2006 Vodafone Surfest presented by Billabong

No Surfing Jokers Amoung Wildcard Pack for 2006 Vodafone Open

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 8 February, 2006 : - - Organisers of the four-star World Qualifying Series (WQS) 2006 Vodafone Open to be held at Newcastle Beach have announced today that the event’s two wildcards into the round of 64 have been allocated to surfers from the Hunter region - Merewether’s Travis Lynch and Boat Harbour’s Nick Coghlan.

The remaining wildcard to be allocated by the event into the round of 96 will be given to the top finishing surfer (not already seeded into the Vodafone Open) in the Billabong Pro-Teen Series event which will be held at the same venue immediately before the Vodafone Open.

Twenty-one year old Lynch, who is currently on the Gold Coast putting in the hard yards at Snapper Rocks courtesy of the remnants of Cyclone Jim, was given wildcards by sponsor Rip Curl for WQS events in France and England last year. He finished at 151 on the ratings ladder and is confident that lessons learnt during his rookie year will serve him well in 2006.

“My best result in 2005 was the five-star WQS event in Newquay in England where I came 14th and I feel that being away from home for five months and surfing a range of conditions has made me mentally tougher,” Lynch said.

“Every local surfer wants to win the main event at Surfest and no local has done it yet so that’s an added incentive for sure,” he added. Natural-footer Nick Coghlan also completed his rookie year in 2005 and finished seeded at 189, with his best result coming last July where he finished 17th in a six-star WQS held at Irago in Japan.

“This is my first wildcard so I am really stoked because this is a big deal for me,” the twenty-two year old said when told of the news today. “Last year I aimed to make the Top 200 and this year I will be on the road for 10 or 11 months aiming to crack the Top 100.  “The wildcard in the Vodafone Open certainly gives me a great chance to start the year off in a strong way and I am really thankful for the opportunity,” he added.

The Association of Surfing Professionals’ (ASP) Australasia's two wildcards into the round of 64 of the Vodafone Open have been allocated to Australasia’s top two junior male surfers from 2005 - winner of the ASP Australasia Pro-Junior Series Ben Dunn from Old Bar on the mid-north coast of New South Wales and runner-up Matt Wilkinson from the Central Coast.

In 2006 Dunn has already shown the form that saw him claim the crown as undisputed king of the 2005 Australasian male junior circuit by winning the Brothers Neilson Pro-Junior on the Gold Coast just over a week ago. Copacabana’s Matt Wilkinson finally lived up to his long standing promise last month by claiming his maiden Pro-Junior victory when he grabbed victory at the season’s second junior event at Gunnamatta in Victoria.

The remaining ASP Australasia wildcard into the round of 96 has been allocated to aerial trickster and specialist Dion Agius from Currumbin on the Gold Coast. Agius placed third behind Wilkinson and Dunn on the 2005 Pro-Junior circuit.

The Vodafone Open is the main event at the 2006 Vodafone Surfest presented by Billabong.

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For more information:

Vodafone Australia
Georgina Murphy,
Pulse Communications,
georgina@pulsecom.com.au 

Cynthia Fernandez,
Vodafone Australia,
cynthia.fernandez@vodafone.com

Billabong Australia
Simon Barratt, 
sbarratt@billabong.com.au

Surfest
Paul Scott,
Surfest 
surfestmedia@iinet.net.au 

Cassandra Murnieks
easurfest4@hotmail.com

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