{"id":22736,"date":"2011-04-18T08:53:24","date_gmt":"2011-04-18T15:53:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=22736"},"modified":"2011-04-18T09:11:35","modified_gmt":"2011-04-18T16:11:35","slug":"who-will-be-ringing-the-bells","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=22736","title":{"rendered":"Who Will Be Ringing The Bells?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wright0608Bells09Kirstin<\/a><\/p>\n

After what seemed like a horrendously long break the ASP Elite Tour<\/a><\/strong> is back on with the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

The waiting period begins Tuesday, April 19, 2011 (this afternoon PST) and according to Coastalwatch<\/b><\/a> there appears to be a new three to four foot swell arriving Wednesday (Tuesday afternoon PST). With waves building through Friday.<\/p>\n

Ke11y Slater<\/strong> is apparently on the hunt for a little more than a record fifth Bells title. \u201cIf I wasn\u2019t hungry to win an 11th ASP World Title, then I wouldn\u2019t be here,\u201d Slater said during a press conference.<\/p>\n

Follow the jump for the rest of the info including round one heat line ups for both the men and the women.BELLS BEACH, Victoria\/Australia (Monday, April 18, 2011) \u2013 Tomorrow marks the commencement of the 2011 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford Ranger and Ford Fiesta and the 50th Anniversary of competitive surfing at Bells.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s best surfers have descended on the small Victorian town of Torquay for the second stop on the 2011 ASP World Title season.<\/p>\n

Kelly Slater (USA), 39, reigning 10-time ASP World Champion and defending four-time Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach winner, celebrated the historic spirit of the event at today\u2019s press conference, recounting his childhood memories of Bells.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a kid in the States I saw a lot of film of this event,\u201d Slater said. \u201cI got an idea of what the wave was like and that it was like surfing in an arena. I thought of it like two gladiators battling with fans watching from the cliffs. I remember watching Tom Curren and Occy\u2019s (Mark Occhilupo) heats, and I couldn\u2019t wait to come here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slater responded to queries regarding his campaign for an 11th ASP World Title in characteristic fashion.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I wasn\u2019t hungry to win an 11th ASP World Title, then I wouldn\u2019t be here,\u201d Slater said.<\/p>\n

Slater will take on Kai Otton (AUS), 31, and Championship Moves Trials winner Adam Robertson in Round 1 of competition.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 23, reigning four-time ASP Women\u2019s World Champion and defending three-time Rip Curl Women\u2019s Bells Beach winner, who opened the 2011 season with an uncharacteristic Quarterfinal loss at the Roxy Pro Gold Coast, knows she\u2019s got a challenge on her hands for the 2011 ASP Women\u2019s World Title.<\/p>\n

\u201cI fell behind on the Gold Coast and I\u2019ve got some work to do to catch-up,\u201d Gilmore said. \u201cI have always really enjoyed my time here at Bells Beach. I\u2019ve had some great results here, but it\u2019s going to be a hard task to get that Bell again. I\u2019m just really excited because the forecast looks fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilmore will face Courtney Conlogue (AUS), 18, and Alana Blanchard (HAW), 20, in the opening round of competition.<\/p>\n

Taj Burrow (AUS), 32, current No. 2 in the hunt for the 2011 ASP World Title, rang the Bell in 2007, and after finishing Runner-Up at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, is one of the favourites heading into this event.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis event gets more special every year,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe when I saw it\u2019s been going for 50 years. I had a lot of fun here last year surfing at a few different spots like Winki and Johanna. Everyone in the event wants to ring that Bell. I\u2019ve got one big Bell and two small ones, so I look forward to trying to get up there again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burrow will battle Adam Melling (AUS), 26, and Josh Kerr (AUS), 27, in the opening round of competition.<\/p>\n

Owen Wright (AUS), 21, 2010 ASP Rookie of the Year, is hoping to be the first goofy-footer to win the Rip Curl Pro Bells since Mark Occhilupo back in 1998.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger the waves are the better it is for the backsiders,\u201d Wright said. \u201cI remember watching Occy out there when I was a grom, it was the biggest wave I\u2019ve ever seen out here and he did 3 or 4 of the biggest turns I\u2019ve ever seen. I think he got a 10-point-ride for it. I\u2019d love to get some waves like that and do some turns like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wright will take on Heitor Alves (BRA), 29, and Bobby Martinez (USA), 28, in his Round 1 match at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.<\/p>\n

Owen\u2019s sister and current No. 2 in the ASP Women\u2019s World Title Race Tyler Wright (AUS), 17, may be a rookie on tour, but she knows Bells better than most.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of Pro Juniors and GromSearch heats out at Bells,\u201d said Tyler. \u201cI don\u2019t think you can ever really figure out Bells, but I feel good out there. There\u2019s some swell on the way, so it\u2019s going to be really exciting to see what goes down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wright will face Coco Ho (HAW), 19, and Pauline Ado (FRA), 19, in the opening round of competition.<\/p>\n

Coastalwatch, official surf forecasters for the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, are calling for a new 3-4 foot groundswell with clean mostly offshore to begin building on Wednesday. On Thursday, a stronger building trend with wave heights increasing throughout the day before peaking at 4-6 foot on Friday, gradually easing off into the weekend, but still 3-5 foot surf until mid-next week.<\/p>\n

The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by FORD will take place at Victoria\u2019s pristine Bells Beach from April 19 \u2013 30, 2011 and be broadcast live on Fuel TV in Australia and ESPN in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Running in conjunction with the women\u2019s event, the ASP Top 34 will contest the Rip Curl Pro presented by Ford Ranger.<\/p>\n

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com<\/p>\n

\u2028RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
\nHeat 1: Adrian Buchan (AUS), Alejo Muniz (BRA), Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
\nHeat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS), Adam Melling (AUS), Josh Kerr (AUS)
\nHeat 3: Owen Wright (AUS), Heitor Alves (BRA), Bobby Martinez (USA)
\nHeat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS), Tiago Pires (PRT), Gabriel Medina (BRA)
\nHeat 5: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Dusty Payne (HAW), Stu Kennedy (AUS)
\nHeat 6: Kelly Slater (USA), Kai Otton (AUS), Adam Robertson (AUS)
\nHeat 7: Jeremy Flores (FRA), Taylor Knox (USA), Cory Lopez (USA)
\nHeat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF), Kieren Perrow (AUS), Gabe Kling (USA)
\nHeat 9: Damien Hobgood (USA), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Daniel Ross (AUS)
\nHeat 10: Bede Durbidge (AUS), C.J. Hobgood (USA), Joel Parkinson (AUS)\u2028
\nHeat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA), Chris Davidson (AUS), Julian Wilson (AUS)
\nHeat 12: Brett Simpson (USA), Jadson Andre (BRA), Patrick Gudauskas (USA)<\/p>\n

RIP CURL WOMEN\u2019S PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:\u2028
\nHeat 1: Chelsea Hedges (AUS), Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Rebecca Woods (AUS)
\nHeat 2: Silvana Lima (BRA), Laura Enever (AUS), Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)
\nHeat 3: Carissa Moore (HAW), Jacqueline Silva (BRA), Bethany Hamilton (HAW)
\nHeat 4: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), Courtney Conlogue (USA), Alana Blanchard (HAW)
\nHeat 5: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Paige Hareb (NZL), Melanie Bartels (HAW)
\nHeat 6: Coco Ho (HAW), Tyler Wright (AUS), Pauline Ado (FRA)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After what seemed like a horrendously long break the ASP Elite Tour is back on with the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. The waiting period begins Tuesday, April 19, 2011 (this afternoon PST) and according to Coastalwatch there appears to be a new three to four foot swell arriving Wednesday (Tuesday afternoon PST). With waves […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22736"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22736"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22742,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22736\/revisions\/22742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}