Airini Mason on her way to victory in the women's final at
the New Zealand surfing championships at St Clair beach
yesterday. Photo by Craig Baxter.
Airini Mason (Gisborne) received an early birthday
present when she won her second New Zealand open women's surf
title in Dunedin yesterday.
Mason, who turns 20 today, won the four-day event with a
final score of 15.43 points from Ella Williams (Whangamata)
14.9, Jessica Santorik (Raglan) 12.7 and Hayley Coakes
(Dunedin) 8.
She won her first title at Piha in 2004, as a 13-year-old,
and spent the past six years living on the Gold Coast with
her family before returning to Gisborne a month ago.
She honed her skills on the Gold Coast and won the Australian
junior series shortly before returning to New Zealand.
Mason was fourth in the world junior championships in 2006
and 2008 and was also the Australasian junior champion.
This was her first competition in New Zealand for seven
years.
"I'm happy. It's the most prestigious title in New Zealand
women's surfing," she said. "It's cool to win it again."
Mason was surprised when she won the title in 2004.
"It was a bit of a shock," she said. "It was a last-minute
decision to enter the women's open event. I was overwhelmed.
"But the win today means just as much. It was good to come
back home and win it again."
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