Gold Coast, Queensland, Sunday July 11, 2010: Round 4 of the 'State of Origin' took place on Broadbeach today as Qld surfer Chris Friend and NSW surfer Matt Banting battled it out for top honour at Mick Fanning's Red Bull Junior Surf Masters.
In excellent one-metre conditions, Friend outpointed youngster Matt Banting (Port Macquarie, NSW), in a thrilling final which was decided by the smallest of margins. In a seesawing final, Friend posted a combined two-wave heat total of 14.60 (out of a possible 20) to Banting’s 14.50 clinching the win by only 0.10 of a point.
One of 12 Mick Fanning's hand-picked wildcards, Friend was in blistering form throughout the entire heat with the elated Sunshine Coaster ecstatic with his historic win.
“To surf in front of two-time world champion Mick Fanning was a massive thrill and competing against Australia’s best junior surfers always pushes you to want to do well,” Friend said. For his efforts today, Friend walked away with a whopping $AUS 10,000 – one of the biggest cheques in professional junior surfing.
Mick Fanning was on hand to present Friend with his massive trophy and cheque and had this to say about the surfing young gun.
“Chris Friend is a deserving winner, I’m stoked for him,” Fanning said. “The field for this event has included virtually every good kid coming through the junior level and it’s during your final years in the pro junior ranks where you start to seriously develop as a competitive surfer. I think we will see a lot of these guys surfing and qualifying for the world tour over the next few years.”
Meanwhile, Matt Banting once again solidified himself as a future surfing champion with the 16-year-old giving away up to four years age difference to some of his rivals. Banting will undoubtedly be making massive inroads into the Pro Junior series in years to come.
Surfing is the Gold Coast’s recreational backbone and the stars are the region’s sporting royalty. And right now it’s Fanning who is king and quite rightly, elicits attention wherever he goes. His forecasted arrival each day at the Red Bull Junior Surf Masters was as anticipated as the surfing action and live music. As well as happily signing caps and posing for pics, Mick also judged a couple of impromptu sand-castle building competitions (no one better qualified than a bloke who has spent his life at the beach!) in which the winners walked away with a pair of Skull Candy headphones.
For the first time in its three-year history, the Red Bull Junior Surf Masters held the Trials and Finals in Queensland, on the Gold Coast glitter strip and the surfing mecca did not disappoint. Better surf, warmer water and smack-bang in the guts of school holidays was welcomed by happy holiday makers and locals alike.
When Brisbane rockers ‘Yves Klein Blue’ took to the stage on Sunday afternoon to close the festivities, pumped from the gripping final, spectators let down their hair and got into the groove. But celebrating the longest will surely be winner Chris Friend.
Red Bull Photofiles
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