![](\"http:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/imagesnews\/dunn_qp06_robbo_t.jpg\")
\nLive on www.aspworldtour.com and www.quiksilver.com<\/p>\n
Monday 27 February, 2006
\nSnapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia<\/p>\n
QUIKSILVER PRO PRESENTED BY SAMSUNG
\nROXY PRO PRESENTED BY SAMSUNG
\n(28 February to 12 March)<\/p>\n
\nLive on www.aspworldtour.com and www.quiksilver.com<\/p>\n
In incredible one to two metre (three to six feet) conditions at Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia, the Quiksilver Pro Trials was run and won by 20-year-old Ben Dunn.<\/p>\n
Dunn, hailing from Old Bar, News South Wales, Australia will now take the remaining wildcard slot in the main draw of the opening event of the Foster\u0092s ASP Men\u0092s World Tour, the Quiksilver Pro. <\/p>\n
Grabbing a wave in the final five minutes of the final, Dunn blasted an amazing 9.25 out of a total of 10 and hurdled his fellow competitors in Jay Thompson (AUS), Shaun Gossman (AUS) and Damon Harvey (AUS) to take the win.\u0093The whole final I was having a shocker,\u0094 said an elated Dunn. \u0093I got one good wave at the start and I knew I needed one more good one but I just couldn\u0092t get it. Then that last set wave arrived and Jay Thompson went the first one and I grabbed the second and managed to get a great score.\u0094<\/p>\n
The win today will be a great confidence boost for Dunn as he looks ahead to taking on world number two Andy Irons (HAW) and Brazilian Paulo Moura in round one of the main event. <\/p>\n
\u0093I\u0092m really looking forward to taking them on,\u0094 said Dunn. \u0093They are such good surfers it should be a great challenge.\u0094 <\/p>\n
Looking calm and collected prior to their respective all out assaults on the Quiksilver Pro and the 2006 Foster\u0092s ASP Men\u0092s World Tour were 2005 rankings top three Kelly Slater (USA), Irons and Mick Fanning (AUS). <\/p>\n
The three men, alongside Roxy Pro contestants, ASP Women\u0092s World Tour one and two Chelsea Georgeson (AUS) and Sofia Mulanovich (PER) and last year\u0092s event winner Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), were confronted by a barrage of cameras and journalists this morning in the pre-event media conference. <\/p>\n
Slater, who hasn\u0092t won on the Gold Coast since 1998 has been relaxing prior to the event, and unlike his fellow competitors has been avoiding the public eye and actually not spending much time in the water. <\/p>\n
\u0093I haven\u0092t been surfing much the past few weeks, I\u0092ve just been relaxing,\u0094 said Slater. \u0093I\u0092m looking forward to getting out there and surfing though. Every time I get on the waves they\u0092re so much fun and being able to surf Snapper with no-one out is a great feeling.\u0094<\/p>\n
The personal question facing Slater at present is whether he has the intrinsic desire to complete the whole tour and contend for an eighth world crown. He indicated that at this stage he is undecided about his plans. <\/p>\n
\u0093I got really excited a couple of weeks ago about fully applying myself again this year and that\u0092s what I expect to do here this week,\u0094 said Slater. \u0093But I\u0092m going to take every event as it comes and I\u0092m definitely going to surf every event that I love to surf. But, my life is changing and I\u0092m towards the backside of my career. I\u0092m trying to figure out if this is what makes me most happy. If I\u0092m totally enjoying it, which I did last year and if I start off really loving the tour and having a good time then I\u0092ll do the whole thing.\u0094<\/p>\n
Irons meanwhile looked to be enjoying the lack of pressure associated with not having to defend a world crown, and he was cool amongst the hussle. <\/p>\n
He did, however, acknowledge that due to the length of the rides at Snapper Rocks and the strong sweep by the current, the physical challenge is incredibly intense.<\/p>\n
\u0093The bullseye has moved to the right [now I\u0092m not world champion],\u0094 said Irons. \u0093The waves are really good and I\u0092m really happy to be here on the Gold Coast. There is a challenge and that\u0092s being physically fit to surf that long on the wave and have the energy to go back out and catch two more like it. That takes a lot of strength and endurance. I\u0092ve been trying to get my cardio up and have been going to the gym a bit, but nothing can really prepare you like being able to come here and surf the waves day in and day out.\u0094<\/p>\n
Fanning meanwhile indicated that to defend his Quiksilver Pro title he would have to cast aside the throng of newcomers to the 2006 tour. Coming on board are 10 new faces and all have vastly contrasting styles. <\/p>\n
\u0093All the rookies are threats and there are a wide range of people,\u0094 said Fanning. \u0093I\u0092ve surfed a lot of events against Adrian Buchan (AUS) and Shaun Candsell (AUS) and they\u0092re exceptional competitors. Then there\u0092s older guys like Pancho Sulllivan (HAW) \u0096 when he comes out of the gate he\u0092s going to blow the back out of it. It\u0092s going to be really interesting. I think there could be a lot of upsets, but it should be really fun.\u0094<\/p>\n
On the Roxy Pro front, 2005 ASP Women\u0092s World Tour champion Georgeson was also looking forward to tucking into some quality waves.<\/p>\n
\u0093This is going to be a different experience [having to defend the top spot],\u0094 said Georgeson. \u0093I really look forward to the Roxy Pro every year and like Kelly said, being able to surf out here with just one or two other girls is pretty amazing.\u0094<\/p>\n
But with Gilmore back in the top ranks as a wildcard Georgeson isn\u0092t expecting the Roxy Pro winner\u0092s trophy to come easily. <\/p>\n
\u0093I am looking forward to surfing with Steph,\u0094 said Georgeson. \u0093We\u0092ve never had a heat together and Steph has some pretty good odds in her favour. She lives here and surfs here everyday, she\u0092s an amazing surfer at Snapper. I\u0092m definitely going to go all out to beat her, as anyone would when coming up against her.\u0094<\/p>\n
Mulanovich meanwhile recognised the need to register a good result at the opening event. The confidence gained obviously gives the competitors a mental edge and Mulanovich needs everything it takes to mix it with the strong contingent now on the ASP Women\u0092s World Tour.<\/p>\n
\u0093It is really important to have a good start on the Gold Coast, there\u0092s really good waves and it\u0092s really cool to be here,\u0094 said Mulanovich. \u0093This year I just want to have fun, I want to go out there and try my best and see what happens, there\u0092s no pressure.\u0094<\/p>\n
Gilmore\u0092s aim for the year is quite simple. Last year as a school girl she was a wildcard into the Roxy Pro and managed to make a huge impact by taking out several big names along her ride to victory. This year she will obviously be hoping to emulate that victory but her real aim is to qualify for the big tour through the World Qualifying Series and then give the world title one almighty shake. <\/p>\n
\u0093Hopefully, I\u0092ll be able to qualify straight of the bat this year,\u0094 said Gilmore. \u0093And then I\u0092ll be on there with Chelsea and Sofia to try and battle it out for the world title. Chelsea is my favourite female surfer and she\u0092s the best in the world, it\u0092s going to be a difficult task but I get to surf with Chelsea every day so I\u0092m really lucky in many ways. I don\u0092t know that many kids around who get to go surfing with their hero every day.\u0094<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Monday 27 February, 2006 Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia QUIKSILVER PRO PRESENTED BY SAMSUNG ROXY PRO PRESENTED BY SAMSUNG (28 February to 12 March) Live on www.aspworldtour.com and www.quiksilver.com In incredible one to two metre (three to six feet) conditions at Snapper Rocks, Queensland, Australia, the Quiksilver Pro Trials was run and won by 20-year-old Ben … Continue reading “DUNN WINS TRIALS TO MAKE QUIKSILVER PRO MAIN EVENT”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asp-surfing-news","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}