Pro Surfing and Contests
2008 World Tour - midseason report
Begginging with the Quiksilver Pro on the Gold Coast, Slater swept the old school, current school and new school under the rug, clearly showed why he’s the king by smoking all takers, including Mick Fanning in his own backyard. Kelly even managed to take a victory lap in each heat, even tearing up a wave switchfoot after he put Andy Irons down. Winner: Kelly Slater
Next stop, Bells Beach for the Rip Curl Pro, where Kelly Slater swept the competition in a stunning display of surfing. Winner: Kelly Slater
Are you noticing a pattern here?
Next the tour stopped at Teahupoo for the Billabong Pro. Slater got taken down early by a wildcard, but like good soldiers, most of his closest competitors and fellow top fivers also got knocked out early. Joel Parkinson almost took it to the end, but wildcard Bruno Santos took first place, with no real impact on the positions of the top contenders. Winner: Bruno Santos
Next up, Fiji for the Globe Pro at Tavarua. Very little change in the top five as all of the tour leaders managed to pull through to later rounds. The biggest surprise was the event winner, none other than Kelly Slater.
Then we had the Billabong Pro at Jeffrey’s Bay. Tour leaders managed to fight through until the end. Those who continue to expect big things from Jordy thought this is where he would show it, but he fell in the fourth round. The final saw a replay of the Gold Coast with Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater duking it out. The winner: Kelly Slater
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New Flash!!! Bruce Irons to retire from tour at end of season!!! Bruce fans everywhere are in mourning!
——————————- intermission ———————————
Next stop, Rip Curl Pro Search, somewhere in Indo (Bali to be precise). Perfect waves, other worldly performances, significant giant killing and a shocking end result. Slater gets taken out early in Round 3 by Tiago Pires! That’s right! Tiago who? This guy:
Tiago - pre ironic 70's pornstar mustache
All of the other giants followed suit, getting taken down early and leaving a group of mid-packers and other non-contenders to duke it out for the final. The shocking result: Bruce Irons wins!
There we are. Midway through the season and the only guy in title contention who has actually won a contest this year is Kelly Slater. A somewhat surprising tour leader is emerging in the name of Adriano De Souza as he has turned into a World Tour contest machine. Surprising tour losers are the much hyped rookies, Dane Reynolds and Jordy Smithy. They better step up their game or double up with some big WQS results if they want to keep their spots on tour. Slater’s rivals for the top spot: Parko, Fanning, Bede, Taj, Adriano, CJ and Andy better start winning contests if they want any chance of pulling out a title this year. They might also want to consider pulling a Tanya Harding on Slater, as he has no problem pulling big wins at the remaining events. Only five events left. See you at Trestles next month!
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