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07/03/2007:// Australian Mick Fanning has taken an early lead in the World Championship Tour series after a sensational victory at the opening event of the season.
Fanning overcame an early tube ride and a serious of vertical wave gauges by rival Bede Durbridge early on in the two-man final at Coolangatta on the Gold Coast.
Fanning responded superbly racking up a series of tubes and ferocious forehand bashes to take the lead.
A last minute tube from Durbidge was not enough to overtake his Aussie counterpart.
"To win here in front of everyone is a dream come true," said Fanning. "I'm just ecstatic. And to surf with Bede in the final… he's been ripping and he's always been an amazing surfer. He is surfing this year without a sponsor so I've been saying to industry people, 'You should pick him up because he is going to do some damage this year,' and then out he comes and makes the final."
Fanning can now claim to be the first to have scored two Quiksilver Pro victories and in front of his fellow Snapper Rocks buddies, 2002 and 2003 winners Joel Parkinson and Dean Morrison, he can stand up and be counted as being one of the best to surf the world class wave.
"I'm so pumped, it was always going to be a race of the boys as to who was going to get two," said Fanning. "What better way to start the year than in perfect Snapper and surfing with a mate. Just to win at home, it's awesome."
Fanning finished the 2005 and 2006 seasons in 3rd place and won events in Jeffreys Bay and Brazil in last year.
"I made three out of six finals in the second half of last year," said Fanning. "I was pretty confident in my surfing and I just tried to roll that into this year. I stayed really relaxed the whole time and it paid dividends here in this event. Even when I was in bad situations I just felt the waves were coming and yeah… it's just a great day."
Durbidge upset top seeded surfers Kelly Slater and Parkinson to find himself in the event final - his second since he landed on tour in 2005.
Durbidge posted his first Foster's ASP World Tour win at Trestles in California last year.
"It was great to make the final," said Durbidge. "It would have been a little bit sweeter if I had got first though. That was probably the worst heat I have had the whole event. I just didn't come out of a few barrels that I wanted to make; it would have been a bit different if I had made them. It's an awesome way to start though and I'm looking forward to the next event."
Durbidge's semifinal match-up with the reigning world champ was the stuff surf fantasies are made of.
Durbidge opened the heat strong with two massive scores, leaving Slater needing a combination of excellent scoring rides to emerge from the heat alive.
Fighting his way back the way only an eight-time world champ can, Slater notched up the scores he needed and took the lead but last minute heroics by Durbidge changed the situation once again.
Also finishing equal third was Taj Burrow, last year's Quiksilver Pro runner-up. Burrow lost his semifinal heat to Fanning.
"I'm really disappointed, but it's still a really good result," said Burrow. "I was just feeling like I couldn't do anything right. Mick had that local knowledge where he was just getting the smaller ones because it was lower tide. I got a couple of bigger ones that looked sick when I pulled in, but they just pinched me. He was just getting those sick little drainers. He nailed it. I'm bummed, but whatever, I'll take a third."
The Foster's ASP World Tour now heads south to the frigid waters of Bells Beach for the Rip Curl Pro, which will kick off on April 3.
[Carissa Moore (in yellow) receiving the winner's prize]
[The number of high-rated Australian surf competitions are set to increase]
[Pablo Gutierrez winner of the Superbock Pro]
Hawaiian Carissa Moore won the Roxy Pro Junior surfing in her first ever contest in France
ASP International has announce the inception of their fourth regional branch, ASP Australasia
Twenty-six-year-old Pablo Guitierrez took top honours in the Superbock Pro in Portugal after defeating fellow Portugeuse surfer Eduardo Fernandes in the final
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