ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) INTERNATIONAL<\/p>\n
Billabong Pro Mundaka
\n(October 2 \u0096 14)<\/p>\n
See the event LIVE on www.aspworldtour.com or www.billabongpro.com<\/p>\n
MUNDAKA, Basque Country, Northern Spain (Friday, October 13, 2006) \u0096 After an incredibly strong performance in one metre (three foot) waves at the famed break of Mundaka, Bobby Martinez (USA) has won the Billabong Pro ahead of newly crowned eight-time world champion Kelly Slater (USA).Despite conditions not being brilliant, the entertainment and drama during the day was at a paramount as alongside Martinez\u0092s stellar win, the contenders for the Foster\u0092s ASP Men\u0092s World Tour title were eliminated one by one in order for Slater to claim the crown.<\/p>\n
Martinez however was in no way intimidated by Slater\u0092s dominance of this year\u0092s tour and powered home with a feverish small-wave attack to claim his second tour event of the year.<\/p>\n
Getting down to work from the outset of the final, Martinez set about racking up his wave count.<\/p>\n
His best wave came when he pumped out no less than 12 to 15 forehand snaps over a 100 metre distance which earned him a score of 8.83 out of 10 \u0096 his total score was 16.40 out of 20 to Slater\u0092s 14.27.<\/p>\n
\u0093I don\u0092t know what to say, it\u0092s been an amazing year for me,\u0094 said a beaming Martinez. \u0093This year I came in just happy to be here after struggling on the World Qualifying Series for so long. I just wanted to give it my all at every contest and just try and requalify and to win two events\u0085 it\u0092s just crazy for me. I never got ahead of myself thinking I\u0092m going to win this event. I just can\u0092t believe it!\u0094<\/p>\n
Adding to the prize was the fact that he had beaten Slater, who has been a hero for Martinez since he was a youngster.<\/p>\n
\u0093It\u0092s great, he\u0092s my favourite, he\u0092s my hero and I\u0092ve looked up to him from the moment I saw him surf,\u0094 said Martinez. \u0093To be out there in the water right after he won his 8th world title was cool. We were talking and having a good time. He\u0092s the best surfer to ever step foot into the sport and it was a laugh. We were just having fun with it. We were talking and goofing around. It was cool. It didn\u0092t feel real.\u0094<\/p>\n
Martinez defeated a stellar field on his run to the podium, defeating Dean Morrison (AUS) in the semifinal, and Andy Irons (HAW) in the quarters.<\/p>\n
\u0093I got lucky this event,\u0094 said the unassuming Californian. \u0093I\u0092m just thrilled to be on this tour. I\u0092m so glad to be here traveling and doing what I\u0092m doing. It\u0092s what I\u0092ve dreamed of and it\u0092s amazing for me.<\/p>\n
Martinez has now put himself in the box seat to take out the 2006 Foster\u0092s ASP Men\u0092s World Tour rookie of the year.<\/p>\n
\u0093I don\u0092t know, I\u0092m not thinking about that!\u0094 said Martinez. \u0093I\u0092m just living the moment right now. It\u0092s just crazy and I\u0092m trying to enjoy right here right now, cause it doesn\u0092t happen for me much. So I\u0092m just enjoying it all.\u0094<\/p>\n
And could the rookie go on to win a world title of his own?<\/p>\n
\u0093Nah I\u0092m not going to say that at all, next year I just hope I qualify!\u0094
\nsaid Martinez. \u0093There\u0092s no telling what could happen next year. I hope I can just qualify and be here again. This is everything I\u0092ve dreamed of.\u0094<\/p>\n
For Slater his second place was obviously well overshadowed by his semi final result where he claimed a win over Joel Parkinson (AUS) and in turn created history by claiming an unprecedented eighth world crown.<\/p>\n
In the semi, Slater pulled out all the stops on the smallish waves and perhaps went into the final too relaxed, as during the 35-minute final decider he was no match for Martinez\u0092s energy.<\/p>\n
He was full of praise for his finals rival Martinez with whom he has been a friend for many moons.<\/p>\n
\u0093I was stoked that Bobby started out so strong this year. He got to third and he was right up there in the ratings, then he had a little rough patch there at the last few events,\u0094 said Slater. \u0093I was just so happy to see him win at Teahupoo, it was his dad\u0092s birthday that day. To win here again, it just all fits, I got the title by making the final and Bobby (Martinez) wins it. I\u0092m stoked for him.\u0094<\/p>\n
(NB: Another release will be circulated later containing all of Kelly Slater \u0092s quotes on his world crown.)<\/p>\n
Finishing in equal third, Parkinson, the form surfer of the European tour leg to date, was obviously dismayed at the result given that in the loss to Slater he had surrendered his outside chance for claiming his first ever world title.<\/p>\n
\u0093It was hard\u0085 Three events ago I wasn\u0092t even in contention and then I was in that position,\u0094 said Parkinson. \u0093So I thought I should be able to hold my head high, whether I win or lose.<\/p>\n
\u0093I had the mindset of winning so I was really angry when I lost. A lot of people said to me after it, \u0091hold your head high\u0092, but for 10 minutes there I was just shattered. I thought the rest of the 45 are going to be say \u0091why didn\u0092t you give it to him\u0092 and blame me for letting him win, but it isn\u0092t all me, there are a lot of people who could have beat him during the year.
\nBut congratulations to him.\u0094
\nAlso finishing in equal third was Parkinson\u0092s good friend Dean Morrison
\n(AUS) who earlier in the day defeated Burrow in the quarterfinals thus ending his title aspirations.<\/p>\n
\u0093Bobby\u0092s grabbed a 9.40 early and that made it really hard for me to get in front,\u0094 said Morrison about his matchup. \u0093There\u0092s not too many opportunities out there and you really have to fight for them. We were scuttling around at the start of the heat and he got lucky and got that one. That was the deciding factor in the heat. That\u0092s the way it is with the conditions like that. There\u0092s five or 10 minutes in the heat that change the outcome.\u0094<\/p>\n
Morrison has now booked a spot in the top 10 and with two events remaining he indicated he is eager to move further up the charts.<\/p>\n
\u0093It\u0092s been a great year learning wise and I\u0092m getting the ball rolling,\u0094
\nsaid Morrison. \u0093We\u0092ve got 10 days off and we go to Brazil and then on to Hawaii. I\u0092m really looking forward to a big finish this year.\u0094<\/p>\n
As mentioned by Morrison the tour will now move around the globe to Imbituba, Brazil for the Nova Schin Festival presented by Billabong.<\/p>\n
The event kicks off on October 30 with a waiting period extending until November 8.<\/p>\n
Today\u0092s results:<\/p>\n
Remaining quarterfinal: (1st to semifinal 2nd to equal 5th and 732 ratings
\npoints)
\nQuarterfinal 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.50 vs Dean Morrison (AUS) 12.00<\/p>\n
Semifinals: (1st to final 2nd receives equal 3rd and 876 ratings points) Semifinal 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 16.50 def Joel Parkinson (AUS) 14.14 Semifinal 2: Bobby Martinez (USA) 15.57 def Dean Morrison (AUS) 11.60<\/p>\n
Final: (1st receives 1200 ratings points 2nd receives 1032 ratings points)
\nFinal: Bobby Martinez 16.40 def Kelly Slater (USA) 14.27<\/p>\n
Current Foster\u0092s ASP Men\u0092s World Tour top 10 ratings after event #9 The Billabong Pro Mundaka<\/p>\n
1. Kelly Slater (USA)\t\t7824
\n2. Andy Irons (HAW)\t\t6348
\n3. Taj Burrow (AUS)\t\t\t6290
\n4. Joel Parkinson (AUS) \t\t6050
\n5. Mick Fanning (AUS)\t\t5848
\n6. Bobby Martinez (USA) \t\t5843
\n7. Damien Hobgood (USA) \t5152
\n8. Tom Whitaker (AUS)\t\t4948
\n9. Taylor Knox (USA)\t\t4880
\n10. Dean Morrison (AUS) \t\t4856<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ASSOCIATION OF SURFING PROFESSIONALS (ASP) INTERNATIONAL Billabong Pro Mundaka (October 2 \u0096 14) See the event LIVE on www.aspworldtour.com or www.billabongpro.com MUNDAKA, Basque Country, Northern Spain (Friday, October 13, 2006) \u0096 After an incredibly strong performance in one metre (three foot) waves at the famed break of Mundaka, Bobby Martinez (USA) has won the Billabong … Continue reading “ROOKIE BOBBY MARTINEZ WINS BILLABONG PRO MUNDAKA”<\/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":[21],"tags":[24],"class_list":["post-13526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-surfing-news-archive","tag-surfing-news-archive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13526","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=13526"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13526\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}