Quiksilver Pro | Round 1
The WCT season has officially started now. Yesterday there was unfortunately just a 1m surf, what even though allowed the organizers, to start the first round of the contest.
With a small swell forecasted for the week, organizers opted to make the most of it and finish the first round of the event. Snapper Rocks has offered some barrels and air sections during the early moring, until the wind came through and changed the conditions.
Taj Burrow (AUS) had a good start this year, defending his Quik Pro title at Snapper Rocks. Burrow convinced with impressive tube riding and an overall good performance, letting him score 16.67 out of possible 20 and so, also doing the highest score of all heats.
“I feel good now that it’s over and done with,” Burrow said. “I was still a little nervous even though I got the win last week at Burleigh because this is the big event. It’s the first one of the year with the points and ratings and everything up for grabs and it’s the one you want to do well in, but I was just the right amount of nervous I guess. I kind of shook off the nerves once I got that first one (the 9.27), everyone loves to start a heat off like that.”
The rest of the competition, was -no matter what Burrow did- quite impressive and did not rest for a minute. Jordy Smith won his 1st heat with unmatched power and aerial prowess.
“I’m super excited about the new season,” Smith said. “I just had a good start. I spent Christmas at home with my family, it was the first time I’ve been able to do that in 10 years and now it’s good to be on the Gold Coast, stoked. I haven’t made any drastic changes this year, but I’m riding everything now and got a couple of good boards from Al (Merrick) and some DHDs, I’m just sticking with that.”
Kelly Slater, 10 times ASP World Champion, did hard on dealing with the day’s deteriorating conditions. Even though, he could manage it to score the highest in his heat in order to advance directly to round 3.
“Today was more focusing on getting the good waves and completing them. It’s not exceptional out there, so if you find a clean face and get a few good carves, you’ll probably get the highest score of the heat. I was just trying to find the clean ones.” Slater said.
Jeremy Flores (FRA), who got injured during the first practice session before the event even started and hit his knee. Flores is replaced by his French mate, Marc Lacomare, who won the Billabong World Championship.
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.26, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.44, Heitor Alves (BRA) 6.57
Heat 2: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 15.67, Gabe Kling (USA) 12.27, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.03
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.03, Bobby Martinez (USA) 12.57, Cory Lopez (USA) 7.90
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.67, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 9.17, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 9.10
Heat 5: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.07, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 10.37, Mitch Crews (AUS) 11.07
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.93, Matt Banting (AUS) 11.34, Kai Otton (AUS) 6.70
Heat 7: Owen Wright (AUS) 12.83, Taylor Knox (USA) 11.46, Dusty Payne (HAW) 10.60
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.70, Marc Lacomare (FRA) 9.87, Brett Simpson (USA) 7.77
Heat 9: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.00, Adriano de Souza (BRA), Alejo Muniz (BRA) 10.20
Heat 10: Daniel Ross (AUS), 13.00, Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.10, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 7.43
Heat 11: Adam Melling (AUS) 11.40, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.13, Chris Davidson (AUS) 10.73
Heat 12: Tiago Pires (PRT) 15.83, Jadson Andre (BRA)12.70, Damien Hobgood (USA) 11.77
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Matt Banting (AUS)
Heat 2: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Mitch Crews (AUS)
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Marc Lacomare (FRA)
Heat 4: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 5: Chris Davidson (AUS) vs. Cory Lopez (USA)
Heat 6: Jadson Andre (BRA) vs. Gabe Kling (USA)
Heat 7: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 8: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 9: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 10: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 11: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 12: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Bobby Martinez (USA)
The contest is scheduled to continue tomorrow at 7h am local time (22h CET time), so make sure not to miss that and watch it here on our Webcast! Till then, enjoy the little video wrap up of this first round.
| ASP | Quiksilver Pro |
