Charli Hurst entered 2020 with the goal of making a final on the World Surf League Women's Junior Tour.
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On Friday, not only did she qualify for the final of the Sydney Surf Pro Junior, but she took out the competition in Manly.
Cedar Leigh-Jones was second, with Carly Shanahan finishing third.
Hurst said she was surprised by the result, but she was thrilled to take the victory in a high-quality final.
"I wasn't expecting the win," Hurst said. "I was just trying my hardest and doing the best I could.
"It felt really good to win, especially since it was my first pro junior win. My goal for this year was to make a pro junior final, now I've done that."
Hurst's performance marked a rapid turnaround after two disappointing results at the Queensland Pro Junior and Lake Mac City Pro Junior earlier in the summer.
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The Port Kembla resident said she knuckled down and remained confident that improved results would come.
"I'd just been training hard and staying positive. Bad results can put you down, I just put them aside and stayed positive."
Hurst has emerged as one of the region's most promising junior surfers, the 16-year-old impressing at a number of events across the country in recent years.
This victory is the biggest of her emerging career, however Hurst has very little time to celebrate the win, the teenager currently in New Zealand preparing for Saturday's Piha Pro Junior.
There she will start the process of achieving her new goal, qualifying for the World Championships.
"This is my first time competing in Piha," Hurst said. "Hopefully I can get some good waves and have a good result.
"Now I've won an event, I'm just hoping to keep improving this year and improving my heat strategies. At the end of the year I'm hoping to qualify for the World Championships.
"You have to do regionals, then state and then once you get to Aussies you have to get in the top two, so doing competitions really helps you prepare and develop your heat strategies."
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