (Merewether)
4 – Tru Starling (Narrabeen)

Special thanks surfingnsw.com