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Veteran Taj Burrow calls Round 2 of Quiksilver Pro ‘worst conditions I’ve ever surfed’ as competition forced to resume

VETERAN campaigner Taj Burrow has called this afternoon’s conditions at Snapper Rocks “the worst conditions I've surfed in a world tour event’’.

Emma Greenwood and Michael Saunders
8 min read
March 11, 2015 - 8:39AM
Gold Coast Bulletin
Kelly Slater winning his Round 2 heat at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. Slater advanced into Round 3.
Kelly Slater winning his Round 2 heat at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. Slater advanced into Round 3.

WEST Australian veteran Taj Burrow has called this afternoon’s conditions at Snapper Rocks “the worst conditions I've surfed in a world tour event’’.

With almost 24 hours' surfing needed to complete the contest and the competition window closing on Friday, organisers were forced to call the contest on despite the small conditions at Snapper Rocks.

The sloppy conditions forced the event to go on hold for several hours after the first four heats of the round while the peak of the high tide passed.

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But things were little better when competition resumed, with Burrow describing the conditions as the worst he had faced in a tour event.

“It's probably the worst conditions I’ve surfed in a world tour event,’' said Burrow, the second-most experienced surfer on the circuit behind 11-time world champion Kelly Slater.

Taj Burrow in action during the second round of the 2015 Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast. Picture: Glenn Hampson
Taj Burrow in action during the second round of the 2015 Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Burrow’s comments have hit a chord with fans, many of who have been turned off by the conditions.

But others were quick to jump to the defence of the organisers.

EARLIER — ROUND 2, HEAT 12: MIGUEL Pupo has won the final heat of Round 2 after a frustrating day of action in the Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks.

With almost 24 hours' surfing needed to complete the contest and the competition window closing on Friday, organisers were forced to call the contest on despite the small conditions at Snapper Rocks.

Pupo won the all-Brazilian battle to progress to Round 3, dominating the contest against Jadson Andre to win 14.1-10.

He will be one of six Brazilians to surf in Round 3 tomorrow.

ROUND 2, HEAT 11: AUSSIE Kai Otton has paid for letting Brazilian Wiggolly Dantas slipping under his guard in the final stages of their Round 2 heat at the Quiksilver Pro.

Holding priority, Otton allowed Dantas to take a late wave and post the score he needed to overtake his rival in the knockout heat.

Otton held the lead for most of the contest, with the Brazilian rookie seemingly flustered despite a strong showing in Round 1 against the world champion Gabriel Medina.

ROUND 2, HEAT 10: Flamboyant Brazilian Filipe Toledo has opened his bag of tricks to knock Adam Melling out of the Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks.

Toledo is one of the showmen of the tour but is often unable to temper his creativity in favour of posting a solid score.

But he was in his element in the small and sloppy conditions on the superbank with his ability to turn the small inside runners into big scores, beating Lennox Head product Melling 16.47-13.10.

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“After my first two waves I (said to myself), just calm down but after that I got an eight and it was all good,’’ he said.

“I hope to be in the top five this year and surfing against Gabriel or Kelly or Mick for the title.

“It's going to be an exciting year for the Brazilian surfers.’’

ROUND 2, HEAT 9: Brazilian rookie Italo Ferreira has knocked Aussie Ace Buchan out of the Quiksilver Pro with a flashy showing at Snapper Rocks this afternoon.

The young Brazilian has been one of the few surfers to hit the water every day at Snapper despite more than a week of lay days and poor conditions.

And the move held him in good stead as he managed to master the small waves on offer to cause a huge upset.

“Last year was the besty year of my life because of my qualification for the tour.

“This is my dream and I’m so stoked to have (won) my first heat.

“Today the conditions were very hard but fun.’’

ROUND 2, HEAT 8: Big man Owen Wright has showed size is no impediment in small conditions, conquering a sloppy Snapper Rocks break to advance to Round 3 of the Quiksilver Pro.

At 190cm, Wright is most at home in bigger conditions, but he milked every bit of energy out of the little runners on the superbank to beat Hawaiian rookie Keanu Asing in the knockout round.

Wright posted an 8.93 with his opening wave of the heat and backed it up with a 7.67, leaving Asing needing a 9.77 in the dying stages of the heat.

Lennox Head product Wright outlined his procedure for surfing the conditions.

“It's really tricky out there in terms of waves,'’ Wright said.

“Anything that looks like you can do something on, you just stand up.’'

ROUND 2, HEAT 7: US surfer Kolohe Andino has won the tightest heat of the day, advancing to Round 3 over France’s Jeremy Flores.

Flores took an early lead after posting consecutive high seven-point scores but Andino answered back with a heat-high 8.73 to back up his 7.10 to win by just 0.3 points.

The heat was highly competitive and Andino’s score was the highest of Round 2, in which competitors have battled the sloppy conditions at Snapper Rocks.

ROUND 2, HEAT 6: Tweed product Josh Kerr has won through to Round 3 of the Quiksilver Pro after mastering the sloppy conditions at Snapper Rocks this afternoon.

Kerr, who cut his teeth surfing the famous break before basing himself in the US with his wife, beat US surfer Brett Simpson 12.74-10.40 in the knockout round.

In a tight heat, both surfers posted best waves in the mid six-point range but Kerr was able to secure a better back-up score than Simpson to ensure he advanced.

Josh Kerr lands an aerial during the second round of the 2015 Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast. Picture: Glenn Hampson
Josh Kerr lands an aerial during the second round of the 2015 Quiksilver Pro at Snapper Rocks on the Gold Coast. Picture: Glenn Hampson

ROUND 2, HEAT 5: WEST Australian veteran Taj Burrow has called this afternoon’s conditions at Snapper Rocks “the worst conditions I've surfed in a world tour event’’.

Burrow knocked out rookie Kiwi Ricardo Christie to advance to Round 3 of the Quiksilver Pro as surfers were forced to compete in small and sloppy conditions with the competition window closing.

“It's probably the worst conditions I’ve surfed in a world tour event,’' said Burrow, the second-most experienced surfer on the circuit behind 11-time world champion Kelly Slater.

Experienced Burrow sought the inside run, sitting away from the rock in a bid to catch waves that would continue on the inside of the bank. “It was the usual story at Snapper, you look for something with a bit of wall,’' he said.

“They were leg burners, a lot of work.’’

Burrow posted an 8.0 on his first wave and backed it up with a 7.17 to leave his rival needing two strong scores to overtake him.

While the rookie posted a decent score with an air reverse, the wave shut down on him and left him needing a 9.5 in the dying stages of the heat.

EARLIER: THE Quiksilver Pro has resumed with Taj Burrow and Ricardo Christie going head to head in heat 5 of the second round.

The competition was placed on hold for the peak of the high tide and has resumed despite conditions at Snapper Rocks still being small.

But with the competition window only open until Friday and about 20 hours of surfing still to get through to complete the Quiksilver Pro and women’s Roxy Pro — the opening rounds of the World Surf League season — organisers have been forced to push ahead.

Adriano de Souza of Brasil won his Round 2 heat at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, advancing into Round 3.
Adriano de Souza of Brasil won his Round 2 heat at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, advancing into Round 3.

ROUND 2, HEAT 4: Brazilian Adriano de Souza has knocked out veteran CJ Hobgood in tricky conditions as the Quiksilver Pro goes back on hold at Snapper Rocks.

With the tide rising at Snapper Rocks, the already small conditions have become sloppy as the high tide fills in the waves on the superbank.

Organisers have put the contest on hold, with the next call to be made at 12.30pm.

De Souza and Hobgood were forced to call on all their surf smarts to find scoring waves in the deteriorating conditions.

World No. 8 de Souza showed off his small wave skills in defeating America’s CJ Hobgood in heat four of the Quiksilver Pro today.

Brazilian de Souza, who is renowned for getting the most out of small conditions, was able to post two solid scores of 7.50 and 5.97 points despite the tiny waves on offer.

Brazilian surfer Adriano De Souza wins his round 2 heat. Picture: Luke Marsden.
Brazilian surfer Adriano De Souza wins his round 2 heat. Picture: Luke Marsden.

ROUND 2, HEAT 3: IRISH surfer Glen Hall has caused the first upset of the day by defeating world number five Michel Bourez in heat three today.

Competing in his first year back on the World Surf League championship tour, Hall showed just why he is worthy of a world tour spot with an impressive display of small wave surfing.

The 33-year-old defeated Bourez by just 1.1 points, with a heat total of 12.77 points to Bourez’s 11.67 points.

Irish surfer Glenn Hall caused a major upset by beating Michel Bourez. Picture: Luke Marsden.
Irish surfer Glenn Hall caused a major upset by beating Michel Bourez. Picture: Luke Marsden.

The Quiksilver Pro will go on hold again after the current heat between Adriano de Souza and CJ Hobgood while they wait for the tide. Surfing is expected to continue at 12.30pm.

Competition got underway in small conditions at 7.30am however a rising tide has caused conditions to deteriorate.

High tide is expected at 11.25am today.

A World Surf League spokesman said the event will continue at 12.30pm once the peak of the tide has passed.

A total of 21 hours of surfing is required for both the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro to be completed.

Organisers have until Friday to finish the contest.

Hall suffered a horrific back injury while competing at a world tour event in Fiji in 2013, which put him out of the water for the remainder of the year.

After competing as a wildcard at a number of events last year, the dual Irish and Australian citizen earned a spot back with the top 32 surfers in the world.

ROUND 2, HEAT 2 UPDATE: Eleven-time world champion Kelly Slater has beaten local boy Jack Freestone to progress to round three after the Quiksilver Pro finally restarted following 10 consecutive lay days.

Slater posted a score of 13.33 to beat Freestone’s 10.63. Slater follows Mick Fanning into round three after the Gold Coast champ won this morning’s first heat against US wildcard Dane Reynolds.

Slater said his superior “carve game” is what gave him the edge over Tweed Heads wildcard Jack Freestone in his elimination heat today.

Kelly Slater winning his Round 2 heat at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. Slater advanced into Round 3.
Kelly Slater winning his Round 2 heat at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast. Slater advanced into Round 3.

The Californian said he relied on his turns to defeat the up and coming Freestone.

“If you see the highlight reels of Freestone you know not to take him lightly,” Slater said.

“I was watching him intently in his round one heat.

“I had the advantage in the carve game but in the air game he had the advantage but there were no airs today.”

Wildcard Jack Freestone during his round 2 loss to Kelly Slater. Picture: Luke Marsden.
Wildcard Jack Freestone during his round 2 loss to Kelly Slater. Picture: Luke Marsden.
Kelly Slater wins his round 2 heat at the Quiksilver Pro. Photo: Michael Saunders
Kelly Slater wins his round 2 heat at the Quiksilver Pro. Photo: Michael Saunders

ROUND 2, HEAT 1: AFTER waiting 10-days for waves, the Quiksilver Pro is back on with the top men’s surfers hitting the water just after 7.30am today.

Local three-time world champion Mick Fanning and Californian wildcard Dane Reynolds hit the water first with Fanning off the mark early tearing shreds out of the home break.

He ended up easily winning his heat with a score of 15.50 to Reynolds’ 9.43.

Mick Fanning after winning his round 2 heat. Picture: Luke Marsden.
Mick Fanning after winning his round 2 heat. Picture: Luke Marsden.

Despite the small conditions, Fanning relied on his freakish ability to generate speed and powerful cutbacks.

Fanning will now compete in heat seven of round three which is expected to take place today.

The heat is followed by 11-time World Champion Kelly Slater taking on trials winner and Gold Coast local Jack Freestone in the 0.5 metre waves.

Swell is expected to build to about 1.2m by this afternoon.

Commentators say the competition should end on a high with ‘amazing conditions’ expected.

The Roxy Pro quarterfinalists are also ready to hit the water with reigning six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore to take on Silvana Lima for the third time this competition.

The World Surf League was forced to extend the competition until Friday after small waves hampered competition. The men have not competed since the first day — Saturday February 28.

The extension cost a rumoured $100,000.

Mick Fanning has ripped it up at Snapper Rocks this morning. Pic by Luke Marsden.
Mick Fanning has ripped it up at Snapper Rocks this morning. Pic by Luke Marsden.

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 2 Match-Ups:

Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) v Dane Reynolds (USA)

Heat 2: Kelly Slater (USA) v Jack Freestone (AUS)

Heat 3: Michel Bourez (PYF) v Glenn Hall (IRL)

Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) v C.J. Hobgood (USA)

Heat 5: Taj Burrow (AUS) v Ricardo Christie (NZL)

Heat 6: Josh Kerr (AUS) v Brett Simpson (USA)

Heat 7: Kolohe Andino (USA) v Jeremy Flores (FRA)

Heat 8: Owen Wright (AUS) v Keanu Asing (HAW)

Heat 9: Adrian Buchan (AUS) v Italo Ferreira (BRA)

Heat 10: Filipe Toledo (BRA) v Adam Melling (AUS)

Heat 11: Kai Otton (AUS) v Wiggolly Dantas (BRA)

Heat 12: Miguel Pupo (BRA) v Jadson Andre (BRA)

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Original URL: https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/sport/surf-sports/veteran-taj-burrow-calls-round-2-of-quiksilver-pro-worst-conditions-ive-ever-surfed-as-competition-forced-to-resume/news-story/61ffe0ece75be61d7ecd213b09231d9b