THE World Championship Tour kicked off in emphatic style last week on the Gold Coast with wins to Brazil’s Italo Ferreira and Rookie of the Year Caroline Marks, of the USA.
Ferreira was the standout surfer of the event ,which was held at Duranbah Beach on the Queensland/New South Wales border.
A decision was made early in the event to move from Snapper Rocks to D-bah which proved to be a good move.
Marks, from Florida, cruised to victory as the youngest female surfer on the CT and in doing so became the first female surfer to earn equal prize money to the men.
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READ NOWThis year the championship tour plays an integral part in the selection of teams who will represent their country in the Olympic Games next year in Japan.
The top 18 surfers from the men’s and women’s tour (10 men and eight women) will make up nearly half of the 40 places at the Games.
Neil Atkinson, The Surf Boardroom.