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World's Best Surfers Tackle Large Surf at Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach
BELLS BEACH, Victoria/AUS (Sunday, March 31, 2013) – The ASP Top 34 returned to Bells Beach today, taking on solid six-to-eight foot (2 – 2.5 metre) surf for Round 2 and the opening three heats of Round 3 at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford.
The second stop on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach embarked on another solid day of competition this morning with the world’s best surfers doing battle in the well-overhead surf in the Bells Bowl.
Jordy Smith (ZAF), 25, long considered a threat to the ASP World Title, was in sensational form this morning, nailing a near-perfect 19.14 heat total out of a possible 20 for unmatched power and precision in the big Bells right handers.
“I have really good equipment under my feet right now,” Smith said. “The boards feel really solid and I think big Bells Bowl waves really suit my surfing. I love having big walls to carve up. Hopefully the conditions stay solid and clean for the rest of the event.”
At 6’2″, 190 lbs, Smith cuts one of the more imposing figures amongst the world’s elite and his dominant physicality is a huge asset at Bells Beach.
“I didn’t have the best start to the season with a 13th at Snapper but it’s a long year ahead,” Smith said. “I’m healthy, I feel like I’m surfing my best and I’m just focusing on put it together in heats. Bells is an opportunity for me to gain some early traction this season and that’s my goal.”
Taj Burrow (AUS), 34, former event winner (2007), survived a hard-fought Round 3 heat this afternoon against an in-form Dusty Payne (HAW), 24, this afternoon. Payne, who is coming off a major ASP Prime victory in Western Australia, dispatched of the dangerous Owen Wright (AUS), 23, in his morning Round 2 heat and posted a 9.37 mid-heat against Burrow. Payne was unable to secure a solid backup, however, and Burrow’s early heat excellent ride coupled with a solid backup advanced the Western Australian into Round 4 of the event.
“Starting with a huge score is sometimes scary because you have to back it up,” Burrow said. “I wanted to get a backup quickly but couldn't’t find one. Dusty (Payne) couldn't’t find one either until late in the heat when he got a smoker. He’s in a really good rhythm and coming off a win out West so he was always going to be a danger if he got the waves.”
Despite relatively lackluster showings at Bells Beach in recent years, Burrow has reset his focus for this season’s event and has high aims.
“I’ve had a few shockers here over the past few years but I’m taking it on as a challenge, changed a few things up and I’m here to ring the Bell 100%,” Burrow said. “This event is hugely prestigious and can really set a pace for the rest of the season. A win here is the goal.”
Nat Young (USA), 21, 2013 ASP Dream Tour rookie, continued his impressive run at Bells Beach this afternoon. Taking on current ASP WCT No. 5 and ASP World Title threat Julian Wilson (AUS), 24, in the final heat of the afternoon, Young’s dominant backhand was enough to stave off at late charge from the Australian, advancing him into Round 4.
“That was huge for me,” Young said. “I lost in this round at Snapper so my goal was to improve from there. The waves weren't’t pretty, but I knew if I could find a few, I could maybe get a few scores on my backhand. Julian (Wilson) is so polished and so good – it was always going to be a difficult heat. Stoked to get through though and we’ll just see what tomorrow brings.”
When competition resumes, up first will be Josh Kerr (AUS), 29, up against Sebastian Zietz (HAW), 25, in Heat 7 of Round 3.
Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow at 7:30am to assess conditions for a possible 7:45am start.
The 2013 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach will be webcast LIVE via www.live.ripcurl.com and broadcast live on Fuel TV in Australia and Portugal, ESPN in Brazil and MCS Extreme in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland and Africa. You can also watch the event live via the Rip Curl Pro iPhone app, available free in the iTunes App Store.
CoastalWatch, official forecasters for the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, have called for: A strong increase in long period SW ground swell arrives over the Easter long weekend, peaking on Sunday morning under moderate to strong WSW winds before gradually easing throughout Monday.
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com
RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.50 def. Jacob Willcox (AUS) 12.16
Heat 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 15.90 def. Jack Perry (AUS) 12.17
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.73 def. Oney Anwar (IDN) 7.43
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.10 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 13.90
Heat 5: Tiago Pires (PRT) 17.57 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 17.27
Heat 6: Dusty Payne (HAW) 17.10 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 9.50
Heat 7: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 19.14 def. Glenn Hall (IRL) 11.77
Heat 8: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 18.10 def. Adam Melling (AUS) 11.33
Heat 9: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.60 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 14.23
Heat 10: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 16.33 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 15.43
Heat 11: Damien Hobgood (USA) 15.07 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 14.60
Heat 12: Kai Otton (AUS) 15.43 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 13.43
RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.33 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 10.27
Heat 2: Kai Otton (AUS) 14.67 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 14.23
Heat 3: Nat Young (USA) 12.50 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 10.50
RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH REMAINING ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 4: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Sebastian Zietz (HAW)
Heat 5: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Bede Durbidge (AUS)
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Willian Cardoso (BRA)
Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 8: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Damien Hobgood (USA)
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
Heat 10: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Filipe Toledo (BRA)
Heat 11: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
Heat 12: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)
RIP CURL WOMEN’S PRO BELLS BEACH FINAL MATCH-UP:
Tyler Wright (AUS) VS. Carissa Moore (HAW)
The Rip Curl Pro is presented by FORD with partners the Victorian Government, Momentum Energy, mophie, Tooheys Extra Dry, Jim Beam, Skullcandy, Red Bull, Telstra, Surf Coast Shire, Surfing Life Magazine, Fuel TV, Ozmosis, Nova, CO2 Australia, Coastalwatch Plus and co-managed by Surfing Victoria.
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Womens heats
Historic Day of Surfing Decides Rip Curl Pro Finalists, Wright and Moore to Face Off for Bells Title
BELLS BEACH, Victoria/AUS (Saturday, March 30, 2013) – The Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford, Stop No. 3 of 7 on the 2013 ASP Women’s World Championship Tour, completed a mammoth day of competition today with Rounds 2, 3, 4, the Quarterfinals and the Semifinals all ran in pumping four-to-six foot (1.5 – 2 metre) waves at Bells Beach.
Tyler Wright (AUS), 18, current ASP WCT No. 1, put on an inspired performance throughout today’s five rounds of competition, blending her energetic approach with unmatched power in the Bells Bowl. The young natural-footer closed her day out with a Semifinal win over a rampaging Courtney Conlogue (USA), 20, in classic Bells conditions.
“That was my fourth surf of the day so I am exhausted,” Wright said. “Courtney (Conlogue) has been impressive all day and I knew it was going to be a battle on my hands. Fortunately I had a strong start because Courtney came back in a big way towards the end and had opportunity on her last wave if she didn't’t fall. Great heat and let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
This afternoon’s Semifinal win earned Wright her third, consecutive Finals berth of 2013 – a Final that can be run as early as tomorrow.
“Tomorrow’s my third straight Final this year, it’s my birthday and it’s Easter so yeah, it’s going to be a big day if we run,” Wright said. “Look, Bells is an event I’ve been watching since I was a kid. It’s prestige is second to none and we have waves on tap. I’m just really excited for tomorrow.”
Conlogue, despite the near miss in the Semifinals, had a sensational day of competition, posting scores in the excellent range before coming up just short of Wright this afternoon.
“Always tough to lose when you have opportunity but congrats to Tyler (Wright),” Conlogue said. “I had a good day, we had great surf and it’s a good result for me. I’ll just take the confidence and regroup for New Zealand.”
Carissa Moore (HAW), 20, 2011 ASP Women’s World Champion, closed out the day’s action with one of the highest-scoring bouts in women’s surfing history against California powerhouse Lakey Peterson (USA), 18, in this afternoon’s Semifinals.
“I’m so proud to be a part of women’s surfing right now,” Moore said. “Everyone was so inspiring today. The waves pumped, the girls ripped. It’s just a really really exciting time for women’s surfing and we’re really fortunate to have such great waves for this event.
Moore will now face Wright in a rematch from the previous event’s Final in Western Australia.
“Back-to-back Finals for me and Tyler (Wright),” Moore said. “It’s really cool and we both have one event win each this season so we’ll really be fighting hard to get the second win of the year. She’s surfing really well so it will be a good battle.”
Peterson, into her sophomore year amongst the women’s elite, was electric throughout today’s competition, consistently posting excellent scores en route to her Semifinal clash with Moore.
“That was probably the most exciting heat of my life,” Peterson said. “I was out of it for so long and then was able to come back with two big scores. It’s disappointing to rally and fall short, but that’s competition and congratulations to Carissa (Moore). Good result though and I’ll carry that with me to New Zealand.”
This morning saw reigning five-time ASP Women’s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 25, confirm the sustaining of a small undisplaced fracture of the bone in her left foot from her Round 1 heat two days ago. After consulting with physicians and receiving treatment for the injury from on-site medical staff, the phenomenal natural-footer proceeded to surf through three rounds of competition, posting mammoth scores before falling agonizingly close to Wright in this afternoon’s Quarterfinals.
“Alana (Blanchard) accidentally ran me over in Round 1 the other day and it resulted in a small fracture in my foot,” Gilmore said. “I was a bit touch and go yesterday as to what I was going to do about it, but I spoke to the doctors and got some treatments this morning from the medical staff on-site and it feels okay. I guess four surfs in one day may have been a bit much on it, but I was still posting solid scores, just came up short to Tyler (Wright).”
Today’s Equal 5th place finish marks a relative low light in an otherwise incredible run at the Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach (previously collecting three wins, a runner-up and 3rd).
When women’s competition resumes, Wright and Moore will go head-to-head in the 2013 Rip Curl Women’s Pro Bells Beach Final.
The 2013 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach will be webcast LIVE via www.live.ripcurl.com and broadcast live on Fuel TV in Australia and Portugal, ESPN in Brazil and MCS Extreme in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland and Africa. You can also watch the event live via the Rip Curl Pro iPhone app, available free in the iTunes App Store.
Coastal Watch, official forecasters for the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, have called for: A mid period SW swell eases into Saturday with light WNW winds throughout the day. A stronger increase in long period SW ground swell arrives over the Easter long weekend, peaking on Sunday morning under moderate to strong W/SW winds. Another long period S/SW ground swell arrives on Wednesday 4 and eases into Thursday 5 April. SW swell may fade to very low levels over the weekend of Saturday 6 April.
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com
RIP CURL WOMEN’S PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) 18.20 def. Laura Enever (AUS) 7.50
Heat 2: Pauline Ado (FRA) 15.67 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 6.20
Heat 3: Tyler Wright (AUS) 16.33 def. Sofia Mulanovich (PER) 12.20
Heat 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 16.80 def. Rebecca Woods (AUS) 10.00
Heat 5: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 16.90 def. Sage Erickson (USA) 15.00
Heat 6: Paige Hareb (NZL) 12.33 def. Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 12.17
RIP CURL WOMEN’S PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 3 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 16.54, Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 14.97, Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 13.83
Heat 2: Tyler Wright (AUS) 16.83, Malia Manuel (HAW) 13.90, Paige Hareb (NZL) 8.18
Heat 3: Carissa Moore (HAW) 12.50, Pauline Ado (FRA) 9.10, Alana Blanchard (AUS) 6.76
Heat 4: Lakey Peterson (USA) 18.00, Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 17.44, Silvana Lima (BRA) 9.84
RIP CURL WOMEN’S PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Paige Hareb (NZL) 15.03 def. Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 13.63
Heat 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 18.80 def. Malia Manuel (HAW) 15.37
Heat 3: Silvana Lima (BRA) 17.32 def. Pauline Ado (FRA) 11.17
Heat 4: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.74 def. Alana Blanchard (HAW) 9.87
RIP CURL WOMEN’S PRO BELLS BEACH QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 18.10 def. Paige Hareb (NZL) 16.93
QF 2: Tyler Wright (AUS) 16.87 def. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 16.83
QF 3: Carissa Moore (HAW) 18.37 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 9.77
QF 4: Lakey Peterson (USA) 16.43 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 16.10
RIP CURL WOMEN’S PRO BELLS BEACH SEMIFINAL MATCH-UPS:
SF 1: Tyler Wright (AUS) 13.67 def. Courtney Conlogue (USA) 12.73
SF 2: Carissa Moore (HAW) 18.67 def. Lakey Peterson (USA) 18.50
Tyler Wright on her way to the Womens Final Photo courtesy RipCurl
RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Jacob Willcox (AUS)
Heat 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Jack Perry (AUS)
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Oney Anwar (IDN)
Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 5: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)
Heat 6: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Dusty Payne (HAW)
Heat 7: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Glenn Hall (IRL)
Heat 8: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 9: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)
Heat 10: Travis Logie (ZAF) vs. Sebastian Zietz (HAW)
Heat 11: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
Heat 12: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
The Rip Curl Pro is presented by FORD with partners the Victorian Government, Momentum Energy, mophie, Tooheys Extra Dry, Jim Beam, Skullcandy, Red Bull, Telstra, Surf Coast Shire, Surfing Life Magazine, Fuel TV, Ozmosis, Nova, CO2 Australia, Coastalwatch Plus and co-managed by Surfing Victoria.