In our last
Beyond Boarders post, we brought you news of Gold Coast, Australian surfer, Bede Durbidge (Gold Coast, Aus) scoring a sensational win over Californian world champion , Kelly Slater, to claim victory at the 2006 Boost Mobile Pro. In the report, we made passing reference to Bede taking out Andy Irons, local favourite Chris Ward and Taj Burrow on his way to the final.
Irons, Ward and Burrow, all looked to be hot tips for the final until they met Durbidge; he just seemed to get the waves and accumulate scores when he needed to. There was a cross-wind and the conditions were reportedly similar to the sort of waves that Bede Durbidge would be used to on his home Gold Coast.
Chris Ward is local to Trestles and regularly surfs there. His local knowledge seemed to be to his advantage but Bede strung together a combination that snatched victory in their clash by a mere 0.56.
Probably the most frustrated of all was Taj Burrow who had hoped to use a win in the event to significantly close the gap between himself and Kelly Slater in the race for the world title. Taj was on fire during this event and improving in every round. Off one messy wave, he managed a 9.33 from just three turns and his recovery on the last turn was simply amazing. As the white water cleared, spectators were stunned to see him still on his board. Unfortunately, Taj just couldn't find the waves and Bede again strung together a winning combination of scores to take him into the final.
Kelly Slater still holds the top spot on the ASP Men's World Tour ratings, with Taj Burrow and Andy Irons hotly contesting a slightly extended lead in second and third.
Earlier in the year, Bede Durbidge had caught Kelly Slater's eye and he had remarked that Bede could be a threat. Winning at Trestles has put Bede into the top ten of the ASP rankings so it seems that Kelly's judgement was correct and he is going to be making quite an impact on the tour.
The next event will be the Quiksilver Pro France, held from September 22 to October 1, 2006, at Hossegor, the venue for the recent women's ASP event.
