Wylie reigns supreme in Phillip Island Pro

BELLS Beach surfer Tully Wylie has taken home one of his biggest competitive accolades to date, winning the Phillip Island Pro World Qualifying Series 1000 event at Cape Woolamai on Saturday.

After showing himself as being the in-form surfer throughout the first two days of competition at the protected Penguin Parade break, Wylie faced a brutal road to the crown, coming up against former world number 7 Nathan Hedge (Merimbula) in a gruelling semi-final matchup.

Some clever competitive surfing saw Wylie show off his lightning-fast backhand attack to oust Hedge and move through to the final where he would meet fellow Surf Coast local Xavier Huxtable.

Best friends Huxtable and Wylie traded blows throughout the final, but it was Wylie who would get the upper hand with a selection of mid-range scores.

With Huxtable hot on his heels, Wylie was able to stay in front, and keep a small distance between himself and his counterpart when the final buzzer went.

Ultimately Wylie would be victorious finishing on an 11.00 heat total, with Huxtable 0.4 behind on 10.60 points.

Wylie said he was humbled to have taken out his first QS event.

“Getting my first QS win and to be surfing against my best mate was very cool.

“There was a lot of paddling out there today, but it’s what we train for and I felt really comfortable in the water.

“It’s a real confidence boost for me going into the Taiwan event next week.

“I try to use these events as a learning experience, which I think I did this week.

“It’s a pretty special day.”

On the women’s side of the draw it was Nyxie Ryan (Lennox Head) who reigned supreme, delivering some huge scores to oust Zahlia Short (Wollongong) in the thumping waves.

The finals day also saw the Victorian Indigenous Invitational completed, with the top Victorian Indigenous surfers battling it for bragging rights.

Steffan Krasna (Melbourne) came out on top finding a long-running right hander to get the win, while up and coming surfer Rylee Duell (Phillip Island) finished narrowly behind Anthony Hume (Torquay), Deegan Searle (Mornington Peninsula) and Tyler Duell (Phillip Island) finished in third, fourth and fifth respectively.

QS competitors will now set their sights on the next event in Taiwan, which begins on November 13.

For full results, head to worldsurfleague.com