THE 2003 ASP/WCT QUIKSILVER NIIJIMA PRO: DAY ONE

Slater stays on his toes despite a nagging foot injury. PHOTO: ASPWORLDTOUR.COM

Reigning world champion and ratings leader Andy Irons (Kauai, Haw) overcame an in-form Pat O'Connell (CA, USA) and Japanese wildcard Masaki Harada in round one. The Kauaian locked in a couple of high scores and then used tactics to advantage.

"They were really tough conditions with the waves only breaking about 10-feet off the sand," explained Irons. "Every wave was really quick. Pat's really short and can fit turns in really quick, like on his first wave where he scored an 8.5 and surfed really well. I got a 7.55 and a 6.85 for the lead, so towards the end of the heat I just sat on him, as I knew if he got another good wave he'd probably get the score he needed. There was a bit of luck and then tactics played a part at the end. It wasn't one of my favorite wins, but I'll take it right now since the waves were really small."

Six-time world champion Kelly Slater (FL, USA) elected to contest his heat with Peterson Rosa (Brz) and Quiksilver Trials winner Norimasa Ohno (Jpn), despite the foot injury he's been nursing. Nonetheless, the Floridian put aside any pain and discomfort to establish a lead and advance directly into round three.

"I was actually going to catch a ferry this morning and leave," admitted Slater. "I didn't think it looked that great and I figured I might let another Japanese surfer have a chance. But then I thought 'why not?' as I'm all the way here and I wanted to get back on my board to feel how my foot is doing. When I paddled out I figured I'd just stand up on a couple and not really try, but about halfway through I had a chance and then luckily it went flat toward the end when I was in the lead (laughs).

"It felt alright," he added, of his injury. "On my last wave I sort of fell a bad way and my board kind of pushed up against my foot. It put a little more pressure on it than I expected, but overall it's OK. I'm just going to ice it, and I have a round off now, so I get to massage it and get in the hot springs here on Niijima to help relax the muscles."

Tim Curran (CA, USA) - winner of the last Japanese WCT held in 1999 - faced Luke Egan (Gold Coast, Aus) and Guilherme Herdy (Brz) this morning and quickly established a commanding position with some wider breaking set waves. The goofyfooter belted his way down the relatively short rides, for his first win since returning to the elite WCT ranks this year.

"I'm very, very happy to win," said Curran. "I was really frustrated with the start of my year since I kept losing heats. It feels good to finally win my first one this season. I think Quiksilver made a great call by splitting the backs this morning. It doesn't seem like we're going to have a lot of swell, so it's good they've powered through it. I knew there was a couple of wide ones and I just decided to sit down there and thankfully the waves came."

Brazilian Paulo Moura then used similar tactics to overcome Quiksilver Pro Fiji runner-up Cory Lopez (FL, USA) and Naohisa Ogawa (Jpn). Moura also sat wide and displayed a great backhand attack to advance.

"I saw Tim find some waves down the beach so I kept me focus on those," explained Moura. "I found two good ones and won the heat. The other boys surfed really well, and I was scared at the end cause Cory got a good wave. I'm just happy to make it and go straight to round three."

World #2 Joel Parkinson (Gold Coast, Aus) was beaten in round one this morning but then eliminated Masakazu Kono - the eighth Japanese wildcard in the tournament -after competition relocated this afternoon. Kono replaced Richie Lovett (Manly, Aus) in the Niijima Quiksilver Pro after the Australian was forced to withdraw due to family matters, but was unable to match Parkinson's fluid forehand style and commanding scores including an 8.5 in his total.

"The first heat I surfed was a joke," reasoned Parkinson after his win. "I only had 3-points for my total score, and compared to the surf we just had... there were perfect little righthanders then. I just tried to give it 100 percent. He surfed well, but I was luckily enough to get a good set wave."

World #3 Luke Egan and fellow Gold Coaster and 1999 world champ Mark Occhilupo also survived their round two clashes over Japanese wildcards this afternoon. Egan accounted for Teppei Tajima, while 36-year-old Occhilupo disposed of Quiksilver Trials winner Norimasa Ohno in what proved a good, yet inconsistent match.

"'Nori' is the best Japanese guy I've seen by far," offered Occhilupo, of his opponent. "I believe he'll be the first one to make the WCT, so when I drew him in that heat I was a bit worried since I've had a bad run lately. It was a good heat for me to win. I felt like I made a couple of little mistakes, but I also think I surfed well and didn't hold back. It was a bit of a nerve-wracking heat.

"It's great to be back in Japan," he added. "I haven't been to Niijima for 15-years and last time I was I made the final against Martin Potter (UK). That was a while ago, but it's really good to be back. I love it."

Organizers have called a 5:30am (local time) meet tomorrow morning at the main site, though plan to resume round two heats at 6:30am back at 'Secret Point.' Conditions pending, all of round three will also be completed. Due to the remote location, live webcasting and scores will not be available, but a detailed release will be posted following the completion of the day's surfing action.

Official Niijima Quiksilver Pro Round One Heats (1st>Rnd3; 2nd, 3rd>Rnd2)
H1: Dean Morrison (Aus) 12.75; Luke Stedman (Aus) 8.0; Masakazu Kono (Jpn) 2.85
H2: Tim Curran (USA) 14.75; Guilherme Herdy (Brz) 7.5; Luke Egan (Aus) 6.0
H3: Ben Bourgeois (USA) 16.15; CJ Hobgood (USA) 13.25; Michael Campbell (Aus) 13.0
H4: Paulo Moura (Brz) 13.5; Cory Lopez (USA) 10.25; Naohisa Ogawa (Jpn) 9.1
H5: Kelly Slater (USA) 10.75; Peterson Rosa (Brz) 10.4; Norimasa Ohno (Jpn) 10.0
H6: Masatoshi Ohno (Jpn) 13.75; Neco Padaratz (Brz) 10.9; Taj Burrow (Aus) 9.95
H7: Kieren Perrow (Aus) 14.0; Teppei Tajima (Jpn) 8.0; Shane Powell (Aus) 7.8
H8: Andy Irons (Haw) 14.4; Pat O'Connell (USA) 12.6; Masaki Harada (Jpn) 10.5
H9: Jake Paterson (Aus) 13.0; Tetsuya Urayama (Jpn) 7.1; Joel Parkinson (Aus) 3.0
H10: Mick Fanning (Aus) 14.5; Nathan Hedge (Aus) 10.75; Kenta Hayashi (Jpn) 9.05
H11: Luke Hitchings (Aus) 13.0; Mark Occhilupo (Aus) 10.25; Tom Whitaker (Aus) 7.7
H12: Michael Lowe (Aus) 11.5; Trent Munro (Aus) 10.1; Beau Emerton (Aus) 9.6
H13: Phil MacDonald (Aus) 12.25; Fabio Gouveia (Brz) 11.9; Kalani Robb (Haw) 11.4
H14: Darren O'Rafferty (Aus) 13.5; Nathan Webster (Aus) 12.6; Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.35
H15: Armando Daltro (Brz) 11.75; Daniel Wills (Aus) 9.75; Lee Winkler (Aus) 8.0
H16: Chris Davidson (Aus) 14.25; Victor Ribas (Brz) 9.75; Taylor Knox (USA) 8.85
Round Two (1st>Rnd3; 2nd=33rd, receives US$3,000
H1: Joel Parkinson (Aus) 14.9 def. Masakazu Kono (Jpn) 10.33
H2: Taj Burrow (Aus) 16.4 def. Masaki Harada (Jpn) 9.0
H3: Cory Lopez (USA) 15.0 def. Tetsuya Urayama (Jpn) 12.0
H4: CJ Hobgood (USA) 14.17 def. Kenta Hayashi (Jpn) 7.07
H5: Luke Egan (Aus) 15.16 def. Teppei Tajima (Jpn) 11.0
H6: Mark Occhilupo (Aus) 14.1 def. Norimasa Ohno (Jpn) 11.33
H7: Kalani Robb (Aus) 14.5 def. Naohisa Ogawa (Jpn) 11.3
H8: Damien Hobgood (USA) 15.43 def. Luke Stedman (Aus) 11.23

Upcoming round two heats of the Niijima Quiksilver Pro (1st>Rnd3; 2nd=33rd, receives US$3,000
H9: Daniel Wills (Aus) vs. Tom Whittaker (Aus)
H10: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Beau Emerton (Aus)
H11: Pat O'Connell (USA) vs. Fabio Gouveia (Brz)
H12: Nathan Hedge (Aus) vs. Nathan Webster (Aus)
H13: Shane Powell (Aus) vs. Victor Ribas (Brz)
H14: Neco Padaratz (Aus) vs. Lee Winkler (Aus)
H15: Peterson Rosa (Brz) vs. Trent Munro (Aus)
H16: Michael Campbell (Aus) vs. Guilherme Herdy (Brz)

For more info, go to www.aspworldtour.com

 

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