Well start off with the Roxy Pro; With the semi's and final's that were left in the contest, we saw some outstanding surfing. The Laura Enever vs Tyler Wright heat came down to the final seconds. Enever was fighting the whole time while Wright threw down some big scores early on. In the last few seconds of the heat, Enever caught a perfect wave and made something of it. She went to the beach with her head down not knowing if she had one and it wasn't until she made it to the grandstand that she heard the news she was going to the final. The Gilmore/Fitzgibbons heat was one for the ages. Two friends trying to start off the year with a win. Gilmore opened with an 8.57 and Fitzbibbons with an 8.00. Steph followed up with a 9.73 giving her a total heat score of 18.30 combo-ing Sally Fitzgibbons. The Final was what we wanted to see for the year and it gives us great hope to see more great surfing out of the Women's division. Laura Enever started out on top in the final with a 7.77 while Steph opened up with a 7.17. It was looking bright for the young Aussie who showed the world that she belongs with the best after a mellow 2011 season. Steph Gilmore soon answered back with a 9.20, really putting the pressure on Enever and reminding her and the crowd why she is a 4-time World Champion. Enever's last effort came in the final minutes but failed to best Gilmore, only receiving a 6.43. Even though my predictions for the final were completely wrong, I still feel that Sally Fitzgibbons will come around next competition and we may see a Gilmore/Fitzgibbons rivalry brew this year. It was a huge result for Enever putting her at the top of my list for those who will bring major upsets this year and could get a win under her belt.
Now for the Quiksilver Pro. I can't even describe how good these heats were - better than I could have imagined. First was Adriano de Souza vs Owen Wright; I thought both of the Wright siblings were going to put on a clinic in front of their home crowd, but it seemed more like a beach in Rio than anything. Adriano had half of the beach behind him and it showed off in some of the turns and airs he was doing. In Heat 2, the heat I was most excited about, Josh Kerr vs Kelly Slater. Just as I had predicted in my last post, conditions would be perfect for Kerr's high-flying surfing. As soon as I saw the conditions, I knew that it was his heat to win. Kelly even mentioned in a post heat interview that when conditions are like they were, Kerr is almost impossible to beat. In probably the most anticipated heat on the Gold Coast was Heat 3 where local boy, Joel Parkinson took on South African, Jordy Smith. Jordy had some fire in him coming into this heat when local tabloids told him too "Look Out" after the heat Joel previously won to get into the Quarterfinals. Jordy came out firing with a mix of strong power surfing and aerials. He posted two high 7's before Joel even had contend-able scores on the board. In Heat 4 it was West Australian, Taj Burrow and fellow Australian Ace Buchan. Ace came out strong showing that he might be the first goofy-footer to win this event in many years. In a high scoring heat, Taj opened with a high 7 and Ace a low 8. Ace followed up with a 7.90 and Taj now needed a 8.05 to take the lead and was quiet for most of the heat. It wasn't until the last minute where he caught a wave and put everything he had into it. He was on the beach before it had dropped and the crowd went wild when he received an 8.93 to win the heat.
The Semi's offered two heats with similar styles of surfing. Heat 1, Adriano vs Kerr, two surfers who can do any air but can still do strong turns. It looked like it was going to be Josh Kerr moving into the Final until the last few seconds when de Souza posted a 7.23 to take the heat and advance to the finals, a much needed result. In Heat 2, Taj and Jordy went at it in a true spectacle. Taj once again surfed extremely well and proved to everyone why he is a World Title contender.
The Final was epic, Taj and Adriano went at each other all heat. Adriano took to the air early and earned himself an 8.00 to start off and put the pressure on Taj. A little while later, Taj answered back with a strong wave, that looked like it was nothing, but Taj turned it into a 9.43 and suddenly the table turned and Adriano needed a big score to try and clinch a win. Right back out, Taj grabbed another wave and scored a 6.43 and Adriano needed a 7.87 to take the lead with only a few minutes left in the heat. With under a minute left, Adriano took off and pulled off a massive inverted air and did a few tiny turns on the inside. Judges took a while to analyze knowing that this will make or break the win for Taj. The heat ended before Adriano's wave was scored and Taj had already made his way to the beach hoping he could pull it off, whilst Adriano waited alone in the waters of Snapper Rock's to hear his score. He was waiting on the back of the jetski with his hands over his face when the judges announced that he had earned a 7.60, just short of what he needed.
The 2012 Quik Pro was the start of what will be a year unlike any other. The surfers on Tour are some of the most progressive and radical surfers and are hungrier than ever for a win and chance to win the World Title. Next up is the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach. Here are videos from the final day of both the Quik Pro and Roxy Pro as well as some photo's. Thanks for following during this contest and don't forget I will be doing this for each of the contests this year. Also remember that I will be posting environmentally related articles soon! Spread the word about Worn Trails!
Videos from Youtube/ASP
You did a great job of finding words to describe the quicksilver pro, you continuesly underestimate your vocabulary. Appreciated the recap and froth the videos. Xoxo
ReplyDelete