Granger Larsen of Hawaii is into the quarter finals of the Telstra Drug Aware Pro in Australia and will face Marc Lacomare of France in the first heat of the round which should get underway today (tomorrow actually since Australia is in the future.)
Yesterday, Kelly Slater was eliminated by Billy Stairmand, the 21-year-old from new Zealand in a tight round. Also out is Mick Fanning of Australia. The quarters for both the men and women’s are as follows.
You can check out full photos from today’s action over in our photo section for the day.
Womens -
1. Sage Ericson (USA) V Jessi Mylie-Dyer (AUS)
2. Felicity Palmateer (AUS) V Silvana Lima (BRA)
3. Rebecca Woods (AUS) V Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)
4. Paige Hareb (NZ) V Courtney Conlogue (USA)
Mens -
1. Granger Larsen (HAW) V Marc Lacomare (France)
2. Damien Hobgood (USA) V Jadson Andre (BRA)
3. Yadin Nicol (AUS) V Julian Wilson (AUS)
4. Taj Burrow (AUS) V William Cardosa (BRA)
From ASP Press Release:
Contrasting conditions at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME rated Telstra Drug Aware Pro, Margaret River – the howling onshore winds and rain squalls from yesterday were swapped for a gentle offshore breeze and sunshine. With the swell still in the 8 to 10 foot range it was a memorable day of both surprize and stella performances.
21-year-old New Zealander Billy Stairmand (NZ) is now a hero to all Kiwi surf fans and his fellow competitors after he beat Kelly Slater (USA) in their round of 24 clash.
“I wasn’t expecting anything,” said an elated Billy. “I just wanted to go out and have fun and make the most of having a man-on-man heat with Kelly Slater. Now I’m the happiest I’ve ever been – I feel like I won the contest!”
Kelly was clearly disappointed with his early exit, but the ultimate competitor knows that losing is just a part competing.
“You’re gonna lose heats,” said Slater. ” No matter how good you’re doing, at some point that bad heat comes along and for me it was today.”
Young Frenchman Marc Lacomare sent his roommate in Margaret River, Aritz Aranburu packing in the round of 24 battle. Both surfers held the lead throughout the heat, but it was Lacomare who got the nod.
“I took a long time to catch my first wave,” said Marc. “I only caught two waves in the heat, but I guess that’s all you need. It’s not easy out there, but it’s fun when you get them.”
The clear standout performers of the day were local lads Taj Burrow and Yadin Nicol. Both dominated their heats and put their local knowledge to work heading into the last day of competition. Taj particuarly impressive posting a perfect 10 point ride late in the day!
Julian Wilson and Mick Fanning surfed an incredible late heat and it was Wilson who bagged an incredible double for the day by eliminating Fanning on the back of his earlier performance eliminating Parkinson. Wilson and Fanning actually tied on 16.20 points but Wilson won it on a count-back to his top scoring ride of a 9.2.
Both the men’s and women’s finals are expected to run tomorrow as the swell is expected to die by Sunday.
Tags: ASP PRIME, Billy Stairmand, Granger Larsen, Jadson Andre, Joel Parkinson, Julian Wilson, Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow, Telstra Drug Aware Pro
