19
April 2026
From:
Surfing
New
Zealand
Sport: Surfing
Event: 2026 Backdoor
King
and
Queen
of
the
Point
presented
by
Quiksilver,
Roxy
and
the
WSL
Location: Manu
Bay,
Raglan
Event
Info: Surfing
New
Zealand
Tom
Butland
and
Alani
Morse
Secure
WSL
Wildcards
Taranaki’s
Tom
Butland
and
local
Raglan
surfer
Alani
Morse
have
secured
the
World
Surf
League
(WSL)
wildcards
for
the
Raglan
leg
of
the
WSL
World
Tour
taking
place
next
month.
In
clean
1.5m
–
2.0m
waves
at
Raglan’s
famed
Manu
Bay,
the
two
surfers
won
their
respective
divisions
of
the
2026
Backdoor
King
and
Queen
of
the
Point
presented
by
Quiksilver,
Roxy
and
the
WSL
today.
24-year-old
Tom
Butland
battled
through
a
field
of
112
surfers
in
the
Open
Men’s
Division
while
Alani
Morse
topped
a
field
of
32
surfers
in
the
Open
Women’s
Division
as
well
as
claiming
the
Under
20
Girls
Division
earlier
in
the
afternoon.
The
two
surfers
will
now
face
off
against
the
best
in
the
world
when
the
tour
arrives
in
New
Zealand,
joining
Raglan
surfer
Billy
Stairmand
as
the
three
Kiwi
representatives.
The
three
surfers
join
an
elite
group
of
five
others
to
have
surfed
at
the
top
echelon
of
the
sport.
Butland
stormed
to
victory
in
the
final
after
a
slow
start
saw
him
sitting
in
fourth
place.
However,
the
strong
natural
footer
patiently
sat
deep
on
the
point
before
picking
up
an
8.50
point
ride
then
a
7.87
point
ride
immediately
after
to
jump
to
the
lead.
“Yeah,
pretty
special,
I
don’t
even
know
where
to
start
out.
I’m
pretty
stoked,”
said
a
near
speechless
Butland.
“The
conditions
put
it
on
for
us
in
our
final,
and
boys
were
ripping.
Elliott
was
going
hard
all
heat,
same
with
Tao
and
Kora,”
he
added.
“I
was
kind
of
just
thinking,
I’ve
got
to
go
full
steam
into
the
final.
Otherwise,
the
boys
are
just
going
to
take
me
down.
Once
I
got
that
eight,
I
was
like,
all
right,
I
just
need
to
settle
down
and
find
a
good
one,
crack
a
good
turn,
and
then
make
sure
I
finish
it
and
I
did
on
that
last
wave.
“It’s
wild
to
think
about
the
wildcard,
I’m
kind
of
tripping
on
it,
eh,
I
can’t
even
believe
it,
to
be
honest.”
Shout
out
to
my
physio,
strength
and
conditioning
coach
Joe.
I
actually
was
injured
all
of
last
year
with
my
knee
and
then
I
blew
my
shoulder
and
elbow,
last
year
was
a
real
rough
year.
So
I’ll
be
locking
in
for
the
next
month
trying
to
get
top
form,
and
come
back
to
Rags,
probably
come
back
to
Rags
next
time
there’s
gonna
be
a
couple
swells
too.”
Elliot
Paerata
–
Reid
held
the
lead
for
much
of
the
30
minute
final
posting
a
15.50
point
heat
total
before
succumbing
to
Butland
late.
Local
surfer
Kora
Cooper
got
the
Manu
Bay
hillside
cheering
loud
for
his
performances
before
finishing
in
third
place
with
Mount
Maunganui’s
Tao
Mouldey
finishing
in
fourth
after
a
stellar
run
to
the
finals.
Alani
Morse
was
the
youngest
of
the
finalists
in
the
Open
Women’s
Division
and
she
left
it
until
her
last
wave
with
less
than
a
minute
remaining
to
score
a
6.93
and
jump
from
fourth
to
first.
With
a
deft
knowledge
of
the
break,
Alani
scraped
into
a
small
wave
deep
but
she
could
see
it
lining
up
down
the
point
and
knew
it
had
the
potential
for
a
buzzer
beater.
“I
was
in
tears
after
that
final”
said
an
emotional
Morse.
“I
just
knew
that
I
was
gonna
get
a
wave
at
the
end,
so
I
was
kind
of
just
waiting,
like
I
was
at
peace
with
the
whole
heat,
and
I
know
everyone
was
stressing
on
the
beach,
but
I
knew
God
had
it
under
control
and…
yeah,
I
can’t
believe
what
just
happened.”
“I
thought
I
had
the
score,
um,
I
never,
overthink
it
because,
you
know,
sometimes
you
can
think
you
surfed
well,
but
you
hadn’t,
but,
I
felt
really
confident.”
“I’ve
looked
up
to,
like,
all
those
girls
older
than
me
for
so
long,
and
coming
to
every
King
and
Queen
of
the
Point
and
watching
them,
I’ve
always
wanted
to
win
it,
and
I
guess
this
is,
like,
the
best
time
to
win
it,
obviously,
but
just
not
even
separating
it
from
the
wildcard,
I
guess
I
wanted
to
win
this
for
as
long
as
I
can
remember.
The
May
event
is
a
big
opportunity.
It’s
really
exciting.
Yeah,
I’ll
be
able
to
push
myself
against
some
really
amazing
surfers,
so
I’ll
be
really
excited
and
training
for
all
that.”
Alexis
Owen
snatched
the
win
in
the
Under
20
Boys
Division
with
a
final
wave
6.40
in
the
dying
stages
of
the
final
to
edge
out
Rico
Haybittle
(Burleigh)
–
12.57
v
12.50.
Owen
looked
strong
in
the
final
and
his
last
wave,
a
big
two-turn
combo
spear
headed
his
performance
for
the
weekend
which
also
included
a
quarterfinal
finish
in
the
Open
Men’s
Division.
Haybittle
had
control
of
the
final
for
almost
19
minutes
with
a
series
of
strong
backhand
turns
but
had
to
settle
for
second
behind
Owen.
Young
15-year-old
Sol
Fritchley
(Mnt)
finished
in
third
after
five
days
of
strong
performances,
posting
a
10.27
point
heat
total
and
Taimana
Marupo
(Mnt)
in
fourth
after
a
slow
start
hampered
his
performance
until
a
last
gasp
5.50
on
his
last
wave.
Alani
Morse
made
the
Under
20
Girls
Division
final
count
with
a
strong
performance
at
her
local
break.
Her
finals
performance
was
highlighted
by
a
6.83
point
ride
to
round
out
the
20
minute
heat.
Morse
secured
the
win
over
Lola
Groube
(Pau)
in
second,
Maya
Mateja
(Rag)
in
third
and
Kyra
Wallis
(Piha)
in
fourth.
The
heritage
heat
was
claimed
by
Raglan
local
and
New
Zealand
surfing
icon
Daniel
Kereopa
who
navigated
the
six
person
final
the
best,
Kereopa
was
joined
by
two-time
champion
Tom
Carroll,
famous
DJ
Dimity
Stoyle,
Backdoor
Surf
founder
Geoff
Hutchison,
Luke
Cederman
and
WSL
wildcard
surfer
Billy
Stairmand.
The
WSL
Corona
Cero
New
Zealand
Pro
presented
by
Bonsoy
takes
place
from
15-15
May
at
Manu
Bay
and
features
the
top
sixty
surfers
in
the
world.
The
five-day
Backdoor
King
and
Queen
of
the
Point
presented
by
Quiksilver,
Roxy
and
the
WSL
took
place
from
Wednesday
–
Sunday
with
an
array
of
challenging
conditions
to
test
New
Zealand’s
best.
The
event
has
lured
back
New
Zealand’s
crème
of
the
crop
in
the
biggest
ever
field
of
surfers.
The
Backdoor
King
and
Queen
of
the
Point
presented
by
Quiksilver,
Roxy
and
the
WSL
is
part
of
the
New
Zealand
Surf
Series
which
comprises
six
events
around
the
country.
The
event
is
also
supported
by
Yeti.
The
event
has
a
prize
purse
of
over
$12,000
plus
prizes,
not
to
mention
the
two
sort-after
wildcards.
Further
Information
For
further
information
on
the 2026
the
Backdoor
King
and
Queen
of
the
Point
presented
by
Quiksilver,
Roxy
and
the
WSL,
please
contact
Surfing
New
Zealand’s Ben
Kennings
on
0212278732
or
benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High
resolution
action
images
of
the
surfing
at
the
event
will
be
available
to
media
free
of
charge.
Follow
the
event
Follow
the
action
via
all
social
media
platforms
–
@surfingnz
across
Facebook,
Instagram,
TikTok
and
YouTube.
Surfing
New
Zealand
is
proudly
partnered
by:
Sport
New
Zealand
ACC
Sun
Bum
Kiwi
Holiday
Insurance
Ends
Go to Surfing New Zealand
Author: Ben Kennings