HUGE round 3 upsets, flaring tempers at the Quiksilver Pro

Quiksilver & Roxy Pro Gold Coast. Photo: Glenn Hall © WSL/Kirstin

Presented by BOQ

World Surf League Men’s & Women’s World Tour event
Snapper Rocks, Queensland
28 February – 11 March 2015

In frustrating conditions, rookies surprise vets—Slater, Parko, and Medina out

Surf News Network, 11 March, 2015. Snapper Rocks, Queensland – Anyone watching rounds 3 through 5 of the Quiksilver Pro today witnessed one of the most memorable days of competitive surfing in recent memory. High drama, underdog upsets, flaring tempers, huge moves, and not a few break downs were all on the menu.

Round three of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast saw a handful of truly surprising upsets, as Joel Parkinson, Gabriel Medina, and Kelly Slater all went down to underdogs.

After more than 10 days waiting for a swell to arrive, the WSL kept pushing through Round 3 on Thursday as Snapper offered up a few rippable faces and lots of downtime between sets.

The first heat of the day saw Kelly Slater looking somewhat lost, as Brazilian rookie Italo Ferreira got busy on his backhand, connecting committed turns and busting the fins out on closing sections. Ferreira bested the 11x World Champ 13 to 8.77.

Wiggolly Dantas © WSL/Cestari

Josh Kerr took out his frustration on his board after he went down to Miguel Pupo. The heat was a close one, with Kerr just missing the needed 7.44 after blowing a wave-ending section bash that would surely have pushed hi through to Round 4.

In a moment of true high drama, Irishman Glenn Hall took down World Champ Gabriel Medina with a tough interference call that saw Hall giving Medina more than a piece of his mind in the water, while Medina retorted in a post-heat interview threatening Glenn Hall, employing his best English expletive.

Commissioner Kieren Perrow was quoted as having this to say about the Champ’s public blow up: “Gabriel’s post-heat interview was not worthy conduct of an athlete at this level and the league has engaged in discussions with him and will take further action if necessary.”

A tough start to the Champ’s defensive year.

Matt Wilkinson © WSL/Cestari

The only person having a harder time than Gaby, Slates, and Parko was Freddy Pattachia who, after almost 28 minutes of failing to find a scoring wave, took an inside left all the way to the rocks lining Snapper’s banks and hopped his thruster into a full rock boardslide in frustration.

The last heat of Round 3 was a high-scoring, hit-for-hit throwdown between Wilko and John John, with the gangly goofyfoot getting the nod after throwing everything he had into his signature backhand power moves, positively stuffing his waves with vertical lip bashes and over the lip hucks (Wilco would go on to lose in Round 5).

Mick and Bede were looking particularly in-form. Fanning drove through the grovel like the champ he is, whipping through turns with abandon and speed to burn, taking out a fit and frothing Dusty Payne in Round 3. Bede powered past fellow giant Owen Wright, throwing his size around in the weak surf, his height and power at no seeming disadvantage in the subpar Snapper.

The two would meet, along with Adriano de Souza, in Round 5, where Mick would get the nod, again positioning himself on just the right part of the bar, as only someone with Snapper in their blood can. (Bede would take out Jordy Smith in Round 5 and join Fanning in the quarters.

The day’s competetion would stretch into the dying sunset, as the quarterfinal draws were decided in the best Snapper of the last few days. Heats will begin tomorrow, with Miguel Pupo and Wiggolly Dantas teeing off first on Finals Day.

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 3 Results (1st to R4, 2nd = 13th):
Heat 1: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 13.00 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 8.77
Heat 2: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.67 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.20
Heat 3: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 15.77 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 9.93
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.60 def. Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 11.90
Heat 5: Julian Wilson (AUS) 10.43 def. Nat Young (USA) 8.94
Heat 6: Glenn Hall (IRL) 14.23 vs. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 7.50
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.56 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 15.00
Heat 8: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.90 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 14.44
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.76 def. Freddy Patacchia Jr. (HAW) 1.13
Heat 10: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.67 def. Matt Banting (AUS) 13.90
Heat 11: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 18.50 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 15.74
Heat 12: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 17.83 def. John John Florence (HAW) 16.13

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 4 Results (1st to QF, 2nd & 3rd to R5):
Heat 1: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 17.23, Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 13.47, Italo Ferreira (BRA) 13.37
Heat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.37, Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.13, Glenn Hall (IRL) 10.50
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.50, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.50, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.50
Heat 4: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 17.83, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.57, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 12.23

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 5 Results (1st to QF, 2nd=9th):
Heat 1: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 17.34 def. Glenn Hall (IRL) 13.33
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.73 def. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 15.50
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.94 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 16.07
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.83 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.83

Adriano de Souza © WSL/Kirstin
Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Quarterfinal Match-Ups (1st to SF, 2nd=5th):
QF 1: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. Wiggolly Dantas (BRA)
QF 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
QF 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
QF 4: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Bede Durbidge (AUS)

The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast runs in conjunction with the Roxy Pro.

Roxy Pro Gold Coast Quarterfinal Match-Ups (1st to SF, 2nd=5th):
Heat 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) vs. Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW)
Heat 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Silvana Lima (BRA)
Heat 3: Tyler Wright (AUS) vs. Courtney Conlogue (USA)
Heat 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Lakey Peterson (USA)