{"id":14548,"date":"2010-03-04T17:53:14","date_gmt":"2010-03-05T01:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=14548"},"modified":"2010-03-04T19:32:32","modified_gmt":"2010-03-05T03:32:32","slug":"taj-burrow-wins-quiksilver-pro-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=14548","title":{"rendered":"Taj Burrow Wins Quiksilver Pro 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Taj Burrow<\/strong> saved his charge for the last half of the final against South Africa’s Jordy Smith<\/strong> after sitting out most of the first half of the 40 minute heat of the Quiksilver Pro 2010 at Snapper Rocks<\/a><\/strong>. In the second 20 minutes Burrow kicked out a 7.4, followed by a 6.17, and then hammered the final shut with a 8.17 wave. Taj spent the last four minutes of the heat sitting on Jordy to make sure he could not answer back. He didn’t. Taj finished with a 15.57 to Jordy’s 12.56.<\/p>\n

With this win Taj followed up his 2009 Pipeline Masters win<\/a><\/strong> with his second consecutive title on the ASP WCT tour and third consecutive contest win.<\/p>\n

“I’m normally pretty inconsistent,” Taj said from the stage. “I’m blown away. I’m so happy right now. It’s the best feeling on earth. I don’t even know what to say. It’s so good to be in front of this huge crowd at home. I want to thank everyone, everywhere. My grandma in Arizona. It was my mom’s birthday yesterday.”<\/p>\n

\"Burrow6332Snapper10Kirstin<\/a>
\nJordy Smith had a great run, but as Bobby Martinez<\/strong> predicted earlier in the day: it came down to the waves. “This is my first final. I’m sorry the waves didn’t come through for all of you, but Taj got some great waves,” second place Jordy Smith said. “Congratulations Taj, you surfed a great final.”<\/p>\n

Follow the jump for all the official ASP details. . .
\nSNAPPER ROCKS, Queensland\/Australia (Friday, March 5, 2010) \u2013 Taj Burrow (AUS), 31 has taken out the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover over Jordy Smith (ZAF), 22, in rippable two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves at Snapper Rocks.<\/p>\n

The opening event of then 2010 ASP World Tour season, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast started the year off with a bang, bringing the greatest assemblage of surfing talent in history to one of the most iconic pointbreaks in the world, and the world\u2019s best surfers shattered high-performance barriers once again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so so happy right now \u2013 it\u2019s the best feeling on Earth!\u201d Burrow said. \u201cIt\u2019s unreal. I have a good group of friends with me and my parents are here supporting me. To have everyone cheering me on in the final is really really special.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the young South African led throughout the first half of the 40-minute Final, it was Burrow who changed the tide with a mid-heat assault, racking up several solid scores in larger set waves amidst the deteriorating conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel like I surfed my best in the Final,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cI kind of just did what it took to win. I just waited for the best waves, did a couple nice turns – nothing too wild. I\u2019d rather have taken Jordy\u2019s approach – catch lots of waves and just let loose. That\u2019s kind of my strategy normally, but it worked fine. Being a bit more patient and selective than usual definitely paid off. But I knew Jordy could unleash and get the big score any moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burrow, who has secured victories in the previous two events entered (Pipeline in December and Burleigh Heads in February), has been in sensational form over the past three months, and will look to continue the momentum in 2010 as he hunts down his first ASP World Title.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat can I say? I don\u2019t know,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cI surprised myself really. Obviously, Pipe was the biggest event I could ever win. I was just overwhelmed. I felt like retiring after that event. I just couldn\u2019t believe it, and didn\u2019t think it could get any better. I guess I\u2019ve taken the confidence from it and worked on some good boards. Burleigh Heads was a good warm-up. I felt good that there as well \u2013 there are fun little rights, and then here, I took a while to get rolling, but I just built up momentum. I felt great out there and here I am on the podium again – it just feels unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith, who went on a giant-killing spree at the event, eliminating former nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 38, in yesterday\u2019s Round 4 before posting the best result of his young career.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my first Final so I\u2019m pretty stoked,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that the waves went kind of dead in our heat there, but we tried our best. It\u2019s been a great event though and I\u2019m looking forward to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Long touted as one of the most dominant forces in the surfing world, Smith had yet to realize his potential in the competitive realm, but if this event\u2019s performance is any indication, the powerful natural-footer is a near-certain threat for an ASP World Title.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just feel a lot more comfortable with myself this season,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI\u2019m having a lot more fun with my surfing and everything seems to be coming together for me. I\u2019m amped with a Runner-Up finish here and hope I can keep the momentum up for the rest of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dane Reynolds (USA), 24, looked the form surfer of the event yesterday, defeating defending event winner Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, with an impressive 19.20 out of a possible 20. However, the young Californian was unable to find a rhythm in today\u2019s challenging conditions, bowing out of the event with an Equal 3rd at the hands of Smith.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt pretty good yesterday and it felt like my equipment was finally working,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cEven though the conditions weren\u2019t as good today, I thought I could catch an average wave and surf it well enough to get a good score, but that didn\u2019t happen. When the other guy gets a good roll going, it\u2019s hard to come back \u2013 or it is for me anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

With his penchant for churning out Earth-shattering performances and a good start to the year, several pundits are considering Reynolds as a legitimate ASP World Title contender, but the humble natural-footer has yet to commit such a goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been in this situation before so it\u2019s hard for me to say (in regards to motivation for the ASP World Title),\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cWhen you\u2019re a little kid, everyone always tells you that the ASP World Title is the goal, but there\u2019s only one each season and 45 guys going for it. It hasn\u2019t been a goal for me yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bobby Martinez (USA), 27, matched his best result on the Gold Coast today, collecting an Equal 3rd (his first in 2006), but the sole goofy-footer in today\u2019s event was clearly upset about the deteriorated conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s disappointing to finish when it\u2019s windy like this today,\u201d Martinez said. \u201cWe all want to surf when it\u2019s glassy, and I\u2019m disappointed that we have to finish today. I did my best to mix it up out there, but it\u2019s very challenging out there on your backhand today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Highlights from the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover can be found via www.quiksilverpro.com.au<\/p>\n

For the first time in the events\u2019 storied nine-year history, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast was televised LIVE on FUEL TV in Australia, beaming the world\u2019s best surfing right into your living room.<\/p>\n

To find out how you can watch the world\u2019s best surfers in one of the world\u2019s most iconic pointbreaks LIVE on FUEL TV, check out www.foxsports.com.au\/fueltv<\/p>\n

In honor of the final day of competition, ASP International is launching the desktop widget, bringing you LIVE scores, results, heat draws, etc. Access to the ASP Widget can be found on the ASP homepage.<\/p>\n

The next stop on the 2010 ASP World Tour will be the Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach from March 30 through April 10, 2010.<\/p>\n

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

QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST FINAL RESULTS:
\n1 \u2013 Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.57
\n2 \u2013 Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.56<\/p>\n

QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
\nSF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.67 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 13.00
\nSF 2: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.30 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 8.96<\/p>\n

ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 5 (After Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast):
\n1 \u2013 Taj Burrow (AUS) 10000 pts
\n2 \u2013 Jordy Smith (ZAF) 8000 pts
\n3 \u2013 Bobby Martinez (USA) 6500 pts
\n3 \u2013 Dane Reynolds (USA) 6500 pts
\n5 \u2013 Joel Parkinson (AUS) 5250 pts
\n5 \u2013 Bede Durbidge (AUS) 5250 pts
\n5 \u2013 Adriano de Souza (BRA) 5250 pts
\n5 \u2013 Kai Otton (AUS) 5250 pts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taj Burrow saved his charge for the last half of the final against South Africa’s Jordy Smith after sitting out most of the first half of the 40 minute heat of the Quiksilver Pro 2010 at Snapper Rocks. In the second 20 minutes Burrow kicked out a 7.4, followed by a 6.17, and then hammered […]<\/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":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14548"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14548"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14548\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14557,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14548\/revisions\/14557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14548"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14548"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14548"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}