INTERNATIONAL NEWS - Thirteen-year-old dynamo Zahli Kelly from Cabarita (NSW) squeezed past 16-year-old Hawaiian surfer Summer Macedo by a tenth of a point to claim the NIB Pro Junior women's title.
Kelly, who drew the WSL wildcard for the event today, is racking up extensive kilometers on the stretch of Pacific Highway between Cabarita and Newcastle.
In late January, she took out the Maitland and Port Stephens Toyota Wildcard Trials to claim a spot in the Anditi Women's Pro that gets underway at Merewether beach on February 20. Here, she'll come up against Championship Tour world No. 5 Johanne Defay in the Round of 48.
And while she'll be back up the Pacific Highway early tomorrow morning, she'll be back in Newcastle next Friday as part of the Cabarita team contesting the Australian Boardriders Battle next weekend at Newcastle beach.
Kelly won the wildcard into this year's Roxy Pro Trials after becoming the 2016 Queensland Junior champion last August at Duranbah. Today she added to her impressive run of titles which include the 2016 Queensland Open Championship and a second place finish in the 2016 U/18 Australian Titles.
The distance education student, whose coach is former dual world junior champion James "Taipan" Wood, cites Brazilian Filipe Toledo as her favorite surfer. She was elated about today's win.
