INTERNATIONAL NEWS - When it comes to professional surfing hubs in Australia, names like the Gold Coast, Torquay and Sydney's Northern Beaches spring to mind.
A sometimes forgotten epicentre of Australian surfing is Maroubra which lays just a few kilometre south of the world famous Bondi Beach.
Maroubra is the most southern of Sydney's geographically spectacular Eastern Suburbs beaches and you may not know that it is home to some of our sports biggest names. Pipe Master Larry Blair, past Championship Tour competitors Todd Prestage, Sunny Abberton and Blake Thornton, and more recently big wave lunatic Mark Matthews just to name a few.
Over the years it has hosted a handful of WSL Pro Juniors and Qualifying Series events, most notably the Australian Open presented by Snickers which was won by little known 11 times World Champion, Robert Kelly Slater in 2004.
In 2017 it will continue its love affair with professional competitive surfing with the second instalment of Carve Pro Men's and Women's QS1,000 which kicks off on the 18th January.
Fresh from becoming the Women's World Junior Champion (WJC), Central Coaster Macy Callaghan comes into the Carve Pro as No.2 seed. Although Callaghan took out the WJC in devastating fashion, the 16-year-old is all too aware that QS events are a totally different kettle of fish.
