Sophie Fletcher and Xavier Huxtable crowned Open State Champions at Phillip Island Pro

For Immediate Release:

Sophie Fletcher (Phillip Island) and Xavier Huxtable (Jan Juc) have been crowned Victorian Open State Champions today as part of the Phillip Island Pro presented by Bass Coast Shire Council. 

Both Fletcher and Huxtable will gain a spot in the Rip Curl Pro Trials event to be held at Bells Beach in April.

The final round of the three-event series was held as part of the Phillip Island Pro in clean, solid waves at Cape Woolamai today providing the perfect end to the series.

In what was a final that went down to the wire, Cody Robinson (Jan Juc) took out the third event of the series finishing with a 12.06 heat total. 

Local surfer Harry de Roth (Phillip Island) had a chance at the siren to leapfrog into the lead and secure the state title over Huxtable. Needing a 5.66 wave, he fell agonisingly short with a 5.37 (out of a possible 10), leaving Huxtable as the ratings leader and State Champion.

“It feels great to get the overall State Title win” said Huxtable. “It’s been a great event and some fun waves on the Island.”

“The goal for Victorian’s is always to get to the Rip Curl Pro Trials and make the main event. To get the chance for that spot is awesome. I can’t wait for it.”

In a big day of surfing for Sophie Fletcher who was also competing in the WSL QS1000 event, she unfortunately was knocked out of the Open event in the Semi-Finals. Regardless, her prior results left her in top position at the end of the day and with the State Title in hand.

“It’s nice to take home a state title especially here at home on Phillip Island” said Fletcher. “The waves turned on for us today so it couldn’t have been better!”

“The Rip Curl Pro Trials is the biggest event of the year for us Victorians. It’s such a great opportunity to have the chance to surf in a Championship Tour event. I’m looking forward to getting over there and surfing at Bells.”

Jan Juc’s Angela Ball took out the event round win today in her biggest career result finishing with a heat total of 8.33 in what was a slow heat.

Ruby Armstrong (Flinders) finished in second with Lucy Naylor (Pt Lonsdale) in third. 

The Victorian Indigenous Invitational was also run bringing together the top 8 indigenous surfers from around Victoria.

12x Victorian Indigenous Champion Jordie Campbell (Torquay) took out the event final over Steffan Krosna (Phillip Island), Anthony Hume (Torquay) and Tyler Duell (Phillip Island).

The Quarter Finals of the Women’s QS1000 and Round of 16 of Men’s QS1000 were also run. Victorian’s Ellie Harrison (Barwon Heads) and Bella Wilson (Jan Juc) were standouts in the Women alongside top seed Sophie McCulloch (Sunshine Coast) and Freya Prumm (Merimbula).

The Mens saw former event champion Jacob Wilcox (Margaret River, WA) dominate along with Tully Wylie (Jan Juc) and George Pittar (Manly, NSW).

Finals day for the QS1000 divisions is set for tomorrow morning with a call to be made at 7am for a 7.30am start at Cape Woolamai. 

Live scores and heat draws for the QS1000 can be found on www.worldsurfleague.com

Victorian Open State Title
Women’s Champion – Sophie Fletcher
Men’s Champion – Xavier Huxtable

Open Women’s Round 3 Final
1st Angela Ball – 8.33
2nd Ruby Armstrong – 6.57
3rd Lucy Naylor – 5.27

Open Men’s Round 3 Final
1st Cody Robinson – 12.06
2nd Harry De Roth – 11.77
3rd Xavier Huxtable – 9.94
4th Bohdie Williams – 8.23

Victorian Indigenous Invitational
1st Jordie Campbell – 9.56
2nd Steffan Krosna – 5.8
3rd Anthony Hume – 5.07
4th Tyler Duell – 1.83

The Phillip Island Pro is presented by Bass Coast Shire Council and supported by the Victorian Government, Ramada Resort Phillip Island, Phillip Island Nature Parks, Cancer Council Sunscreen and VicHealth.