News

Rip Curl Pro Round 3 Called Off After Three Heats

E365> Surfing - Monday March 24 2008

E365 -- Round 3 of the Rip Curl Pro presented by Snickers was slated to run after the completion of the Rip Curl Women’s Pro this afternoon but deteriorating conditions forced event officials to call off competition after just three heats.

Bede Durbidge (AUS), current World No. 3, beat Fred Patacchia (HAW) in the heat immediately following Gilmore’s victory. Conditions at that point were clean and in the four to six foot (two metre) range.

"The girls were ripping out there," Durbidge said. "Steph put on an amazing show and Sof as well. It was good to see Steph win again. I couldn’t wait to get back out there and have a surf myself."

Durbidge posted a high 8.00 and a 7.00 early in the heat to leave his Hawaiian opponent looking for a near perfect score to advance.

"My game plan was to go out there and get those quick scores up because the tide was filling in pretty fast," Durbidge said. "Yeah, I had fun out there."

Durbidge won the last event on the 2007 ASP World Tour in Hawaii and finished 3rd in the first event of the year on the Gold Coast of Australia. He is now through to Round 4 and a guaranteed 9th place result.

"You’ve got to be consistent in every comp," Durbidge said. "That’s what it takes to climb those ratings and that is what I want to do."

Dayyan Neve (AUS) scored a last minute victory over Tom Whitaker (AUS) to earn a Round 4 berth against Durbidge. Neve, a second year ASP World Tour surfer, found his way into Round 4 in three of the last four events in 2007, but has yet to make it to the quarterfinals. Neco Padaratz (BRA) beat Taylor Knox (USA) in Heat 3.

Heat 4 will feature 2004 Rip Curl Pro winner Joel Parkinson (AUS) up against former Bells Beach finalist Daniel Wills (AUS). A call on competition status will be made at 7am for a possible 7:30 start. There are two more days of men’s Rip Curl Pro competition and five days left in the waiting period, but forecasts look good for tomorrow.

FURTHER SURFIN'