ASP drops Rip Curl Pro Search from 2012 ASP World Tour schedule
The 2012 World Tour schedule was released by the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) on Tuesday, November 15. While most of the events from the current year will be returning in the next season of the elite tour, Rip Curl Pro Search has been dropped
from the Tour.
The event has managed to deliver a heavy dose of exciting surfing action ever since its inauguration at Reunion Island in 2005. The site of the event keeps changing every year, which further adds to the excitement and creates an air of suspense, keeping
the surfers as well as the fans guessing.
Neil Ridgway, chairman of Rip Curl’s global advertising and promotions, explained that the decision to keep the floating event off the Tour schedule for next year was taken in order to develop the event even further with the intended motivation of taking
it to the next level.
Ridgway went on to say that, "To take the Search to the next level is always the goal. We do that every year, but following San Francisco and the twist it delivered to the surfing world we feel we need more time and care to really blow minds. This event
more than any other combines the discipline of professional sport with the travelling lifestyle and freedom surfers love. It needs to be nurtured so it grows better than ever. A year tending to it in planning is the right way to develop it."
The removal of Rip Curl Pro Search from the ASP World Tour schedule for 2012 has not only as a disappointment for the surfers and fans of the sport, but has come as a real sting for the ASP administrators as well. The consistency by which the floating event
had offered ideal surfing conditions over the years was truly remarkable and is one of the most anticipated competitions of the year.
The 2011 edition of Rip Curl Pro Search recently concluded at Ocean Beach in San Francisco and treated the fans to a series of thrilling battles. The event title was clinched by the young Brazil prodigy Gabriel Medina, his second since getting incepted in
the ASP World Tour.
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