Queensland Surf Series Titles On The Line At Billabong Girls Summer Classic
Well, its not officially summer but Queensland’s hottest female surfers will be fighting it out in an all-out bikini-battle when the last stop of the ’07 Billabong Girls Queensland Surf Series (QSS) touches down on the Gold Coast of Australia this weekend.
The Billabong Girls Summer Classic, running from Nov 3-4 and boasting $2,000 (AUD) in prize money, offers a 70-strong field of the state’s best ‘gidgets’ a shot at glory as they battle it out across seven separate divisions for exclusive QSS titles. The 8 surfers who will represent Queensland at the Australian Surfmasters in ’08 within the open, senior and masters divisions will also be determined.
Reigning Queensland champion Rebecca Oakley will start as favourite in the blue ribbon open women’s division following her emphatic victory at the Billabong Girls Spring Classic at Duranbah in September. The win, Oakley’s first in this year’s QSS, keeps alive the 19-year-old’s bid to claim back-to-back titles and an all-important wildcard entry into the trials of the world championship tour event to be held on the Gold Coast in 2008.
“Another wildcard entry is definitely in the back of my mind,” said Oakley, who finished 6th on the ’07 ASP Australasian Pro Junior Series ratings. “It was such a good learning curve competing against the world’s best female surfers at Snapper Rocks this year. The standard was so high. I would love to share in the limelight again.”
Adding to her surfing load, Oakley is gunning for a second title in the U/21 girls’ division following third and fifth placings in the opening two rounds of the series. Though, she won’t be able to rest on her laurels with the likes of Sheridan Shields, Airini Mason, Paige Hareb, Kirsty Jones, Talina Christensen, Kirby Wright and Paige Houden eager for their own crack at the big time.
Despite Oakley’s impressive win, Shields continues to lead the series heading into the final event. There she sits on top with 1860 points, 305 clear of Oakley in second. Other surfers inline for QSS titles includes Southport’s Mandy Roberts in both the senior and masters’ divisions along with Briana Lenton, Bridey McNeven and Paige Hareb in the U/18 girls’ division.
Sunrise beach surfers Naomi Stevic and Coolangatta’s Amiya Doyle are in the box seat to claim their respective U/16 and U/14 girls’ division titles. The Billabong Girls Summer Classic is the third and final Billabong QSS event in ’07 and will be held at the Gold Coast on November 3rd-4th, 2007. The two-day tournament is fully mobile and has the option of going mobile to the best beach breaks from Duranbah Beach to Southport Spit.
The all-female series is the richest open women’s circuit in Australia. With three events slotted in, the Billabong Girls Queensland Surf Series (QSS) boasts $14,000 prize money and a chance to tackle the world’s best surfers.
