SURF SCENE with Andrew McKinnon

THE Aussie QS kicked off at Maroubra Beach two weeks ago and last weekend it descended on Burleigh Point. This week it will be at Cabarita for the Tweed Coast Pro from Wednesday until the finals on Saturday.

And despite the woefully small swell on offer for the four-day event at Burleigh Point, the standard was red hot from round one. This is super-serious stuff for the new age professional surfers aspiring for a career on the World Tour. There are 60 WQS events for 2017 but it's the prime-rated ones that really count, like the Hawaiian Pros at the end of the year worth 10,000 points. Australia's highest rated are the Great Lakes Pro at Boomerang Beach and Newcastle Pro, both worth 6000 points. By comparison Burleigh and Cabarita are only 1000 points but these local events offer a world of experience, making new friends and great competition from all over the world.

Oney Anwar is Indonesia's big hope of making the WSL World Tour. Originally from Lakey's Peak, Sumbawa, he was taken in by the McDougal family of Palm Beach and attended Palm Beach Currumbin High School. No stranger to winning, he boasts WQS wins such as the most recent Taiwan Open in December 2016 and has won at home on the Indonesian circuit.

This could be Anwar's year, with a win under his belt to find the confidencerequired to keep the momentum on. He certainly has the ability - both in his rail game and in the air. It would be so good to see Oney make the cut in 2018 and become Indonesia's first world tour professional.

Anwar was up against NSW's former u/18 national champ Kalani Ball of Stanwell Park. The 19-year-old, who turns 20 next month, was rated 144 on the WQS in 2015. Both combatants threw everything at the knee-high Burleigh crumbs in a see-saw battle similar to the women's final between Isabella Nichols and Macy Callaghan.

Even though Anwar is a member of the Palm Beach Boardriders, the parochial Burleigh crowd were adopting him as one of theirs, as he eventually emerged victorious.

"I am so happy to win an event at my second home,” Anwar said. "Until Taiwan last year I had a run of really bad results and was struggling to find motivation. After Taiwan I was really fired-up and now to open the season with a win is the best. My goal is to be the first Indonesian to qualify for the championship tour (CT) and this win is a great result to start my campaign off.”

Go for it Oney you are on the way!

Meanwhile, in the women's final, the Sunny Coast's Isabella Nichols stopped Macy Callaghan's magic winning run of four events having won the world junior title, Subway Junior and then Maroubra Pro.

"That was such a fun final against Macy,” Nichols said. "We were both having a lot of fun out there. We both wanted to win but not being too competitive which was nice. I was under a lot of pressure at the end and gave her a wave and was kicking myself because I know how amazing Macy is and how easily she could get a score. I'm just stoked to have had a final with one of the best female surfers in the world.”

"It was cool to surf against Isabella in a final,” Callaghan said. "She was the World Champ the year before me and is an amazing surfer. The waves were really fun today which was good. I'm really happy with how I surfed all contest and can't wait for the next event.”

Next stop Caba!