Slater, Fanning, Burrow and Wilson advance to Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast quarter-finals
Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, the first stop on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, finished the remaining heats of Round 3 and completed the entire Round 4 at the Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia, on Monday, March
11, 2013.
Building two-to-three foot waves greeted the elite surfers on the latest day of competition, setting up a nice stage for a series of intense battles between the best in the business.
The proceedings on the latest day of the competition kicked-off with 12-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater claiming a victory over Hawaii’s Dusty Payne in the seventh heat of Round 3 to advance to the fourth round.
The legendary American surfer went on to down Australia’s Bede Durbidge and Australia’s Matt Wilkinson in the fourth round to secure his place in the quarter-finals.
“It was an exciting heat and both Bede (Durbidge) and Wilko (Matt Wilkinson) were surfing really well,” Slater said. “It’s fortunate when it’s a non-elimination heat and guys are surfing so well – no one gets eliminated. The level has been really, really
high here today and it’s a good start to the year. Hopefully we can get some waves at Kirra either tomorrow or Wednesday and finish in some barrels.”
Australia’s Josh Kerr got eliminated from the competition after he failed to hold his own against his fellow compatriot Wilkinson in the ninth heat of Round 3, the latter once again proving to be in a lethal form.
One of the biggest surprises in the third round was the elimination of South Africa’s Jordy Smith at the hands of his compatriot Travis Logie.
Former ASP World Champion Mick Fanning downed America’s Nat Young in the final heat of Round 3 to step into the fourth round.
The Australian surfer later defeated South Africa’s Travis Logie and America’s Brett Simpson to move to the quarter-final.
Australia’s Taj Burrow put on an outstanding performance in his Round 4 heat against France’s Jeremy Flores and Australia’s Adam Melling to finish on top and consequently advance to the quarter-finals.
Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast is nicely setting up to have a really exciting climax, with four extremely lethal surfers already getting their spots in the quarter-finals confirmed.
Tags: