Sierra Kerr & Oscar Berry Win Cloud 9 Comp

Two days ago, we might’ve cursed a man. With three consecutive wins at Cloud 9, we tossed John-Mark Tokong in with Andy at Pipe, John at Margs, Kelly in Tahiti, and Brett Simpson in politics. Prophetic pairings, every one of them, and John-Mark’s dominance at Cloud 9 put him squarely alongside the great surfer-spot alliances

Today, however, he lost. Sorry, John.

Tokong’s precision at Cloud 9 was ground down by a cock-eyed, wind-slapped lineup. The local hero fell to none other than the pride of Jan Juc, the great hope of the south, Xavier Huxtable.

Xav, of course, is well acquainted with tropical QS-stops, having nailed a perfect heat in Lagundri during the red-letter swell that slammed into Indo earlier this year, perfectly timed with the Nias Pro. After taking out John-Mark Tokong, Xavier was set to dance with Oscar Berry in the final. 

Xavier led for most of the heat, but with just two minutes left, in conditions that would barely inspire a goldfish, Oscar Berry flipped the heat with two quick hacks on a mid-sized wave. 

Oscar caught nine waves before finally landing the score he needed, his best ride coming on wave number ten with just two minutes left on the clock, sealing the win. For the first time, this year’s Siargao International Surfing Cup is a QS5000, earning Oscar some juicy points on the Oceania QS leaderboard.

The men’s final was a brawl, but Sierra Kerr snagged the women’s crown without breaking a sweat. After dispatching SEOTY candidate Milla Coco-Brown in the semis, she delivered a performance that was downright terrifying; her dominance echoing Erin Brooks’ Fiji rampage. Up against 15-year-old Charli Hately, Sierra unleashed a corked-out straight air that flirted with a perfect ten, then backed it up with a mid-eight for another air-turn combo. With three of the top five scores of the event, it might be a tired line, but let’s face it: these are exciting times for women’s surfing.