Jacob Willcox And Ellie-Jean Coffey New Hurley Australian Open Champs.

Well, the surfing world already had a pretty good idea of Jacob Willcox’s potential – he is a former U/16 ISA World Junior champ, had a heat win over Kelly Slater in Portugal last year as a wildcard and today he has claimed one of the biggest wins of his very young career – the 16 year-old Margaret River goofy took out Italian Leo Fiovaranti in the 2-A rated Hurley Australian Open of Surfing Boys Junior Pro.

But just barely!

Only 0.6 of a point separated the pair by the final buzzer. With waves very small in the one-to-two foot range, it was always looking like being a close affair.

The win and high-ratings points jumps Willcox to the top of the international pro junior rankings. The best he’s done in other events prior to this in 2014 is the quarters. So how did he feel? Stoked of course!

“That was really close, I’m so stoked!” Willcox said. “Leo is a great surfer, he had a chance to overtake me at the end and fell just short, but he’s been on fire all event. I love surfing, I love competing and I’ve had a great time. I’ve made the quarterfinals at a couple events already this year, so I’m really happy to take one out.”

Gold Coast surfer Ellie-Jean Coffey stormed to first place in the junior girls. Coffey was looking very strong in the division since first hitting the water on Day 1. As former Australasian Junior Champ, it’s clear she knows what victory tastes like though she had a tough finals opponent in the form of Bronte Macaulay.

Bronte comes from a very strong surfing family; all her sisters surf and compete under the guidance of their father, former World Championship title contender and world #3, Dave Macaulay.

However, Ellie’s experience and skill paid off today. With this win under her belt, Ellie will look to focus on the World Qualifying Series tournaments throughout the remainder of the year.

“I didn’t want to over think anything, I knew that doing three good turns would win me the final and so that’s what I did,” said Ellie. “This is my first event of the year and it’s a great way to start 2014.

WATCH HERE LIVE ACTION Hurley Australian Open 2014