Crystal Cylinders
Byron Bay’s Soli Bailey was knocked out in round two of the Corona Bali Protected in inconsistent one-metre waves at Keramas up against veteran Adrian Buchan and fellow rookie Seth Moniz.
Bailey finished third in the first round in a very close battle against Owen Wright and Yago Dora.
Bailey has only had one heat win and just a single second-place heat finish over the first three events of 2019.
Rookies like Bailey face a daunting task as they start from a low seed and always draw high seeds who have many more years’ experience.
Bailey will need to channel all his nerves and frustrations into a more aggressive attack from his very first wave in the next events and take more risks with his surfing in the smaller surf to get up the ratings ladder.
He has a great reputation in bigger more powerful waves and hopefully with some swell on tap he will be able to get some heat wins.
Kennedy
Stuart Kennedy (Lennox Head) was in great form to finish runner-up at the 2019 Gold Coast Open in peeling one-metre waves at Burleigh Point.
Billy Stairmand (New Zealand) won with some early good scores while Kennedy waited in vain for a set wave in the last half of the heat.
Kennedy was stoked with making the final and holds high hopes for the rest of the year.
‘I’m hoping I can carry this momentum into future events. I would like to re-qualify for the world tour, I feel like that’s where I belong,’ he said.
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