South African national junior team member Nikita Robb (16), of East London, won the $10 000 Target Women’s Junior Pro at Huntington Beach on Saturday.
Robb was awarded a 9,83 score on one of her two counting waves in the final, the highest points recorded in any division of the event. She won $2 500, the biggest prize purse of her career, and will return to Huntington in October to compete in the ISA World Junior Championships as a member of the South African team.
Robb beat Karina Petroni (United States) into second place, with Coco Ho (Hawaii) ending third and Erica Hosseini (France) finishing fourth.
Although South Africa holds 12 Women’s Junior Pro events each year, the Target Women’s Junior Pro marks the first-ever women’s junior event held in the US Robb couldn’t hide her excitement at winning her biggest event to date.
”I’m blown away. I still can’t believe I won.”
Although her parents weren’t able to be in Huntington Beach, she said that they had watched her win the title on a live webcast.
Robb, who won a the International Rip Girls Under-20 Pro Title in Australia earlier this year, returns to South Africa on Tuesday to prepare for the Billabong Junior final in Jeffrey’s Bay at the weekend, and will join her national teammates for their second training camp at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University on August 10. — Sapa