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WEDNESDAY JULY 12, 2006
BILLABONG PRO
JEFFREYS BAY, SOUTH AFRICA
JULY 12 – 22, 2006
EVENT #6 ON THE 2006 FOSTER'S ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) MEN'S WORLD TOUR
Live on www.billabongpro.com or www.aspworldtour.com
LAY DAY CALLED FOR DAY ONE OF BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY
Billabong Pro JbayCredit ASP Tostee
With only meagre waves lapping in at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa today, organisers of the Billabong Pro have elected to call a lay day for the main event.
There is however the possibility that the trials could kick off if the swell jumps up in the latter stages of the morning.
“It looks like it could come up today but at this stage there will be no main event,” said contest director Mike Parsons. “There is a remote possibility that we could run the trials today but it is highly unlikely. We are just taking it day by day and we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. There is good swell predicted on the horizon however.”
Regarding the heat draw for the Billabong Pro Jefffreys Bay, which is the sixth event on the 11 stop Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour, Parsons was convinced that the best lineup of surfers of the year were raring to go in front of him.
“We have possibly the best lineup of surfers of the year so far,” said Parsons. “With all but one of the top 45 in the world making themselves available for the event we should see some excellent action when the event gets underway.”
Only Adrian Buchan (AUS) is absent from the top 45 draw due to injury and his place will be taken by 2000 Foster’s ASP Men’s World Tour Champion, Sunny Garcia (ZAF).
Organisers will assess conditions at first light every morning.
All the action can be viewed on the LIVE webcast via www.billabongpro.com or www.aspworldtour.com
Complete TV news feed information, athlete quotes, audio downloads and heat-by-heat updates can be located in the Media Centre on the above sites.
Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay Round One:
Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs Troy Brooks (AUS) vs Davey Weare (ZAF)
Heat 2: CJ Hobgood (USA) vs Paulo Moura (BRA) vs Jarrad Howse (AUS)
Heat 3: Bruce Irons (HAW) vs Darren O’Rafferty (AUS) vs Toby Martin (AUS)
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs Trent Munro (AUS) vs Pedro Henrique (BRA)
Heat 5: Taylor Knox (USA) vs Greg Emslie (ZAF) vs Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 6: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs Mark Occhilupo (AUS) vs Yuri Sodre (BRA)
Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs Luke Stedman (AUS) vs Sunny Garcia (HAW)
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) vs Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs wildcard
Heat 9: Andy Irons (HAW) vs Danny Wills (AUS) vs wildcard
Heat 10: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs Fred Patacchia (HAW) vs wildcard
Heat 11: Tim Reyes (USA) vs Jake Paterson (AUS) vs Peterson Rosa (BRA)
Heat 12: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs Nathan Hedge (AUS) vs Mikael Picon (FRA)
Heat 13: Cory Lopez (USA) vs Chris Ward (USA) vs Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 14: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs Mick Lowe (AUS) vs Marcelo Nunes (BRA)
Heat 15: Phil Macdonald (AUS) vs Pancho Sullivan (HAW) vs Victor Ribas (BRA)
Heat 16: Shaun Cansdell (AUS) vs Travis Logie (ZAF) vs Adriano de Souza (BRA)
BILLABONG PRO FAST FACTS
WHAT: Billabong Pro, Jeffreys Bay
WHERE: Jeffreys Bay, Eastern Cape, South Africa, around 45 miles (70 kms) west of Port Elizabeth and several hours' drive east of Cape Town.
STATUS: The Billabong Pro marks the half way point on the 2006 Foster’s Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Men’s World Tour – being the sixth of eleven events.
DATES: A total of four full days of competition are required to finalize the event but the tournament has an 11-day waiting period to score the best possible surfing conditions from July 12-22, 2006.
FIELD: The Billabong Pro will feature the world’s top 45 full-time touring professional men surfers and three wildcards taking the field to a total of 48.
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FORMAT: 16 x three-man non-elimination round one heats (1st>rnd 3, 2nd & 3rd>rnd 2). Round two onwards feature man-on-man elimination heats
LAST YEAR: Defending Billabong Pro Champion: Kelly Slater (USA) secured a dramatic victory over defending event and three-time world champion Andy Irons (HAW). Needing a near perfect 9.23 points, Slater was awarded 9.5 by the judges for his last ride, 30 seconds before the final siren sounded, to become the first three-time winner at Jeffreys Bay. He then went on to secure an unprecedented seventh world title.
VON ZIPPER WILDCARD TRIALS: Three prestigious Billabong Pro main event wildcards are on offer via the Von Zipper Trials. An international field of 12 trialists will compete in three four-man heats with the winner of each heat earning a main event wildcard where he will come up against one of the top seeds in the first round.
The field comprises six Von Zipper nominated South Africans and six internationals with the locals including giant-killer Sean Holmes, St Francis Bay brothers Ryan and Shaun Payne, former ISA world junior champions Warwick ‘Wok’ Wright and Jordy Smith and ASP World Qualifying Series campaigner Damien Fahrenfort, last year’s top performing wildcard.
They will be up against J-Bay debutants Wade Goodall (AUS), Stirling Spencer (USA), Laurie Towner (AUS) and Pablo Paulino (BRA), along with previous trialists James Woods (AUS) and Tiago Pires (Port) make up the international contingent in the VZ Trials.
MALIBU MUSIC FESTIVAL: The legendary party atmosphere of J-Bay has been expanded this year to incorporate a three-day live music festival featuring many of South Africa’s top bands during the first week of the event. Shows include a minimum of four bands per night starting Thursday 13 July with a Ska/Reggae line-up, followed by the Blunt Stage Punk Rock on Friday and concluding on Saturday evening with a Classic Surf Rock session featuring surfer musicians Steve Walsh, Gary Horne, Farryl Purkiss and friends, who will be joined on stage by many of the World Tour surf stars. Saturday also showcases Australia’s Beeva Feeva opening the first gig of their SA tour. The Festival bill hosts iconic local groups Fokofpolisiekar, The Rudimentals, Hog Hoggidy Hog, Bed on Bricks and 7th Son, among emerging local stars.
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