King and Queen of the Point rounds out 2022 season Surfing NZ
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ew Zealand’s two surfing Olympians were crowned champions at the Backdoor King and Queen of the Point presented by Quiksilver on Saturday 23rd July. Billy Stairmand (Rag) snatched a come-from-behind victory in the Men’s Division while Ella Williams (WGM) took the win in a tough twoway tussle in the Open Women’s Final. Stairmand’s win came at the expense of three fellow Raglan surfers and none more so than Caleb Cutmore who led until the final minute of the final. On his final wave, Stairmand posted a 6.47 to edge past Cutmore 14.30 to 14.00 for the win. “I think as competitive surfers, that is the type of the win you dream of, knowing you can get the win and surfing a clutch wave to just get the score” said Stairmand of the outcome. “Caleb has been training and surfing so well and Kora is the up and comer from Raglan and of course Luke rips but yeah, I am stoked to take the win” Stairmand added in reference to his opponents performances. Stairmand is hoping to take this momentum into the US Open of Surfing which starts on Sunday week. “I have been doing well in the regional events but unfortunately not so much in the Challengers, so it is time to put my best foot forward and hopefully get a result at Huntington Beach then head to Europe for the back half of the year. Huntington is a wave I like to compete at, and I did fairly well there last year so I am looking forward to next week” added Stairmand. Cutmore came oh so close in the final surfing with superior speed on his forehand and posting the only excellent ride of the final, an 8.0 point ride. However, that was not enough to stop Stairmand. Day one’s form surfer Luke Cederman finished the final in third place ahead of the youngest competitor, 18-year-old Kora Cooper in fourth. Ella Williams came back from a twelve month break from the competition arena to find her best form in the final today, surfing to a 15.76 point heat win defeating local surfer Brie Bennett (14.40) in the final. “I am so happy, it is great to be back and competing in good waves and to come away with the win for the weekend is amazing, I am so stoked” said Williams. Williams has not put on the coloured jersey since the Tokyo Olympics. “The last twelve months away from competing
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Ella Williams and Billy Stairmand. Image courtesy of Cory / NZ Surfing Magazine. has been good, I have had plenty of family time and I have been free surfing a lot and being at home more often than not, putting away the suitcase, it has been refreshing” said Williams. Bennett pushed Williams all the way in the final with Estella Hungerford (Chch) finishing in third and Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara) in fourth. The MR Twin Fin Expression Session went down in small but running lefts with eight surfers taking the opportunity to ride the classic Mark Richards twin fins. Whitianga surfer Jay Piper–Healion showed the most poise on the retro boards to walk away with his height in Workshop Beer. Jay was pushed to the final wave of the 30 minutes by wildcard Simon Fritchley and the lone female of the eight, Elin Tawharu. After the Men’s and Women’s Divisions were completed at Manu Bay on Saturday, and won by Billy Stairmand and Ella Williams, a change in venue was required for the final day of the event with the backup location of Ruapuke Beach proving fruitful for the best Kiwi juniors in the country. A clean 1.0m swell and offshore winds prevailed all day producing groomed waves that held throughout the tides. The Under 20 Girls Division was flipped in the final five minutes with seasoned campaigner Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara) eventually claiming the win over doublefinalist Chloe Groube (Pau) 13.25 to 13.1 points. Raglan surfers Alani Morse and Brie Bennett finished in third and fourth
respectively in the Under 20 Girls Division final. Gouldsbury’s New Zealand teammate Kora Cooper (Rag) won the Under 20 Boys Division to round out the day in a close final against his three opponents. Cooper finished fourth in the Open Men’s Division on Saturday and backed that form up with a win today. He posted an 11.43 point heat total in the final after taking an early lead and holding on to the end. Cooper’s biggest challenge came from the in-form Jack Hinton who finished with a 10.1 point heat total, however Hinton couldn’t find the right waves that had seen him smash his way to the final. Whangarei surfer Tom Robinson finished third in the final on 9.97 points with fellow Northland surfer Te Kauwhata Kauwhata finishing in fourth place. Maya Mateja (Rag) ran away with the Under 16 Girls Division despite being away from her favoured Manu Bay. Mateja posted a 10.83 point total in the final punctuated with a clean two turn combo at the end of the final that netted a 6.0 ride. Up until the final wave, it was a close tussle with all finalists. Chloe Groube (Pau) fought her way into second place on 7.17, narrowly edging Pia Rogers (WGM) in third and Lani Frazerhurst (Rag) in fourth. The Backdoor King and Queen of the Point presented by Quiksilver is an $NZ3000 event and boasts $15,000 in prize money as the richest event of the year and with maximum national ranking points on offer.
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