Surf Tour Upset at Trestles Event

Sep 17 2006 / Trestles, CA Australian Bede Durbidge Sneaks in from Behind and Wins Boost Mobile Pro

Rank outsider Bede Durbidge (AUS) has shocked the sporting world with an amazing win in the Boost Mobile Pro presented by Hurley, held at Lower Trestles in California.

In what was his very first Foster's ASP Men's World Tour final, the lanky naturalfooter who hails from Queensland, Australia's Gold Coast, upset seven-time world champion Kelly Slater (USA).

From the outset he surfed the event with utmost maturity not letting his more seasoned rivals' status get the better of him. Along the way he disposed of some of the sport's biggest names including, three time world champion Andy Irons (HAW), local favorite Chris Ward (USA) and currently ranked world number two Taj Burrow (AUS).

But given his form and reputation it was almost expected that Slater would dominate the 30-minute showdown, yet today he met his match in the 23-year-old Durbidge who, after blasting some huge open face carves mixed with some quality aerial turns, came home strong late in the heat to claim the trophy.
For Durbidge, who was seeded into this year's tour as an alternate after former Boost Mobile Pro winner Richie Lovett (AUS) withdrew for the year due to a major illness, the win was by far and wide the ultimate highlight of his two-year top tour career.

He even went so far to say that this year in total has been the best year of his life.


"It's the best thing that's ever happened to me, cheered Durbidge. It's the best year of my life! I've proposed to my fiancé Taryn and I've won my first event and everything's just happened for me this year!

"I'm pretty much blown away but I've always had it in the back of my mind that I've had the potential to win, Durbidge continued. I knew the crowd was going to hype it up and I knew that if he (Kelly Slater) got anywhere near it, he was going to get it. I was just praying that no waves would come to him and it all happened for me."

The result has launched Durbidge into the highly touted top 10 on the Foster's ASP Men's World Tour, a position that he hopes to maintain.

For all the athlete quotes, audio downloads, TV feed details and heat-by-heat reports head to the media centre of www.aspworldtour.com or www.boostmobilepro.com

Results:

Round Four:
Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.17 def. Danny Wills (AUS) 11.17 Heat 2: Dean Morrison (AUS) 12.50 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 11.00 Heat 3: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.14 def. Tim Reyes (USA) 15.67 Heat 4: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.60 def. Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 15.33 Heat 5: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.06 def. Andy Irons (HAW) 10.70 Heat 6: Chris Ward (AUS) 14.83 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 12.50 Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS) 10.73 def. Mark Occhilupo (AUS) 9.23 Heat 8: Victor Ribas (BRA) 13.83 def. Phil Macdonald (AUS) 13.10

Quarterfinals:
Quarterfinal 1: Dean Morrison (AUS) 14.50 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 11.67 Quarterfinal 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.13 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.44 Quarterfinal 3: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.83 def. Chris Ward (USA) 13.27 Quarterfinal 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 18.10 def. Victor Ribas (BRA) 9.84

Semifinals:
Semifinal 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.10 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 7.74 Semifinal 2: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.00 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 8.67

Final:
Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.83 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 10.84

Current Foster's ASP Men's World Tour top 10 ratings after event number
seven:
1. Kelly Slater 6141
2. Taj Burrow 5558
3. Andy Irons 4965
4. Bobby Martinez 4643
5. Taylor Knox 4470
6. Joel Parkinson 4384
7. Damien Hobgood 4367
8. Mick Fanning 4309
9. Tim Reyes 4175
10. Bede Durbidge 3939