TEAHUPOO, Tahiti (Sunday, May 10, 2009) – The surfing action in the Billabong Pro Tahiti has been called off for the day, with lumpy four-foot (1.5 metre) swell and onshore winds replacing the near-perfection of Saturday. Stop no.3 on the ASP world tour saw the opening 14 heats of the man-on-man elimination Round 1 completed on Saturday...
Stop no.3 on the ASP world tour saw the opening 14 heats of the man-on-man elimination Round 1 completed on Saturday, and with the forecast calling for improved conditions in the coming days, event organizers opted to hold competition off for the day.
On Saturday, final heat of the day, progressive free-surfer Josh Kerr (Gold Coast Aus) proved his expertise in the barrel as well as being one of the worlds most acclaimed aerial competitors.The 25 year-old, married father of two eliminated Tiago Pires from their round one match-up with a heat total of 15.50 to his Portugal opponents 11.03 score in heat 14 of round one.
Twenty-nine year-old Pires managed a heat high 9.10 wave score but failed to find a back-up wave to be ousted from the Billabong Pro Tahiti.
Kerr will next face former Billabong Pro Tahiti finalist Fred Pattachia in round two when competition recommences
Three-times world champion Andy Irons, competing in the event as a wildcard, successfully negotiated his way through the sudden-death round one heat and will meet Bede Durbidge (Gold Coast, Aus) in round two.
The top 16 seeds gained direct entry into round two, including current world no.1 Joel Parkinson, Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow, Adrian Buchan and Tom Whitaker.
Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 6:30am to assess conditions for a possible 7am start.
Highlights from yesterday’s Billabong Pro Tahiti presented by Air Tahiti Nui are available at www.billabongpro.com
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com
REMAINING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 15: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 16: Roy Powers (HAW) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)
BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Phillip MacDonald (AUS)
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)
Heat 3: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Marlon Lipke (DEU)
Heat 5: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Josh Kerr (AUS)
Heat 6: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 7: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Heiarii Williams (PYF)
Heat 9: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Andy Irons (HAW)
Heat 10: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Dustin Barca (HAW)
Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. TBA
Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)
Heat 14: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 15: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 16: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Tim Boal (FRA)
