Harry O’Brien working his home break.
Photo Ethan Smith
Some of Australia’s best and most competitive junior surfers got their chance to shine in one-metre conditions at Lennox Head over the weekend for the opening rounds of the WSL Pro Junior event getting underway.
The early heats in the male division were blessed with beautiful conditions before a light onshore hit the lineup later in the afternoon.
Fresh off a victory at the recent Nias Pro QS 5000 in Indonesia, Marlon Harrison (Coolangatta, Qld) showed his small wave repertoire remained as sharp as ever, smashing his opening boys heat.
But it was local surfer Harry O’Brien (Lennox Head), who provided one of the biggest upsets of Saturday, eliminating current ISA World Junior Champion Willis Droomer (Jan Juc, Vic) from the event in the quarterfinals of the Under-18 Boys.
The six-day event ran from July 7–12 and was comprised of a World Surf League (WSL) sanctioned Pro Junior Qualifying Series (JQS) event, as well as an elite competition for promising grommets in the under 14, 16 and 18 divisions.
Recent Nias Pro Champion Sai Maniwa (Japan) also took to the water in her first Pro Junior heat.
“I won the U/14 division in this event back in 2017, so I’m really hoping I can get another win here in the Pro Junior this year,” she said.
