Well the finals of the 2007 Rip Curl Pro Search lived up to expectations. Twin brothers, Damien and CJ Hobgood, met for the third time in ASP tour semifinals and this time it was Damien who came out on top in a very close heat.
Bobby Martinez clinched a 10 point ride in his quarter-final against ratings leader Mick Fanning but it wasn't enough to secure a semi-final place and Mick went through to face Andy Irons, who continued his surge to defend his Pro Search title. Then, in a hard fought final against Damien Hobgood, Irons scored a late 9.17 to grab the globe-shaped trophy for a second year in succession, moving him to 3rd in the rankings behind Damien, who jumps to the number two slot.
Andy is actually in quite a strong position in the rankings because when calculating final points total, he will be allowed to drop his last place finish in the first event of the year.
The top five ASP World Tour rankings are currently:
- Mick Fanning (AUS)
- Damien Hobgood (USA)
- Andy Irons (HAW)
- Taj Burrow (AUS)
- Joel Parkinson (AUS)
Kelly Slater (USA) comes in at number six, having had a disappointing start to the year with only one semi-final show.
The Foster?s 45 are now headed to JBay, South Africa, for event 5 of the Dream Tour.
Labels: 2007, Andy Irons, ASP World Tour, championship, Chile, Ex-Isla Alacran, Rip Curl Pro Search, surfing
Arica, Chile, is the location of the 2007 Rip Curl Pro Search, event four on the 2007 Foster?s ASP World Tour, which begins on June 20.
Andy Irons won the 2006 Search event held in the long, barreling, warm-water rights of La Jolla Mexico but the Chilean break of Ex-Isla Alacran is distinctly cold and as Irons notes,
"Defending the Search title is unique because you?re dealing with an entirely different element than the one you won the event in; the wave in Arica is the exact opposite of what we dealt with in La Jolla last year, so it levels the playing field for sure."
The cold-water Chilean break of Ex-Isla Alacran is a right and left-hand reef break, which is so similar to Hawaii's Banzai Pipeline that it is known as the 'South American Pipeline'.
Labels: 2007, Arica, ASP World Tour, Chile, Ex-Isla Alacran, Rip Curl Pro Search, surfing
