Raglan surfer Kora Cooper has returned for injury with a win in his first event of the season at the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge held at Piha Beach, Auckland today (Sunday 27th February).
Cooper was joined by Mount Maunganui’s Tao Mouldey on the podium, Mouldey claiming his third straight win in the Under 16 Boys Division and as such won the overall title. Piha surfer Bill Byers won the overall series for the Under 18 Boys Division.
Cooper has been out of action all summer after breaking his wrist in November. However, today, he showed the form that has seen him win multiple age group events previously. In his fourth heat of the day, he surfed to a 12.3 point heat title to edge out Ari D’Anvers (Whngrei) who finished runner-up.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling knowing that I haven’t been able to surf for 8-9 weeks and I have only been back in the water for two weeks and I am able to mix it with the best surfers in New Zealand” said Cooper.
“Piha is one of my favourite breaks, it is like Ruapuke at home, punchy and powerful, so I enjoy competing here” added Cooper.
“We had a good final today, Ari was super close to me and I was glad to start with that 8.5 point ride and hold the lead through to the end of the final despite only having a small back up score”.
Bill Byers finished the final in third place ahead of Kalani Louis (Tara) in fourth.
Tao Mouldey surfed to a 12.83 point heat total in the Under 16 Boys Division Final to claim a convincing win.
“I am pretty stoked to win today and take my third one of the series” Mouldey said.
“The surf was much better this weekend than the first two events so that made it good to get the win too, it was pretty fun out there and I was pretty happy with my surfing, low tide was hard with the close outs but there were still heaps of good waves” added Mouldey who plans to head home and get as many waves as possible over the next month without events.
Mouldey’s closest rival was Jack Tyro (Chch) who finished with a 10.7 point heat total but was left needing a 6.94 for the win. Tyro’s runner-up finish was his best of the Billabong Grom Series and he will now look forward to the Duke Festival at home in Christchurch at the end of March.
Cooper Ashill (Whngrei) finished in third place, his best result of the series with local Piha boy Will Hardie making the final for the second straight event to finish fourth.
Please see below for results from Day 2 of the final event of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge held at Piha Beach today (Sunday 27th February 2022). Live scoring can also be followed via www.compusurf.com.au.
Under 18 Boys Division Round 1
Heat 1
Kora Cooper (Rag), 12.67, 1, Kalani Louis (Tara), 10.84, 2, Noah Camburn (Whaka), 6.37, 3, Harper McBride (Mnt), 4.93, 4
Heat 2
Luca Rendle (Hbay), 12.56, 1, Luke Dymond (Rag), 10.37, 2, Ben Fougere (Piha), 9.63, 3, Ben Moretti (Ahipara), 8.75, 4
Heat 3
Navryn Malone (Rag), 15.43, 1, Te Kauwhata Kauwhata (Whngrei), 13.9, 2, George Roberts (Chch), 7, 3, Tawhia Wellby (Rag), 1.3, 4
Heat 4
Bill Byers (Piha), 13.17, 1, Jake Owen (Dun), 7.6, 2, Jack Sullivan (Tara), 4.3, 3, Noah O’Malley (Auck), 4.17, 4
Heat 5
Ari D’Anvers (Whngrei), 8.57, 1, Jai Wallis (Piha), 8.37, 2, Izaak Hayes (whngerei), 5.94, 3, Charlie Webb (Auck), 2.7, 4
Heat 6
Jack McKenzie (Chch), 12.3, 1, Tyler Perry (Kaik), 11.6, 2, Evan Broad (Hbay), 6.5, 3, Jarvis Camenzind (Rag), 2.27, 4
Under 18 Boys Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Kora Cooper (Rag), 11.9, 1, Kalani Louis (Tara), 11.2, 2, Luke Dymond (Rag), 8.1, 3, Luca Rendle (Hbay), 3.23, 4
Heat 2
Bill Byers (Piha), 11.5, 1, Navryn Malone (Rag), 10.3, 2, Te Kauwhata Kauwhata (Whngrei), 9.33, 3, Jake Owen (Dun), 9, 4
Heat 3
Tyler Perry (Kaik), 9.86, 1, Ari D’Anvers (Whngrei), 9.2, 2, Jai Wallis (Piha), 6.8, 3, Jack McKenzie (Chch), 6.1, 4
Under 18 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Ari D’Anvers (Whngrei), 10.4, 1, Kora Cooper (Rag), 10.3, 2, Navryn Malone (Rag), 8.9, 3
Heat 2
Bill Byers (Piha), 8.27, 1, Kalani Louis (Tara), 7.6, 2, Tyler Perry (Kaik), 2.66, 3
Under 18 Boys Division Final
Kora Cooper (Rag), 12.3, 1, Ari D’Anvers (Whngrei), 11.7, 2, Bill Byers (Piha), 10.8, 3, Kalani Louis (Tara), 8.87, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Round 1
Heat 1
Will Lockhart (Whiti), 9, 1, Braedon Webster (Ohope), 7.83, 2, Rio Bidois (Piha), 6.7, 3, Ari O’Malley, 4.9, 4
Heat 2
Leo Hobson (Mur), 8.7, 1, Ben Milne (WGM), 7.04, 2, Luke Ludlow (Auck), 1.17, 3, Jake Cargill (Piha), 0, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Round 2
Heat 1
Tai Murphy (Whaka), 11.93, 1, Tava Santorik (Mnt), 10.87, 2, Taylor Mainwaring (WGM), 7.8, 3, Asher O’Donnell (Whngrei), 6.87, 4
Heat 2
Lewis Murphy (Dun), 13.1, 1, Beau Woods (Mnt), 10.6, 2, Rakiatea Tau (Chch), 10.3, 3, Leo Hobson (Mur), 4.9, 4
Heat 3
Ashton Rogers (WGM), 11, 1, Karne Gabbott (Dun), 8.27, 2, Taj Millar Dal Bosco (WGM), 7.6, 3, Max Phillips (Gis), 6.33, 4
Heat 4
Tao Mouldey (Mnt), 1307, 1, Cooper Ashill (Whngrei), 8.93, 2, Braedon Webster (Ohope), 5.5, 3, Hunter Lynch (Gis), 3.34, 4
Heat 5
Nate Florence (Tara), 12.2, 1, Jack Tyro (Chch), 7.8, 2, Mathias Thompson (Piha), 7.1, 3, Ben Milne (WGM), 6.54, 4
Heat 6
Will Hardie (Piha), 11.57, 1, Kalani Watts (Tara), 8.53, 2, Harry Prins (Hbay), 8.16, 3, Soren Bucka – Christensen (Tara), 1.73, 4
Heat 7
Spencer Rowson (Tara), 13.6, 1, Manu Roberts (Tai), 9.7, 2, Otis Baxter (WGM), 8.74, 3, Will Lockhart (Whiti), 5.4, 4
Heat 8
George Laery (Mnt), 9.96, 1, Dale Cromhout (Hbay), 9.44, 2, Christian Fougere (Piha), 8.97, 3, Hugo Sale (Mnt), 7.27, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Cooper Ashill (Whngrei), 11.63, 1, Karne Gabbott (Dun), 10.27, 2, Lewis Murphy (Dun), 10.2, 3, Tai Murphy (Whaka), 6.33, 4
Heat 2
Tao Mouldey (Mnt), 13.77, 1, Tava Santorik (Mnt), 11.2, 2, Ashton Rogers (WGM), 10.83, 3, Beau Woods (Mnt), 8.24, 4
Heat 3
Dale Cromhout (Hbay), 9.67, 1, Will Hardie (Piha), 9.6, 2, Nate Florence (Tara), 7.03, 3, Manu Roberts (Tai), 6.27, 4
Heat 4
Spencer Rowson (Tara), 13.94, 1, Jack Tyro (Chch), 10.24, 2, Kalani Watts (Tara), 7.83, 3, George Laery (Mnt), 7.24, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1
Tao Mouldey (Mnt), 13.4, 1, Cooper Ashill (Whngrei), 10.5, 2, Tava Santorik (Mnt), 7.97, 3, Karne Gabbott (Dun), 5.67, 4
Heat 2
Will Hardie (Piha), 10.7, 1, Jack Tyro (Chch), 10.2, 2, Dale Cromhout (Hbay), 8.37, 3, Spencer Rowson (Tara), 8.36, 4
Under 16 Boys Division Final
Tao Mouldey (Mnt), 12.83, 1, Jack Tyro (Chch), 10.7, 2, Cooper Ashill (Whngrei), 7.97, 3, Will Hardie (Piha), 7.8, 4
Billabong Grom Series pres by Oceanbridge Top 5
Under 18 Boys Division Top 5
1, Bill Byers (Piha)
2, Navryn Malone (Rag)
3, Tyler Perry (Kaik)
4, Kalani Louis (Tara)
5, Te Kauwhata Kauwhata (Whngrei)
Under 16 Boys Division Top 5
1, Tao Mouldey (Mnt)
2, Jack Tyro (Chch)
3, Spencer Rowson (Tara)
4, Tava Santorki (Mnt)
5, Will Hardie (Piha)
The 2022 edition of the Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge is split into three divisions ranging from Under 14, Under 16 and Under 18.
It is the seventeenth year that Billabong has sponsored the series in partnership with Oceanbridge who has been a proud supporter of junior surfing in New Zealand.
The majority of New Zealand’s current crop of elite surfers have taken part in the Grom Series over the seventeen years that it has run, including Richard Christie (Gis), Paige Hareb (Tara), Billy Stairmand (Rag), Mount Maunganui’s own Kehu Butler and Ella Williams (WGM).
COVID 19 Protocols
The event will be held using strict COVID 19 protocols. All participants will be required to sign in with their My Vaccine Pass and scan QR codes. The divisions will be split into two separate days and run through to completion to limit the number of participants at the event site.
Further Information
For further information on the 2021 Billabong Grom Series presented by Oceanbridge please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High resolution action images of the surfing at all events on the Billabong Grom Series will be available to media free of charge.
Event Hotline
The Surfing New Zealand event hotline is 0211134506. This will be updated daily at approximately 7am with venue, divisions contested and conditions for the day.
Partners
Generous support from Billabong, presenting sponsors Oceanbridge, Kustom, Von Zipper and Dakine has made this series possible. The event is proudly hosted by Bay Boardriders.
Surfing New Zealand is proudly partnered by:
Sport New Zealand
Water Safety NZ
Skinnies
Volkswagen
