|
 |
| |
News
|
|
 |
| GLOBAL NEWS |
| |
 |
|
The Quiksilver Pro Japan kicked off on day one of waiting period at Shidashita Point in Chiba, a two hour drive east of Tokyo.
|
QUIKSILVER PRO JAPAN (31 August - 7 September, 2005)
EVENT #7: ON THE ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) FOSTER'S MEN'S WORLD TOUR
Live on www.quiksilver.com and www.aspworldtour.com
SLATER DOMINATES DAY ONE OF QUIKSILVER PRO JAPAN
Shidashita Beach, Japan
Wednesday 31 August, 2005 - After relocating approximately half an hour's drive north from the base camp of Hebara to the smallish but fun waves at Shidashita, it was all Kelly Slater (USA) in day one of the Quiksilver Pro Japan.
After laying claim to three victories on this year's Foster's ASP Men's World Tour, Slater was far and wide the standout of the first round showing the red hot form that has taken him to six world titles and has established him as the greatest competitive surfer of all time.
 |
|
Kelly Slater top scored in round one by posting 17.16 points for his two best rides and sidelined Kenta Hayashi (Jap) and Jake Paterson (Aus) to the losers round.
|
Posting a 9.33 out of 10.0 on his top-scoring wave after executing a number of incredibly fast bottom-to-top turns, Slater put his stamp on the race for this year's world crown looking refreshed and confident after a holiday in Bali.
"I haven't surfed that much in the past couple of weeks," said a relaxed Slater. "Sometimes I do that between events . just have a break. I was going to go to Fiji but I was worried that if I went there I might get too many good waves and not be motivated to surf here!" he laughed.
Talking about the conditions, which vary radically from those of the last event in Jeffreys Bay (where he took a win in two to 2.5 metre [six to eight foot] swells), Slater revealed he has the perfect war plan in place.
"Here you have to generate speed," Slater continued. "At J-Bay everyone is going to get waves that they can surf really well on. Here it's usually the smaller guys who can generate the speed and stay in the pocket. You have to have different boards and have a different approach. You have to turn differently and you really have to pay attention to what the wave is going to let you do."
 |
|
Paulo Moura (Bra) posted the days highest wave score, a 9.6, and went on to narrowily defeat Tim Reyes (USA) in a high scoring round one battle.
|
In heat 10, Australian Tom Whitaker also indicated his eagerness to make a return to the "business end" of proceedings when he powered past Joel Parkinson (AUS), currently ranked five in the world title race, and local Masatoshi Ohno, despite Whitaker's late arrival for the heat after being given misleading information.
Paddling out six minutes into the heat, Whitaker took advantage of the fact that his foes had yet to lock in some decent scores and he managed to scoop some rippable waves that enabled him to win and progress directly into round three. (Winners of round one move to round three while second and third place go to round two.)
"I was lucky because I had a good early surf out here this morning so I knew what I was doing," said Whitaker. "I was six minutes late for the heat due to some miscommunication and was a bit rattled but luckily no-one else had caught a wave by the time I paddled out. I scored a good one and was in a good rhythm from there."
Appearing pleased with himself, winning the heat was a breakthrough for Whitaker who so far this year has failed to win in the round one three-man heats and has consistently had to face sudden death in round two, where if he loses he faces minimum tour points from an equal 33rd place.
"That was the first round one heat I've won all year so it's good not to be in that 33rd round, plus it gives me a bit more time to psych up for that next man-on-man heat," Whitaker continued.
 |
|
Pro surfing is alive and well in Japan. On day one of the Quiksilver Pro the Japanese surfing fans flocked to the beach to catch a glimpse of their surfing heroes.
|
Highest individual wave score of round one, a 9.6, went to flashy Brazilian Paulo Moura who blasted apart one of the bigger waves of the day and then kept up the momentum to win the heat in front of Tim Reyes (USA) and Danny Wills (AUS).
Moura was revelling in the conditions, which reminded him of home, and was very solid in what was easily the best heat of the day.
"I'm pretty happy with that wave and was lucky I chose a good one," stated Moura. "It looked good and it was my first wave of the heat so I was stoked with the score. I'm feeling confident after getting a third in the WQS in France and maybe it helps that I surf similar waves to this back home in Brazil. I had a slow start to the year but now I feel relaxed and I'm sure good things will come from now on."
 |
|
Andy Irons (Haw) posted a strong round one win but was pushed by young wild card Hideyoshi Tanaka (Jap) who finished a close second behind the current world champion.
|
Due to missing a connecting flight enroute to Japan, reigning world champ Andy Irons had his heat postponed till the end of the day and was obviously slightly ruffled by the inconvenience. He narrowly won in a countback decision over local hot shot Hideyoshi Tanaka. Irons will be looking for a victory here in Japan to reel in the ratings lead of Slater to try to put himself in a position to stake claim for a fourth world crown.
Weather forecasts indicate that tropical storm Nabi has been upgraded to typhoon status overnight which augers well for a finish in quality, sizable waves.
For the full results of the day's play please go to the websites as listed below.
Quiksilver will be doing live webcasts of the next three ASP WCT events on www.quiksilver.com and www.aspworldtour.com
- Quiksilver Pro Japan 31 August - 7 September
- Boost Mobile Pro presented by Quiksilver 13-18 September
- Quiksilver Pro France 23 September - 2 October
ROUND 2 SCHEDULED
Heat #1: Joel Parkinson Aus vs Masato Watanabe Jpn
Heat #2: Trent Munro Aus vs Kenta Hayashi Jpn
Heat #3: Mick Fanning Aus vs Hideyoshi Tanaka Jpn
Heat #4: Nathan Hedge Aus vs Masatoshi Ohno Jpn
Heat #5: Luke Egan Aus vs Dane Reynolds USA
Heat #6: Fredrick Patacchia HAW vs Renan Rocha Bra
Heat #7: Daniel Wills Aus vs Shea Lopez USA
Heat #8: Jake Paterson Aus vs Toby Martin Aus
Heat #9: Peterson Rosa Bra vs Shane Beschen USA
Heat #10: Mark Occhilupo Aus vs Tim Curran USA
Heat #11: Taylor Knox USA vs Luke Stedman Aus
Heat #12: Chris Ward USA vs Sunny Garcia HAW
Heat #13: Marcelo Nunes Bra vs Kalani Robb HAW
Heat #14: Travis Logie ZAF vs Tim Reyes USA
Heat #15: Troy Brooks Aus vs Greg Emslie ZAF
Heat #16: Lee Winkler Aus vs Raoni Monteiro Bra
ROUND 1 RESULTS
Heat #1: 14.6 Phillip MacDonald Aus, 12.83 Tim Curran USA, 9 Marcelo Nunes Bra
Heat #2: 14.83 Cory Lopez USA, 10.94 Chris Ward USA, 10.8 Shane Beschen USA
Heat #3: 13.07 Michael Lowe Aus, 12.16 Toby Martin Aus, 9 Nathan Hedge Aus
Heat #4: 15.84 Taj Burrow Aus, 0 Taylor Knox USA,11.9 Shea Lopez USA
Heat #5: 14.04 Richard Lovett Aus, 11.43 Renan Rocha Bra, 11.16 Mick Fanning Aus
Heat #6: 15.16 CJ Hobgood USA, 12.13 Masato Watanabe Jpn, 8.54 Mark Occhilupo Aus
Heat #7: 13.5 Darren O'Rafferty Aus, 12.6 Dane Reynolds USA, 10.53 Trent Munro Aus
Heat #8: 17.16 Kelly Slater USA, 13.23 Kenta Hayashi Jpn, 12.5 Jake Paterson Aus
Heat #9: 12.67 Andy Irons HAW, 12.67 Hideyoshi Tanaka Jpn, 11.44 Peterson Rosa Bra
Heat #10: 13.5 Tom Whitaker Aus, 8.4 Joel Parkinson Aus, 8.27 Masatoshi Ohno Jpn
Heat #11: 14.77 Victor Ribas Bra, 12.84 Travis Logie ZAF, 7.9 Luke Egan Aus
Heat #12: 16.1 Bede Durbidge Aus, 14.14 Luke Stedman Aus, 14.1 Fredrick Patacchia HAW
Heat #13: 12.66 Damien Hobgood USA, 11.67 Sunny Garcia HAW, 9.94 Troy Brooks Aus
Heat #14: 16 Dean Morrison Aus, 10.83 Kalani Robb HAW, 4.5 Lee Winkler Aus
Heat #15: 16 Paulo Moura Bra, 15.83 Tim Reyes USA, 11.93 Daniel Wills Aus
Heat #16: 15.83 Bruce Irons HAW, 13.67 Greg Emslie ZAF, 8.4 Raoni Monteiro Bra
|
|
|
