ASP World Tour: April 2009 Archives

Well folks, it was a hell of a heat. Mick and Jordy traded waves for 30 minutes, the lead changed back and forth, and not a section went by that wasn't destroyed, but thanks to a 9.17 (the highest score on the day thus far) Jordy edged out Mick and moved on into the Semifinals. That was the good news for Jordy, the bad news is that he had to face Joel Parkinson. If you haven't noticed, this year Parko ain't messing around, and like everybody he's faced so far this season, he dispatched of Jordy. It was one of the best surfed heats of the event, but unfortunately didn't work out in the South African's favor.

A win is always nice, but for Sofia Mulanovich and Sally Fitzgibbons, who both took third at the Rip Curl Pro this past weekend, a semifinal finish is still quite a positive result. "It is still a pretty good result, I am happy for that," explained Sofia. "I couldn't do anything out there so it was frustrating. I was a bit nervous and couldn't really read the waves that well. I was just falling off, getting stuck on my turns and once you do it once, it gets stuck in your head so it is a little bit psychological."

And surfing in her first semifinal as a World Tour rookie, Sally offered up this insight: "I had an okay start but Steph [Gilmore] really came steaming back with some big scores. There were definitely a few waves I would have love to have been on but that's how our sport goes and the ocean wasn't in my favour this time around. Last year was a good year for me so I am trying to take confidence from that to find a big result as the year progresses."

Next up the ladies are heading to Brazil, which should play right into Sofia's hand, seeing as he's a South American icon and all.

It's been a long slog for the men at the Rip Curl Pro, and pumping swell hasn't exactly been the norm. But coming off of a big win at the Cold Water Classic in Tasmania, it would appear that Jordy Smith is definitely eager to continue the roll. And then there's Mr. Mick Fanning, who has yet to surf a heat, but given his record at Bells, won't have much of an issue firing the engine up once things get started again. Michel Bourez will be tested in his Round 2 heat as he goes up against Joel Parkinson, Tim Boal's matched up against Bobby Martinez, and Adriano De Souza should make short work out of rookie Drew Courtney. There's a week left in the waiting period and it's looking like there's definitely some signs of swell on the horizon. Stay tuned...