The Best of the Gold Coast
Mar 09 2007 / COOLANGATTA, Australia
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Video
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Check out interviews from Quiksilver Pro winner Mick Fanning and runner-up Bede Durbidge.
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The surfing season officially opened this month with the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro both taking place at Australia's Gold Coast at Snapper Rocks. The event sets the tone for the entire ASP tour, and no better example can been seen than last year.
In 2006, a Quik Pro win by Kelly Slater (USA) set the table for his clinching a record eighth Foster's ASP World Tour title in October's Billabong Pro in Mundaka, Spain. Melanie Redman-Carr started off the women's tour with a blazing hot three number one finishes and only lost the title in the last event of the season.
Therefore, it's no surprise that the first event of the is often among the best. In 2007 it was no different, with both events proving once again that the only predictable thing in surfing is how absolutely unpredictable it can be.
In the Roxy Pro, 14-year-old wild-card Carissa Moore (HAW) shocked current world title holder Layne Beachley in the third round. She made it to the finals, where hometown girl Chelsea Hedges (Georgeson) was able to stop her. Hedges, a former world-title holder, finished third in the standings last year but was the women's title holder in 2005.
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Video
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Watch highlights from the Quarterfinal match between Mick Fanning and Josh Kerr.
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The biggest battle of the Quiksilver Pro arguably wasn't the finals between Mick Fanning (AUS) and Bede Durbidge (AUS) -- rather, it was Fanning's Quarterfinal defeat of tour rookie Josh Kerr (AUS), who scored a near-perfect 9.93, along with a 9.17 to combo Fanning after only four waves. Fanning responded with a 9.73 and 9.80 to win, despite Kerr pulling off a sick reverse on his final wave (good only for an 8.07). The heat was magnificent, with pipes and clear skies after questionable conditions earlier in the day.
Another key match was Durbidge taking out defending champ Slater in the semis, where Durbidge took out the world champ 19.40 to 18.73, mainly on the strength of 9.93 wave early in the heat.
Slater had one consolation, however, he scored the competition's only perfect 10 in round three.
To catch up on all the results, check out our full coverage, including video highlights, photo galleries and more from the Gold Coast!
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Quiksilver Pro Trivia
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- Both winners are local -- how local? Chelsea Hedges starts her day at Gloria Jeans, the coffee shop next to Mick Fanning’s Rip Curl Store.
- What happened to the WCT? ASP dropped the tag starting with this event, sticking to the current contracted names of these toursof Foster's ASP World Tour for the men and ASP Women's World Tour for the women.
- In addition to Fanning, "Cooly Kids" Joel Parkinson and Dean Morrison won this event in 2002 and 2003 respectively (and Fanning in 2005). "Cooly" refers to Coolangatta, the home of Snapper Rocks and the Quiksilver Pro.
- Snapper Rocks only has been the home of the Quiksilver Pro since 2002.
- Carissa Moore isn't the only teen to get to the finals. In 2005, 17-year-old trials winner Stephanie Gilmore become the youngest woman to ever win an ASP Women's World Tour event.
- The Quarterfinals featured 11 Aussies and one American (guess who?). Last year, only one Aussie (Taj Burrow) made it to the semis/finals.
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