Newcastle Cup begins in small surf, but Novocastrian competitors advance and thousands take in the action | VIDEO

The World Surf League contest got underway at Merewether on Thursday morning with the men entering the water first for seeding heats before the women's heats in the afternoon.

It had been four months since the Championship Tour had been held and the surfers were beaming as they returned to competing.

The Brazilians dazzled with their aerial manoeuvres, but it was hometown favourite Ryan Callinan who made the biggest impression by winning his heat with the highest score of the round.

He scored 15.26 for his two best waves which each drew a huge cheer from the crowd of mainly local fans lining the beach and promenade.

The victory advanced Callinan straight to the round of 32. Fellow Newcastle-based surfers Morgan Cibilic and Jackson Baker also progressed, as did Philippa Anderson in the women's contest.

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The waves of no more than a few feet might not have been the ones Merewether is famed for, but with most of the day's surfing occurring close to the shore, spectators were metres from the action.

"It gives you an appreciation for how good they are," Angus Fanning, who took the day off work to attend, said.

"You don't fully appreciate it on the TV how small and tough the conditions are.

"Seeing it this close is pretty amazing. They are pretty sub-par conditions but with the right guys in the water they're making it look good still. You put any other average Joe out there and they'd be looking pretty horrible."

Mr Fanning and partner Nicolette Slater got tickets that were re-released at 11am as they hadn't been used by the original ticketholder.

The Merewether couple had registered in the ticket ballot ahead of the event but missed out for Thursday.

"It's pretty awesome to have so many locals [competing] and also the calibre of surfers here," Mr Fanning said. "It kind of increases the vibe around town.

"The set-up is fantastic. In a way it's kind of nice not to have a huge crowd; you can sit down, spread yourself out and enjoy the day."

The crowd was at its largest when Callinan's heat was on but dipped afterwards.

People wanting to attend should monitor Ticketek as when spectators leave for the day those tickets can be redistributed, the WSL said.

Glendale's Amy Broderick said it was "exciting" Newcastle had secured the surfing contest, which was "something new" to attend after a year when there weren't many events held in the community because of coronavirus restrictions.

She watched on from the beach promenade with nine-month-old son Billy for a few hours in the afternoon.

"The family is a big surfing family. My older brothers and my dad," she said.

"He loves the water [Billy], a bit young for the board yet.

"It's a bit of a shame that it has to be fenced off and ticketed, but if you can get a ticket you're pretty lucky. We only got ours this morning."

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