FRENCH bodyboarder Pierre-Louis Costes has taken out the Kiama Bodyboard King Pro, beating Hawaiian Sammy Morretino in the final.
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Costes kept building on his stellar momentum over the duration of the quarters, semis and final, consistently nailing an array of impressive aerial maneuvers.
Costes hit his peak in the final, posting a massive 15.87 two-wave heat total, which left Morretino needing an excellent 8.83 wave score to take away his top-spot.
As a result of the victory, Costes has extended his lead on 2019 APB world title rankings, while Morretino holds down second.
"It's pretty special this place as you didn't know what sort of waves we had to prepare for," Costes said.
"I'm so happy the waves turned on for us this year.
"Last year - even though the event was run really well - the waves just didn't want to cooperate.
"This year was pumping the whole time and I'm just stoked to win this event in Australia, as I haven't done well in Australia for a while and to get the win against Sammy, who has been the standout all year feels really special.
"See everyone next year."
The 2018 event champion Dave Winchester (Byron Bay) was the best performing Australian, making the semi-finals, but was narrowly eliminated by Morretino by a slim 0.05 margin.
Brazilian Eder Luciano was also knocked out in the opposing semi-final.
West Australian George Humphreys took out the AirAsia Air Show tow-event that took place just prior to the final.
Humphreys nailed a mammoth 540-degree aerial move to take the win against a handful of other event standouts.