![\"Taj](\"http:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/uploads\/dfcf45de-046e-ad40.jpg\")
\nCAPTION: Taj Burrow (AUS), 33 and Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 24, claim the opening stop of the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour. PIC: ASP\/Robertson.<\/p>\n
Burrow and Gilmore Claim Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast, Take ASP World Title Race Leads<\/p>\n
——————————————————————————–<\/p>\n
\nCAPTION: Taj Burrow (AUS), 33 and Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 24, claim the opening stop of the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour. PIC: ASP\/Robertson.<\/p>\n
SNAPPER ROCKS, Queensland\/Australia (Sunday, March 4, 2012) \u2013 The final day of the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover culminated today with perennial ASP World Title threat Taj Burrow (AUS), 33, and four-time ASP Women\u2019s World Champion Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 24, taking the respective wins in clean two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves at the primary venue of Snapper Rocks.<\/p>\n
The opening stop on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast enjoyed sunny weather, light winds and a capacity crowd for the final day of competition, with the world\u2019s best surfers putting on a spectacular display of high-performance surfing.Burrow defeated dangerous South American Adriano De Souza (BRA), 25, in a Final that came down to the wire. De Souza caught a wave in the dying minutes and launched into a massive air-reverse, requiring a 7.87 out of a possible 10 to take the lead. The judges deliberated until after the siren sounded and when it was announced that De Souza came a mere 0.27 short, Burrow was chaired up the beach and declared the 2012 Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast champion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel so good now!\u201d Burrow said. \u201cI had a really good event last year, but came up short in the Final against Kelly (Slater). Then today when I found myself against Adriano (De Souza), I was really nervous because he got me in a Final in Brazil last year. He\u2019s really tough and I don\u2019t like competing against him to be honest. There was a lot of weight on my shoulders in that Final so it\u2019s pretty rewarding to come out on top.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ASP World Championship Tour will next head to Victoria, Australia for the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, stop no. 2 of 10 in the race for the 2012 ASP World Title.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been going for the ASP World Title for a while now,\u201d Burrow said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what to say. I just want to surf my best and hope that the rest falls into place. I love Bells. I love throwing on a full wetsuit and doing some big arcs in the Bells Bowl.\u201d<\/p>\n
De Souza finished runner-up at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast for the second time, after coming 2nd to Joel Parkinson (AUS), 30, in 2009. De Souza was easily one of the event\u2019s top performers this season with gouging turns and inverted aerials taking him to a podium finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy with my result here today,\u201d De Souza said. \u201cIt was such an amazing Final. Last year Taj (Burrow) and I had such a great heat here as well. It was one of the best heats of my life and he beat me. It\u2019s amazing to be on the podium here again. In 2009, it was me and Joel (Parkinson). It\u2019s a great way to start the year and I\u2019m happy to be back up here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 24, reigning four-time ASP Women\u2019s World Champion, her fourth Roxy Pro Gold Coast title after defeating ASP Top 17 sophomore Laura Enever (AUS), 20, in a hard-fought Final. Gilmore was dominant throughout the event, posting scores in the excellent range in every encounter throughout the draw. Gilmore jumps back to No. 1 on the ASP Women\u2019s World Championship Tour ratings, a spot she lost at this event last year after holding it for four years.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be carried up the beach with your friends underneath you with thousands of people around has got to be one of the best feelings in the world,\u201d Gilmore said. \u201cIt took me back to 2005 when I won here as a grom. Last year went so quickly and it felt like I didn\u2019t even exist on the rankings and that fire wasn\u2019t really there. This year it\u2019s so good to have that back! My cheeks are so sore from smiling already.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enever, who defeated Gilmore in the Quarterfinals of the Roxy Pro Gold Coast last year, today was unable to replicate last year\u2019s magic but managed a career-best Runner-Up today against Gilmore. This is the first ASP Women\u2019s World Tour final appearance for Enever, who finished 10th on last year\u2019s ratings.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing into this event I felt like a new competitor,\u201d Enever said. \u201cI\u2019m so stoked to make it all the way to the Final. It was so good to be out there with Steph (Gilmore). She\u2019s coming back now which is great to see. It\u2019s a good way to start off the year. I\u2019m in the ASP Women\u2019s World Title race and it\u2019s not a fluke. I want to be up here for the rest of the year and hopefully go one better next event.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kelly Slater (USA), 40, reigning 11-time ASP World Champion and last year\u2019s Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast winner was eliminated in the Quarterfinals this morning by Josh Kerr (AUS), 27. Slater had previously defeated Kerr four times on the 2011 ASP World Championship Tour and was a favourite to take the heat today. However, it was Kerr who advanced thanks to one of a massive forehand air-reverse in the final minutes of the heat.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the waves were better I would be really bummed that I lost,\u201d Slater said. \u201cI got one at the end that I thought would be good, I went for the carving 360 and got stuck. Then I turned around and Josh (Kerr) was on a pretty nice one and he got that air at the end. He\u2019s always going to be a threat in conditions like this where he can throw big airs. I got Josh a few times last year, we had four Quarterfinal battles last year where I got him, so he owed me a couple. It never feels good to lose, but I\u2019m happy for Josh. I\u2019m not sure if I\u2019m going to Bells. I\u2019m just going to go find some good waves in the next few weeks. Then I\u2019ll figure out what I\u2019m going to do for the year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Highlights from the Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast are available via www.quiksilverlive.com\/progoldcoast\/2012<\/p>\n
The next stop on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour will be the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Ford from April 3 \u2013 14, 2012.<\/p>\n
For more information, check out www.ASPWorldTour.com<\/p>\n
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST FINAL RESULTS:
\n1 \u2013 Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.86
\n2 \u2013 Adriano De Souza (BRA) 15.60<\/p>\n
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
\nSF 1: Adriano De Souza (BRA) 14.16 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.57
\nSF 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.56 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.20<\/p>\n
QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
\nQF 1: Adriano De Souza (BRA) 16.43 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 13.73
\nQF 2: Josh Kerr (AUS) 14.43 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 13.04
\nQF 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.56 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 11.30
\nQF 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.86 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 15.97<\/p>\n
CURRENT ASP TOP 5 (After Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast):
\n1. Taj Burrow (AUS) 10,000 pts
\n2. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 8,000 pts
\n3. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 6,500 pts
\n3. Josh Kerr (AUS) 6,500 pts
\n5. Kelly Slater (USA) 5,200 pts
\n5. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 5,200 pts
\n5. Owen Wright (AUS) 5,200 pts
\n5. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 5,200 pts<\/p>\n
ROXY PRO GOLD COAST FINAL RESULTS:
\n1 \u2013 Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 16.37
\n2 \u2013 Laura Enever (AUS) 14.20<\/p>\n
ROXY PRO GOLD COAST SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
\nSF 1: Laura Enever (AUS) 16.70 def. Tyler Wright (AUS) 16.17
\nSF 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 18.30 def. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 15.00<\/p>\n
CURRENT ASP WOMEN\u2019S TOP 3 (After Roxy Pro Gold Coast):
\n1. Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) 10,000 pts
\n2. Laura Enever (AUS) 8,000 pts
\n3. Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 6,500 pts
\n3. Tyler Wright (AUS) 6,500 pts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Burrow and Gilmore Claim Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast, Take ASP World Title Race Leads ——————————————————————————– CAPTION: Taj Burrow (AUS), 33 and Stephanie Gilmore (AUS), 24, claim the opening stop of the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour. PIC: ASP\/Robertson. SNAPPER ROCKS, Queensland\/Australia (Sunday, March 4, 2012) \u2013 The final day of the Quiksilver and … Continue reading “Burrow and Gilmore Claim Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast, Take ASP World Title Race Leads”<\/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-13967","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\/13967","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=13967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saltwater-dreaming.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}