Harry de Roth and Sophie Fletcher riding high after open series

THE FINAL round of the 2023 Victorian Open Series kicked off at Phillip Island with the opportunity for a select few surfers to take out the series title. 

Coming into this event, only the Mornington Peninsula pair of Lucas Hickson (Rye) and Pedro Lani (Bittern) could overtake Willis Droomer (Bells Beach) to win the Victorian Open Series. However, with Droomer competing at the Lake Mac City Pro Junior in NSW the door was left wide open for either Hickson or Lani to overtake him.

In a turn of events, during the quarterfinals Pedro Lani (Bittern) was taken out of title contention after being knocked out in the dying minutes of his heat due to a buzzer beat wave by Ryder Tweedie (Aireys Inlet).

This put Lucas Hickson in the hot seat as he went into the final looking for a first-place finish. However, to get into that first place on the rankings he was going to have to overcome Phillip Island local Harry de Roth (Phillip Island), 2021 Under 18 State Title winner Ethan Huxtable (Jan Juc) and Jack Bassett (Barwon Heads).

After staying quiet in the first half of the final Harry de Roth found his way onto the biggest wave of the final to completely unload a series of power hacks to receive the highest score of the heat, an 8.27-point ride.

With de Roth making his way into first place Hickson decided to ramp up his aerial game by racing down the line and launching almost two metres into the air while rotating 360 degrees, however he unfortunately came down on the wrong part of the wave making the score inconsequential.

In the final minutes of the final de Roth backed up his excellent score with similar surfing to his previous ride earning a 7.27-point ride and a combined total of 15.54-points (out of a possible 20). This scoreline secured Harry de Roth the win.

“It feels great to win the last event of the series as I had a bit of a shocker in the others, so it feels good to get on top,” said Harry.

“There were some fun lefts out there and you just had to be patient.”

On the other side of the draw in the Open Women, the Victorian State Title was condensed to three people going into the final with Lucy Naylor (Point Lonsdale), Eva Bassed (Sandy Point) and Sophie Fletcher (Phillip Island) vying for the top spot on the podium.

Sophie Fletcher was looking strong all day and continued this momentum in the final by lighting up her first wave with a couple of vertical snaps. This set the tone for the final and ended up being the highest scoring ride.

With Fletcher being able to connect on two rides throughout the final she took out the final and jumped from 11th place on the series rankings to first place, overtaking Eva Bassed (Sandy Point).

“I didn’t even have any idea of the rankings, I was just keen to surf my home break with friends and family,” Sophie stated.

“It was also cool to rock up and see fun waves to surf,” she added.

Eva Based (Sandy Point) placed fourth in the final round, but secured second overall in the Victorian State Titles in what was a fantastic day for Bass Coast and South Gippsland surfers.

Full results and scores can be found online at surfingvic.com/live