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King Kelly reings supreme at the Boost Mobile Pro presented by Quiksilver.
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BOOST MOBILE PRO PRESENTED BY QUIKSILVER (September 13-18, 2005)
EVENT #8 ON THE ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) FOSTER'S MEN'S WORLD TOUR
Every event live on www.aspworldtour.com
SLATER HOLDS OFF MACDONALD TO WIN BOOST MOBILE PRO
September 18, 2005, Trestles, California - Putting on a clinical display of surfing in the excellent one metre (three foot) plus conditions on offer, Kelly Slater (USA) held off a strong challenge from Aussie Phil MacDonald to claim victory in the Boost Mobile Pro Of Surf presented by Quiksilver.
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Australian Phillip Macdonald finished a strong second to Kelly Slater in the Boost Mobile Pro final at Trestles today. Macca now holds down fifth overall on the Fosters Mens ASP World tour rankings.
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The win at Trestles, located just south of San Clemente in Southern California, was his fourth on this year's Foster's ASP Men's World Tour and will serve to increase his lead on the tour rankings.
Going into the final Macdonald was adamant he wouldn't let Slater get away with an easy win and dominated for much of the 35-minute duel. Opening with some powerful frontside turns he notched up a 6.83 out of 10 then followed through with an 8.17 soon after. Slater meanwhile had a low scorer and sat patiently waiting for a wave that would deliver him the 8.67 he required to reel in MacDonald.
While MacDonald was sitting with priority, Slater managed to snavel a smaller inside wave with less than five minutes to go and in typical Slater form he went berserk executing a large floater manoeuvre, an aerial and then completed the ride with a lay-back snap. For the wave he scored a 9.07 and victory.
"I was thinking before that wave about how fresh I was feeling and at that point I knew it was going to come down to one ride," said Slater. "I knew how long it would take to paddle back out and there was just enough time left for me to circle and get another one if need be, but luckily I didn't need it.
"It's pretty amazing," Slater continued. "The last three finals I've been in have been decided in the last five minutes - I got Andy in the last 30 seconds in South Africa, he got me in the last five minutes in Japan and now this today. It makes it exciting for everyone watching."
At 33 years of age, Slater is in the box seat for an incredible seventh world crown and at this stage of his career he is arguably finding his best form ever and is confident he can go on with the job of claiming the crown.
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Who can stop Kelly Slater now? Slater posted his fourth win in eight WCTs in 2005 by winning the Boost Mobile Pro from Phillip MacDonald at Trestles today.
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"It's all about where your mind's at," said Slater. "It's a spiritual thing. It's all about how you approach things. When things are stagnant in my life, the worse I surf and the more I enjoy things, the better I surf and I feel more in tune with everything. It's even fun when you lose! As far as the ratings go, it's a great position to be in. I was hoping to at least maintain my current lead over Andy but this was a huge bonus today and it feels great to have four wins this year."
MacDonald, who was unlucky not to get a wave in the dying stages of the heat, will take pride in securing his second runner-up tag this season. His current rating of fifth is his best standing ever and a win for him surely must be around the corner.
"With three minutes to go I was just praying that the ocean would go flat," MacDonald said. "And then a wave came through that didn't look even remotely like an 8.5 so I didn't even budge. Kelly went it and him being him… well he turned it into the score he needed. It's a good result and at least I'm making finals. It was good for the crowd and I know I'll get one eventually.
"To be in the top five you have to be able to beat anyone," said MacDonald. "It's not rocket science. You have to beat the best to be the best. Kelly's surfing amazing this year and I'm just stoked I stuck it to him and nearly pulled it off. France is in another week so hopefully I can go one better there."
In the earlier semi finals Slater brought down Taj Burrow (AUS) while MacDonald disposed of Mick Fanning (AUS). Both were obviously disappointed, as throughout the event they had showed some amazing form.
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Andy Irons' 2005 ASP world title bid became that much more dificult for the Hawaiian when he was sidelined by Phillip Macdonald in the quarter finlas.
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Burrow was eager to bring down Slater but was shown the exit door when he failed to find a wave that would deliver him the score he required. Despite his loss he was happy to take the equal third place. He also joked about there not being a Slater/Irons return match-up in the final.
"I've definitely seen enough of Kelly and Andy in finals," laughed Burrow. "I'm pretty bummed at the moment though. I'm just disappointed that I didn't get the chance to get the score I needed to beat him. I sat there with priority for so long and that's something I don't normally do as I'm pretty impatient. The wave just didn't come. Full credit to Kelly though. His run has been really amazing but I wish I was the one to bring him down."
Fanning, who is sitting in third on the rankings, was hoping to make the final and also end Slater's run. Beating Slater in the final today would have been a huge boost for his confidence and would have placed him with an inside running for the Foster's ASP Men's World Tour crown.
He was most disappointed since his loss to MacDonald came down to needing one wave and the luck just didn't go his way.
"It's all a little bit disappointing at the moment," said Fanning. "It all came down to one wave. There's not much you can do when the luck doesn't go your way. There was a lull in the semi and it's been off and on like that all day. I just needed to make that heat and I would've liked to have beaten Kelly in the final."
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Former Boost Mobile Pro champ Australian Richie Lovett (pictured) went down to a fired up Andy Irons in round four.
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MacDonald was also responsible for defeating Andy Irons (HAW) in the quarter-finals but luckily for Irons the top five slots on the ratings will not change and he is still well in contention going into the next stop on the Foster's ASP Men's World Tour, the Quiksilver Pro France.
Although, if Slater were to win the next event he will sew up his title run and even if he scores bottom points in the last two events in Brazil and Hawaii his lead will be unassailable.
Results:
Round four:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.57 def Jake Paterson (AUS) 14.27
Heat 2: Trent Munro (AUS) 16.00 def Taylor Knox (USA) 15.50
Heat 3: Kalani Robb (HAW) 11.17 def Tim Reyes (USA) 11.00
Heat 4: Kelly Slater (USA) receives walk through due to Troy Brooks (AUS) injury
Heat 5: Andy Irons (HAW) 16.84 def Richard Lovett (AUS) 10.33
Heat 6: Phil Macdonald (AUS) 14.17 def Greg Emslie (ZAF) 12.87
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.00 def Paulo Moura (BRA) 7.66
Heat 8: CJ Hobgood (USA) 17.00 def Victor Ribas (BRA) 15.07
Quarter-finals:
Quarter final 1: Burrow 15.83 def Munro 14.93
Quarter final 2: Slater 17.10 def Robb 11.67
Quarter final 3: Macdonald 15.44 def Irons 15.34
Quarter final 4: Fanning 16.03 def Hobgood 15.17
Semi finals:
Semi final 1: Slater 17.40 def Burrow 12.84
Semi final 2: Macdonald 16.07 def Fanning 15.17
Final
Slater 15.40 def Macdonald 15.00
Full event results are available on www.boostmobile.com or www.aspworldtour.com
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Taylor Knox, surfing in his backyard at Trestles, found his form in round three of the Boost Mobile Pro today smoking Australian Lee Winkler. Knox takes on another Australian in the form of Trent Munro in round four.
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BOOST MOBILE PRO PRESENTED BY QUIKSILVER (September 13-18, 2005)
EVENT #8 ON THE ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) FOSTER'S MEN'S WORLD TOUR
Live on www.aspworldtour.com & www.boostmobile.com
BIG GUNS BLAZE IN ROUND THREE OF BOOST MOBILE PRO
September 16, 2005, Trestles, California - With an epic two metre (six foot) plus swell arriving overnight, the Boost Mobile Pro presented by Quiksilver powered into round three today with the top five ranked surfers dominating proceedings.
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West Australian and former ASP world number two Taj Burrow blitzed Californian Tim Curran in a much anticipated round three clash at the Boost Mobile Pro today. Burrow meets fellow Aussie Jake Paterson in round four.
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In front of the huge crowd at Trestles, located just south of San Clemente California, Kelly Slater (USA), Andy Irons (HAW), and Australians Mick Fanning, Trent Munro and Phil Macdonald, ranked one to five on the Foster's ASP Men's World Tour, put on phenomenal performances to overcome their foes.
Much of the day's focus was on the progression of Slater and Irons as potentially they could meet up again in the final for the third time this year and both showed fantastic form as both left their opposition needing two good scoring rides to catch up.
Slater's opponent, local Californian, Dane Reynolds appeared to be awestruck as Slater launched aerial after aerial while the crowd roared their appreciation. Slater however revealed later that going into the heat he was nervous.
"I call him ‘Danger' and he ripped the other day," said Slater. "He definitely put me on call. I had two days to think about it and I was definitely worried. It was probably the most worried I've been about a wildcard. It felt like surfing against Andy or somebody first up. I'm glad I got that one out of the way."
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Jake Paterson (pictured) downed Hawaiian heavyweight Sunny Garcia in round three and is matched against fellow west Australian Taj Burrow in round four.
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Slater will now face a rampaging Troy Brooks (AUS) in round four. Brooks defeated his Quiksilver teammate Travis Logie (ZAF) to move through and is on a roll after a strong result in the previous event in Japan.
"He has a great knack for picking the right wave and he's a really smart competitor," said Slater about Brooks. "He might even bust out a superman air. He has a few tricks up his sleeve. He always pulls reverses and airs that other people don't."
Directly after the Slater/Reynolds showdown Irons came out and tore into the waves with a vengeance. On his opening ride he executed everything from frontside tail slides, to vertical re-entries to floaters to aerials. Like the heat prior the crowd were hooting loudly and Irons returned to the beach with a huge grin on his face.
"It was so great to get Trestles this good with only one other guy out," said Irons. "It was pretty solid out there but luckily we could still ride our small wave boards. It was highly rippable out there and was sort of like a moving skate park!"
Looking confident in his defeat of fellow Australian Kirk Flintoff, Fanning took to the waves with some monstrous swooping frontside carves. Looking for his third win of the season, Fanning is still very much in the running for the world title race but is showing no signs that the pressure is on. Flintoff made a late charge in the heat but a composed Fanning waited patiently for the right wave and came home strong.
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Troy Brooks edged past Travis Logie in a round three thriller which saw the Australian eclipsing the South African rookie by less than a single point. Brooks takes on event favorite and six times ASP World Champion Kelly Slater in round four.
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"I was stoked to finish that one strong," said Fanning. "I was stoked that the left breaking waves weren't that good out there because Kirk really flies on them. The rights suit me and I'm hoping that it stays like this for Sunday. I'm really stoked that I've knocked that one over and will live to fight another day. "
In a later upset, South African Greg Emslie continued his giant-killing spree when he took out Florida's Damien Hobgood. Enjoying the big open faces here at Trestles, Emslie rode some of the biggest waves of the day and even snapped his board on his last ride.
"I'm really very happy as it was a very hard heat," said Emslie. "It was a bit of a slow heat for waves but I was patient and I'm stoked to be going through to the next round. On that wave I broke my board I knew it was going to happen. It was a big wave and the lip smacked me right in the head - I'm lucky I didn't get hurt!
"But I feel very comfortable here," Emslie continued. "I live on the beach in South Africa and I wake up to surf waves like these here every day. Trestles is an unreal wave and really lets you open up."
Also standing out was Taylor Knox (USA) who accounted for Lee Winkler (AUS) in heat three. Knox put each turn heavily on rail using his knowledge of the break to his advantage while in the opening heat of the day Taj Burrow (AUS) busted out all his tricks to take down Tim Curren (USA).
To wrap up the day Curren made up for the disappointment of being eliminated from the main event by taking out the Mazda Air Show with a huge frontside aerial double handed rail grab.
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Rip Curl Pro Bells champion Australian Trent Munro leans into a perfect right hander at Trestles. Munro, currently ranked fourth in the world is aiming for his best ever finish on the Fosters Men's ASP World Championship Tour.
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Curren himself pockets $US10,000 plus another $US10,000 will be donated to the NSSA fund in memory of Jason Bogle. Second placed Cory Lopez will also have $US10,000 donated to the fund in his name.
Jason Bogle was an aspiring professional surfer from Hawaii whose life was cut short due to a rare form of bone cancer
Due to State Park regulations the Boost Mobile Pro of Surf presented by Quiksilver will be put on hold for tomorrow and will be completed on Sunday. Also talking place will be the Foster's Expression Session and a celebrity surf off.
For the full round four draw head to www.aspworldtour.com or www.boostmobile.com
Results:
Round Four:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.10 def Tim Curren (USA) 14.66
Heat 2: Jake Paterson (AUS) 13.83 def Sunny Garcia (HAW) 10.00
Heat 3: Taylor Knox (USA) 16.50 def Lee Winkler (AUS) 12.70
Heat 4: Trent Munro (AUS) 15.27 def Shea Lopez (USA) 6.27
Heat 5: Kalani Robb (HAW) 14.20 def Nathan Hedge (AUS) 6.50
Heat 6: Tim Reyes (USA) 14.50 def Cory Lopez (USA) 13.93
Heat 7: Troy Brooks (AUS) 15.67 def Travis Logie (ZAF) 15.00
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.87 def Dane Reynolds (USA) 8.84
Heat 9: Andy Irons (HAW) 16.67 def Guilherme Herdy (BRA) 10.83
Heat 10: Richard Lovett (AUS) 15.00 def Marcelo Nunes (BRA) 14.66
Heat 11: Phil Macdonald (AUS) 15.33 def Luke Stedman (AUS) 13.23
Heat 12: Greg Emslie (ZAF) 16.16 def Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.84
Heat 13: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.00 def Kirk Flintoff (AUS) 13.50
Heat 14: Paulo Moura (BRA) 18.00 def Peterson Rosa (BRA) 13.00
Heat 15: CJ Hobgood (USA) 13.50 def Shane Beschen (USA) 13.33
Heat 16: Victor Ribas (BRA) 16.83 def Fred Patacchia Jnr (HAW) 15.00
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'Occy' bowed out of this year's Boost Mobile Pro to South African Greg Emslie in round two yesterday.
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BOOST MOBILE PRO PRESENTED BY QUIKSILVER (September 13-18, 2005)
EVENT #8 ON THE ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) FOSTER'S MEN'S WORLD TOUR
Live on www.aspworldtour.com & www.boostmobile.com
DAY OF MIXED RESULTS FOR BOOST MOBILE PRO ROUND TWO
September 14, 2005, Trestles, California - Organisers of the Boost Mobile Pro presented by Quiksilver awoke to extra smooth one metre (three foot) conditions at Trestles, Southern California and opted to forge ahead to complete round two today.
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Nathan Hedge will face Hawaiian Kalani Robb in round 3.
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With numerous top 10 seeded surfers pitted against a host of local wildcard talent, the large crowd on hand were treated to an excellent day, jam-packed with high performance surfing.
Winning their sudden death man-on-man heats and therefore staying in touch with the Foster's ASP Men's World Tour ratings leaders of Kelly Slater (USA), Andy Irons (HAW) and Mick Fanning (AUS), were Trent Munro (AUS), and CJ Hobgood (USA).
Both put on striking performances to defeat their wildcard foes with Munro defeating local San Clemente surfer Mike Losness and Hobgood defeating tour legend and former Foster's ASP Men's World Tour champ Tom Curren.
Munro, in particular, went ballistic, taking only left to right breaking waves (attacking them on his backhand, as Munro stands with his left foot forward) delivering some incredibly powerful bottom-to-top-turn combinations.
Despite winning in fine form, Munro felt he is still improving and his best is yet to come as in the last two tour events he's been carrying or recovering from a knee injury and the resulting surgery.
"Coming up against wildcards you don't know what you're going to get as the guys are specialists at the particular places and you can't take them lightly," said Munro. "I feel that I didn't really find my feet at the past few events and hopefully this is the start to a good run. In Jeffreys Bay I was carrying an injury to the cartilage in my knee and had to go and have surgery straight after. But that's all behind me and I'm keen to get on a roll."
Hobgood, 2001 Foster's ASP Men's World Tour champ, meanwhile staved off a strong challenge from pro surfing legend Tom Curren, who qualified for the event through the trials, and indicated through his surfing that despite his recent absence from the business end of competition, he isn't about to lay down and let the ratings front runners have an easy run.
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Peterson Rosa won the battle of the Brasilians in round two with a convincing win over compatriot Raoni Monteiro. Rosa finds himself in another clash with a fellow Brasilian, this time round it's Paulo Moura.
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Yet despite his brazen victory where he scored a 9.0 out of 10 for a tube ride on one wave, speaking after his heat, he deflected most of the praise for his surfing and honoured his childhood hero Curren.
"Last year here I had former world number two, Rob Machado in this round and I was freaked, then today, having Tom Curren I was freaked out again," said Hobgood. "Normally I would go out there and conserve energy and wait to throw the big scores but I know how dangerous Tom Curren is and I had to pump up for that heat. I knew I had to go to work early and put the pressure on Tom. I have all the respect in the world for him as does everyone. You can't say enough good things about him as he's done so much for the sport."
Giant killer wildcard Dane Reynolds caused an upset after completing one of the most amazing manoeuvres seen in competition to date to take down 11h ranked Dean Morrison (AUS).
Landing a huge aerial 360 reverse - where the surfer launches into the air above the wave, turns the board a full 360 degrees and lands backwards - he sent the onsite crowd wild and the huge throng watching on the live webcast kept demanding it be replayed time and time again.
"Yeah, I did an air and the judges really liked it!" laughed Reynolds. "I've just been showing up and surfing my heats without thinking too much. When I freesurf that's what I do so I'm trying to adapt that to competing."
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Australian Trent Munro suffered a shock round two elimination at the hands of New Zealander and wildcard Maz Quinn.
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Twelve months ago Reynolds was responsible for denting Andy Irons' third world title run when he defeated him here at Trestles and this time around he has the chance to derail the campaign of current leader Slater as he faces him in round three.
"Kelly has beat me in every heat I've ever had against him," said Reynolds. "He left me needing two really good rides on the Gold Coast in the first event of this year. I've never really had much luck, but he's the best in the world! I'll just go out in round three and do what I did today. I've got nothing to lose."
Also causing a stir was South African Greg Emslie who defeated Mark Occhilupo in heat 10 of the day. Emslie, who has had mixed results this year was very pleased with himself and looked completely at home. He was also hoping to get through so he could tackle Trestles later in the week when the predicted large swell arrives.
"I'm really stoked. I think anyone who beats Occy is always happy with the result," said Emslie. "Yesterday I felt terrible but today I really felt good out there. I went for a long freesurf before my heat and got my head right so I'm feeling a lot stronger now. But I really want to surf here in the big swell and it was playing on my mind out there. I can't wait to get into some waves where we can really go all out."
It was a close finish in all-Brazilian heat 13 with Peterson Rosa snatching a win from Raoni Monteiro on his final wave. As a set arrived, Rosa used his knowledge of the break and resisted the temptation to grab the first wave anticipating that a better one was still to come. Monteiro and Rosa were both riding at the same time with Rosa getting the better of the exchange.
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Multiple world surfing champion Tom Curren applies his signature bottom turn on a perfect right hander at Trestles. Curren fell to 2001 ASP world champion CJ Hobgood in round two of the Boost Mobile Pro.
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"It was a slow start to the heat," said Rosa in his thick Portuguese accent. "And I knew when that set came that the second one would be better. I luckily did well on the wave and got the good score. I never give up out there and I will take the confidence from the win here through to the next round. Next round I will also try hard."
Organisers will reconvene tomorrow at 7am to assess conditions and it is expected that the Foster's Expression will potentially be scheduled. Stay tuned to www.aspworldtour.com and www.boostmobile.com for all the latest news, to get the full results of round two and to check out the round three draw.
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Reigning ASP world champion Hawaiian Andy Irons stamped his authority in round one of the Boost Mobile Pro at Trestles in San Clemente, California today. The three times ASP world champion beat world title contender Australian Joel Parkinson (Coolangatta, Queensland) and former three times ASP world champion American Tom Curren (Santa Barbara, California) in their round one encounter.
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BOOST MOBILE PRO PRESENTED BY QUIKSILVER (September 13-18, 2005)
EVENT #8 ON THE ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) FOSTER'S MEN'S WORLD TOUR
Live on www.aspworldtour.com & www.boostmobile.com
SLATER AND IRONS POISED TO POTENTIALLY MEET AGAIN IN FINAL
September 13, 2005, Trestles, California - With a one metre (three foot) swell pulsing through the break at Trestles, Southern California, organisers of the Boost Mobile Pro of Surf presented by Quiksilver sent out the best 44 surfers in the world plus four wildcards for round one today.
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Guilherme Herdy (Bra) went down to Taj Burrow in round one and will face Bruce Irons in round two.
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And although the afternoon breeze had swung onshore to make conditions slightly less inviting for the eighth event on the Foster's ASP Men's World Tour, the top three surfers in the race for the world crown dominated to claim convincing victories in their respective heats.
Surfers who win in round one progress to round three while surfers who place second and third progress to round two to face sudden death man-on-man encounters.
Currently ranked number one, Kelly Slater (USA) fired a warning shot early in his match-up with tour legend and 1999 world champion, Mark Occhilupo and wildcard hopeful Mike Losness, posting a 9.17 out of 10 after boosting a solid aerial manoeuvre, some top to bottom gouges and a final lay back tail slide.
Interestingly, Slater hadn't touched a surfboard since his final against Andy Irons in Japan over 10 days ago and went about this round one outing without even a warm-up surf.
"I haven't surfed since Japan - like not even one wave," said Slater. "I hadn't ridden this board in two weeks. I just wanted a couple of days off to relax, so I was a little wobbly at first and maybe I was a little overscored. But I won't complain!"
As the event continues swell is expected to build climaxing with predicted double overhead waves on the weekend and Slater was excited about the prospect of scoring another world-class venue at its best.
"It would be great to surf six foot Trestles again," said Slater. "And overall we've had great surf on the tour with excellent surf at Tahiti, Fiji, Reunion, Jeffreys Bay and Japan. Hopefully we'll get some more."
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World title contender Trent Munro suffered a shock defeat in round one of the Boost Mobile Pro by losing out to an in form Taylor Knox. Munro takes on wildcard Mike Losness in round two.
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Andy Irons also threw down the challenge today taking a win in heat nine of round one against another tour legend in Tom Curren (USA), who also progressed through the trials, and Jake Paterson (AUS).
Irons was feeling slightly overawed before the heat facing his long time hero plus revisiting the memories of an early exit from the event this time last year at the hands of whiz-kid wildcard Dane Reynolds (USA).
"I was really nervous," said Irons. "Especially after last year where I was knocked out early. I missed a couple of waves and thought it might happen again but I stayed patient and waited for the ones that looked like good waves and I tried surfing as best I could. I was also wary of Curren. Sitting out in the lineup with him was amazing. You normally get intimidated when surfing against your heroes and he's such a good competitor you just can't take things lightly."
Potentially Slater and Irons could meet for the third time this year in the final as both are placed on opposite sides of the draw. An event win here for Slater would really enhance his lead, making him almost unassailable, while Irons could really make things exciting if he were to take a win.
Lurking just behind them in third place and still well within striking distance for the crown is Mick Fanning (AUS). Revelling in the lack of media attention, due to the recent Slater/Irons showdowns Fanning was looking loose and relaxed.
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Former ASP world number two Australian Taj Burrow (Yallingup, West Australia) (pictured) scored an impressive win over Brazilians Peterson Rosa and Guilherme Herdy in round one of the Boost Mobile Pro at Trestles in San Clemente today.
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"They can have it [the media attention] I don't really care!" said Fanning. "I've had a good year but I'm not giving up at all and I'm going to take it down to the wire. But I'm here to enjoy every minute of it. It's only the first round and with nothing to lose I had a lot fun. It's such a good wave here at Trestles I'm just going to stick to my plan and go out and have a good time and just let loose."
Also excelling in the earlier heats was Travis Logie (ZAF) who defeated eighth seed Nathan Hedge (AUS) and tour stalwart Shea Lopez (USA). It was the first time the diminutive right foot forward surfer had surfed at Trestles and he looked more than at home after a shaky start scoring a 9.0.
"Yeah, I'm stoked," he said. "In the beginning of this heat I couldn't get over a 3.0. I was catching every single wave that came my way. I didn't know whether to go right or left, so I just calmed myself down, caught an average one and paddled back out. I was rapt about the 9.0."
Tour rookie Kirk Flintoff (AUS) was another to dominate, digging deep into his bag of tricks to defeat 2001 world champion CJ Hobgood (USA) and former Boost Mobile Pro winner Richie Lovett (AUS).
Flintoff consistently launched large aerials and spun 360 degree turns heavily impressing with his "new-school" surfing.
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Six times ASP world surfing champion American Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, Florida) subdued his opposition with a convincing win in round one of the Boost Mobile Pro at Trestles in San Clemente today. Slater beat compatriot and wildcard surfer Mike Losness (California) and 1999 ASP world champion Australian Mark Occhilupo.
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"I knew against those two surfers I had to go big and I just threw everything I had at them," said Flintoff. "Richie's won the event before and CJ, well he's been a world champ and is one of my favourite surfers so I knew I had a tough time ahead. I feel really comfortable in these conditions as they're similar to home."
Organisers will look to continue on with round two tomorrow morning and as stated earlier are expecting the swell to build to double overhead toward the end of the week.
Full results and the draw for round two are available on www.aspworldtour.com
ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP)
ASP INTERNATIONAL TO OPEN BRANCH IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
September 9, 2005 - The Association of Surfing Professionals International Ltd (ASP) is excited to announce it will establish an international branch office in Southern California in the United States. The office will open 1 December 2005.
In line with ASP's strategy to stimulate growth of its second tier World Qualifying Series (WQS) event schedule within the region, the opening of a branch office in the USA will create more opportunities for ASP North America members to fulfil their aspirations in the professional surfing arena, plus it will provide a new range of services for ASP's existing partners.
"The North American region is a major area of growth and has importance to the ASP globally," said ASP International CEO, Brodie Carr. "It's a lynchpin in the development of professional surfing and when the new branch office opens later this year, our key focus will be growing the second tier of the ASP tour, the World Qualifying Series."
"Surfing America is very pleased to see that ASP is restructuring its program," said Mike Gerard, Surfing America's Executive Director. "We believe this change is the right business decision for both organisations. It will allow the WQS rights holder, the ASP, to do business directly with the North American promoters who own the events. Surfing America looks forward to working closely with ASP as it develops young athletes to feed into the ASP system."
"This in essence should see the sport expand at the WQS level," added Carr. "Therefore it will allow us to create a solid platform and structure with the one objective being more opportunities for North American surfers to make the final ascent into the WCT."
"This is a dynamic time for the ASP," Carr continued. "We are going through a major overhaul in many departments and this is a major step toward cementing a bright future for professional surfing. We have known for many years that there is huge potential and now we are going about restructuring our operation so we can tap into it."
The ASP and Surfing America will continue to work together for top to bottom growth of the sport in the USA.
ASP International Ltd is the world governing body for professional surfing since 1976.
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