Mick Fanning impressed in the opening round of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, but he was made to wait for his next match-up as the East Coast of Australia was handed a tsunami warning.
In pulsing one metre waves at the Gold Coast’s Snapper Rocks, the reigning two-times ASP World Surfing champion scored an impressive 17.36 from a possible 20 in defeating Kai Otton and Garrett Parkes on Saturday.
But there was to be no further progress for Fanning (pictured above) and the rest of the competitors, as a magnitude 8.8 earthquake off the coast of Chile meant that the event organizers were forced to abandon Sunday’s surfing as a precaution after consultation with the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology.
Prior to the postponement, Fanning had excelled in testing conditions in the opening stages of the first event of the 2010 ASP World Tour and the 28-year-old was pleased to get the year off to a good start despite problems with his boards.
“It’s great,” Fanning said. “I’m stoked to be able to surf good Snapper to start off the year. I was really just looking to get scores on the board, which went fine.
"I’m having a bit of a hard time with my boards. My shaper Darren (Handley) and I kind of went backwards during the off-season. I was lucky this old one was good enough so hopefully we get a few of these made."
With an increasingly difficult sweep hampering the competitors, Fanning used all his years of top level experience and was able to turn the conditions to his advantage.
“You just have to know what to look for out in the water,” Fanning said. “It’s a little bit tricky and what can look like a good wave behind the rock doesn’t always last. I’m just stoked to get through.”
Young South African Jordy Smith takes on Brazil’s Marco Polo in Round Two when the Quiksilver Pro resumes. Check out his latest video at this link: Jordy Smith Project Goldsmith.
Meanwhile, the tsunami warning also impacted upon the scheduled first round of the Roxy Pro event at the same venue and no surfing was possible in the women’s event. When the competition does get underway, the first round match-ups will be as follows.
Roxy Pro Gold Coast – Round One match-ups
Heat 1: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Paige Hareb (NZL), Carissa Moore (HAW)
Heat 2: Coco Ho (HAW), Rebecca Woods (AUS), Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)
Heat 3: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Bruna Schmitz (BRA), Tyler Wright (AUS)
Heat 4: Silvana Lima (BRA), Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS), Nikita Robb (ZAF)
Heat 5: Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Rosanne Hodge (ZAF), Lee Ann Curren (FRA)
Heat 6: Melanie Bartels (HAW), Chelsea Hedges (AUS), Amee Donohoe (AUS)
For the latest information on the Quiksilver Pro, check out ASP and for all things surf head to Red Bull Surfing.
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