Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from DailyStoke!
December 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment
NRG Team rider Blake Thornton is ready for the big leagues
December 24, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Maroubra's own Blake Thornton was one of the talented 15 who pushed the envelope on the 2009 World Qualifying Series to qualify for the 2010 World Tour. We're stoked on Blake's performance and green with envy. His sponsor, NRG surf wear, have been kind enough to share this bit of press with us: NRG surf wear is proud to announce that our sponsored surfer Blake Thornton has beaten thousands of hopefuls to qualify for the prestigious Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 2010 Dream Tour. The … [Read more...]
Mick Fanning takes the title – apparently plain vanilla lightning strikes twice
December 15, 2009 By 4 Comments
With a tip of his hat to mate and co-title chaser, Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning has securely locked in his second World Title. Protein cafes and weightrooms everywhere sung out in chorus, while I hung my head in angst. Maybe it's because I'm not Australian, or perhaps because I'm not a fan of robots, but I just can't feel good about this win. No doubt the guy is beyond in-form, at the top of his game, focused, unquestionably talented and has worked harder than anyone on tour to get to the winner's … [Read more...]
Pipeline pre-quarters recap – Who’s out, who’s off & who’s still going
December 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment
After a few exciting days of competition at the 2009 Billabong Pipeline Masters, we've crowned our 2009 World Champ (Mick Fanning), closed in on our 2009 Vans Triple Crown Champ (CJ Hobgood or Joel Parkinson), finalized our rookie rankings (seeing Kekoa Bacalso at the head of the 2009 pack), and seen a huge number of dreams crushed and hopes dashed. Let's explore the latter. Before the event has even finished, we can say goodbye to: - Marlon Lipke - who missed this event due to injury and … [Read more...]
Two out of Three Gudauskas ain’t bad
December 10, 2009 By Leave a Comment
Following up on my 2010 World Tour qualifiers report from earlier this week, we can now officially welcom two out of three of the Gudauskas brothers to next year’s tour. Following his successful run at the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach last week, Tanner Gudauskas, the youngest of the Gudauskas clan, will be joining his older bro, Patrick for a freshman run on the World Tour in 2010. Not making the cut… Pat’s twin brother, Dane, who failed to secure enough points, finishing … [Read more...]
Kelly Slater’s Rebel Tour back on? So says the interweb…
December 9, 2009 By 2 Comments
Just when you thought it was dead in the water… our friends at Surfers Village picked up on a bit of gossip from Australian Surfing Life - Kelly Slater’s “Rebel Tour”, AKA the breakaway tour, AKA the Champions Surf Tour, is alive and kicking. “According to those rumours, the CST has signed a slew of surfers including Dane Reynolds, Andy and Bruce Irons, Ry Craike, Taj Burrow, Rob Machado, Shane Dorian, Mitch Coleborn, Clay Marzo and, of course, Kelly himself.” "Rumours heard by … [Read more...]
Final WQS ranking following the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing – Who’s in and who’s out? – The Final 15, plus one
December 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The grind is over, the results are in, and 15 World Qualifying Series surfers are on their way to the 2010 World Tour. As it stands, we’re seeing the addition of 7 Australians, 4 Americans, 2 Brazilians, 1 Hawaiian and 1 South African. And, should Jay Thompson manage to bump up a few spots in the World Tour rankings at Pipeline and double qualify, we may see the addition of France’s Joan Duru. Duru tied Australia’s Blake Thornton for 15th place, but after a thorough auditing of their numbers, … [Read more...]
Joel Parkinson wins the 2009 O’Neill World Cup of Surfing
December 6, 2009 By 2 Comments
Joel Parkinson took home the win on Sunday at Sunset Beach on the final day of the 2009 O'Neill World Cup of Surfing, the second event in the 2009 Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. Though, the win doesn't put him any closer to winning his much deserved World Title, it does put him in a pretty good position to win this year's Triple Crown, especially when paired with his quarterfinal finish at the Reef Hawaiian Pro. Parko snuck by Sunny Garcia in the closing minutes of the final, leaving Sunny with … [Read more...]
