Slater being perfect.

Boost Mobile Pro presented by Hurley

Stop No. 7 of 11 on the 2008 ASP World Tour

Lower Trestles, California, USA

September 7-13, 2008

SAN CLEMENTE, California –- The standard of surfing at the Boost Mobile Pro pres. by Hurley was nothing short of electrifying today, but per usual, it was eight-time ASP World Champion and ratings leader Kelly Slater (USA) who stole the show.

With a 9.17 and 9.60 in his Round 4 scoreline, Slater had opponent Kieren Perrow (AUS) needing a combination of scores to beat him with half the heat to go. Still, with 20 seconds remaining, Slater pulled out all the stops and stamped his authority on the heat by posting the first and only perfect 10 of the event thus far.

“I’m not sure it was a 10 – it was a good ride though,” Slater said with a smile. “There was some bump on it, but I was able to get just steep enough in the pocket to get a vertical bang on it and I got that reverse at the end and stuck it.”

Slater surfed twice today, beating wildcard and former ASP World Champion Sunny Garcia (HAW) in Round 3 and then Perrow in Round 4. His upcoming quarterfinal opponent Bobby Martinez (USA) was among a bevy of standout surfers today.

Martinez made his heat with a 9.87 and 8.50 to find himself matched up with the Slater, the two-time and reigning Boost Mobile Pro Champion. The two recently went head to head in Fiji, with Slater victorious there, but barely.

“The surfing has been great,” Slater said. “There was some really good surfing in the heat before mine with Bobby (Martinez) and Kai (Otton). Bobby just ended up out-classing him, so we’ve got a rematch now. I’m not sure how I want to approach it just yet – maybe just like that last heat. Lay it on rail.”

Slater’s pick for form surfer of the event – Dane Reynolds (USA) – wowed again today and took out World No. 2 Joel Parkinson (AUS). Currently campaigning for a record ninth world title, Slater was obviously pleased about that, but isn’t letting his guard down. Always the mathematician, he is already looking at  how the ratings will change when the surfers start to drop their two low results – only 9 of 11 events count toward an ASP World Tour surfer’s final tally.

“I think that it’s a little tricky, because if you drop two results he’s in fourth or fifth, so Bede (Durbidge) or Mick (Fanning) actually have better results if you take the top five out of the seven results we have so far,” Slater said. “Joel has been the form surfer of the event. Him and Dane (Reynolds), Jordy (Smith) and Bede (Durbide) have really stood out as well. If I’m able to make it through my Quarterfinals heat I’ll either face Bede (Durbidge) or Dane (Reynolds) and that’d be great.”

Slater lost to World No. 3 Bede Durbidge (AUS) in the Boost Mobile Pro final in 2006. Durbidge lit up Lower Trestles in a similar fashion today – eliminating fellow Aussie Luke Stedman when he posted a 9.17 and 9.40 to amass an 18.57 out of 20.00 heat total.

“It was a tough heat with Stedman,” Durbidge said. “He got that 8.5 and I knew I had to step it up a bit and I got that nine. He was still within striking distance. I got that last wave and just went for it. I was able to pull off that big turn off and I knew it would be a good score if I rode through it. Then Stedman needed a 10 and it took the pressure off a bit.”

Durbidge is still an outside title threat, and with a win, he could easily reclaim the world No. 2 spot.

“I’d like to get a win,” Durbidge said. “There are a lot of heats to go, but I’d love to get that feeling back of the win, but I’m just going to take it one heat at a time. It’s just so fun out there. Trestles is just so rippable and you can really push your turns and I’m just going to take it one heat at a time.”

With five minutes to go, rookie Dane Reynolds (USA) needed a 4.94 to win his heat against Parkinson. He upped the anty with a last second wave to earn 9.33 and a spot in the quarters against Durbidge.

“That was the wave of the day and I really just had to ride it to get my score,” Reynolds said. “If I tried to get a five on the best wave of the day I probably would have fallen on the first turn. I just tried to ride it normal and ended up coming through with the huge score.”

Reynolds is now assured an equal fifth or better placing – his best result this year was a fifth at Bells Beach.

“I just hope it keeps pumping like this because I love Trestles,” Reynolds said. “I’m surprised to get this far so I’m not going to say I’m going to make it further than my next heat because I just don’t know.”

France’s Jeremy Flores scraped his way into Quarterfinal 3 with a last minute victory against the tour’s top rated Brazilian surfer, Adriano de Souza.

“I thought that last wave was going to close out when I took off,” Flores said. “It opened up though and I got the score. It was kind of hard to surf because of the sections, but it was so much fun. I felt good and I thought I wasn’t going to do anything special because of my ankle because the more I surf the more it hurts, but it felt okay in that heat. Adriano (de Souza) has beat me twice this year, so it felt good to beat him.”

The Frenchman will meet reigning ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS) – who beat Taylor Know (USA) today – in the next round.

“Finally, I haven’t passed the fourth round since Bells,” Flores said. Now I get to surf against Mick (Fanning) and it’s going to be so fun. If I win, I win and if I don’t, I don’t. To be able to go out and have fun and surf with your favorite surfers is the best thing in the world.”

The last two heats of Round 4 will be the first action in the water when the Boost Mobile Pro resumes. Heat 7 is a scorcher with Taj Burrow (AUS) and Jordy Smith (ZAF) both looking to secure a spot in the quarters. Heat 8 pits rookies Jay Thompson (AUS) and Heitor Alves (BRA) against one another to see who will exit the event equal 9^th and who will go further; either way, their results at the Boost Mobile Pro will be personal bests for both surfers.

Another call on competition status will be made tomorrow morning at 7 and event organizers are hoping to run the last nine heats of the Boost Mobile Pro. If everything goes according to plan the final should hit the water between around 1 pm.

Today’s Round 4 Boost Mobile Pro pres. by Hurley Results:

Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 18.57 def. Luke Stedman (AUS) 13.24

Heat 2: Dane Reynolds (USA) 17.16 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.77

Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 18.37 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 16.33

Heat 4: Kelly Slater (USA) 19.60 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 16.07

Heat 5: Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.33 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 7.60

Heat 6: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 17.44 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.67

Today’s Round 3 Boost Mobile Pro pres. by Hurley Results:

Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) 14.67 def. Ben Bourgeois (USA) 11.67

Heat 6: Kai Otton (AUS) 15.67 def.  Luke Munro (AUS) 11.84

Heat 7: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 12.33 def. Roy Powers (HAW) 10.1

Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.00 def. Sunny Garcia (HAW) 14.67

Heat 9: Mick Fanning (AUS) 18.30 def. Yadin Nicol (AUS) 7.67

Heat 10: Taylor Knox (USA) 15.00 def. Tim Reyes (USA) 13.83

Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.17 def. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 13.67

Heat 12: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.04 def.  Royden Bryson (ZAF) 12.67

Heat 13: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.66 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 13.17

Heat 14: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 17.27 def. Chris Ward (USA) 12.10

Heat 15: Heitor Alves (BRA) 12.84 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 10.50

Heat 16: Jay Thompson (AUS) 14.04 def.  Bruce Irons (HAW) 4.93

Upcoming Round 4 Boost Mobile Pro pres. by Hurley Match-ups:

Heat 7: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)

Heat 8: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)

Upcoming Quarterfinal Boost Mobile Pro pres. by Hurley Match-ups:

Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)

Heat 2: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Kelly Slater (USA)

Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Jeremy Flores (FRA)

Heat 4: TBA

Dane Reynolds beat Jeremy Flores and Heitor Alves to advance straight to Round 3.

SAN CLEMENTE, California (Monday, Sept. 8, 2008) – The world’s best surfers were treated to perfect conditions at the Boost Mobile Pro presented by Hurley today. All of Round 1 and the first two heats of Round 2 were run in consistent three to five foot waves at Lower Trestles.

Having the opportunity to score another surf in today’s excellent conditions was not lost on ASP World No. 3 Bede Durbidge (AUS) and World No.4 Taj Burrow (AUS). Both surfers came up short in Round 1, but bounced back in Round 2 beating former ASP World Tour competitors Shane Beschen (USA) and Rob Machado (USA) respectively to avoid an untimely exit from the event.

“When I get to Trestles the wave is so much fun that I always get too excited, I don’t know what to do with that perfect wall and I usually blow it,” Burrow said. “I get a bit too over amped. I want to surf it the way I would free surf it. I just want to stay consistent and make some heats.”

Burrow was beaten by injury replacement surfer Sunny Garcia (HAW) in Round 1, but redeemed himself by posting the second highest heat total of the day – 18.50 – when he eliminated Beschen in Round 2.

Former Boost Mobile Pro Champion Bede Durbidge (AUS) had to claw his way back into contention after losing to wildcard Brett Simpson in Round 1. Durbidge beat eight-time ASP World Champion and current ratings leader Kelly Slater (USA) in the 2006 final to post his first ASP World Tour victory. He beat Machado in Round 2 to keep his chances of finding himself in another Lower Trestles final alive today.

 “Winning in 2006 was definitely a career highlight and it gave me so much confidence for the rest of the tour,” Durbdige said. “Coming back, I have so many good memories and I just love the wave. It’s so rippable.”

Slater is shooting for his third ASP World Tour win at Trestles having entered the event the defending champion and first winning it in 2005. He posted two excellent scoring rides in Round 1 – a 9.60 and 9.00 – to amass an 18.60 out of 20.00 point heat total – the highest of the day.

“There’s really not too much uphill from there,” Slater said. “I had a good heat. I was in sync. My board felt really good and I couldn’t have asked for more. It’s always good to start off with a good heat because it gets your confidence up and you feel better on your feet. I didn’t feel totally good on my feet when the heat started, but then I just got patient and made sure I waited for the second and third wave of the set. They tended to have a little bit better shape down the line.”

Reigning ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS) beat Tom Whitaker (AUS) and Machado to book his spot straight into Round 3 today. Currently rated World No. 5, Fanning was pleased to put a solid 17.90 heat total on the board after bowing out of the event uncharacteristically early with an equal 17th last year.

“When you come off of a break it feels good to get a win because you don’t really know where you’re sitting,” Fanning said. “It’s good to go out there and go through the motions and get the ball rolling.”

Sunny Garcia (HAW) earned his berth into the event after Danny Wills (AUS) withdrew for medical reasons and the first, second and third ASP injury replacement surfers declined the spot. Garcia is currently competing on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) hoping to regain a berth on the ASP World Tour, but was happy to take a break from that series to surf the Boost Mobile Pro.

Garcia beat Burrow and local surfer Chris Ward (USA) in Round 1 and now finds himself in Round 3.

“It all kind of worked out for me,” Garcia said. “I was surfing in France and not really getting results and my knees were bothering me, so I wanted to come home and train. I talked to Damien at Boost and he said that he thought they had a spot for me in the event. It worked out good. I came home early and did some training in and I get to surf perfect Trestles with only a couple of guys out, so I couldn’t ask for more.”

Another call on competition status will be made tomorrow morning at 7, but all indications point to an 8am start with Heat 3 of Round 2 featuring three-time ASP World Champion Andy Irons (HAW) up against event wildcard Yadin Nicol (AUS).

The Boost Mobile Pro will be webcast LIVE on www.aspworldtour.com and www.boostmobilepro.com.

Round 2 Results:

Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 18.50 def. Shane Beschen (USA) 9.00

Heat 2: Bede Durbdige (AUS) 15.33 def. Rob Machado (USA) 12.50

Round 1 Results:

Heat 1: Kai Otton (AUS) 13.67, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.04, Travis Logie (ZAF) 11.70

Heat 2: Bobby Martinez (USA) 13.50, Damien Hobgood (USA) 11.24, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 3.03

Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.90, Taylor Knox (USA) 14.66, Jihad Khodr (BRA) 8.00

Heat 4: Daniel Ross (AUS) 12.67, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 10.74, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 10.70

Heat 5: Roy Powers (HAW) 14.33, Andy Irons (HAW) 8.57, Ricky Basnett (ZAF) 7.73

Heat 6: Brett Simpson (USA) 16.23, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.84, Ben Dunn (AUS) 11.43,

Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.47, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 15.17, Tim Reyes (USA) 11.17

Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.60, Dayyan Neve (AUS) 13.47, Shane Beschen (USA) 12.00

Heat 9: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.90, Rob Machado (USA) 11.17, Tom Whitaker (AUS) 7.90

Heat 10: Sunny Garcia (HAW) 14.50, Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.67, Chris Ward (USA) 10.56

Heat 11: Dane Reynolds (USA) 14.47, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 13.50, Heitor Alves (BRA) 9.50

Heat 12: Mikael Picon (FRA) 11.60, Bruce Irons (HAW) 6.50, Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 10.90

Heat 13: Ben Bourgeois (USA) 14.10, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 13.27, Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.67,

Heat 14: Luke Stedman (AUS) 13.73, Pancho Sullivan (HAW) 12.30, Luke Munro (AUS) 10.93

Heat 15: Royden Bryson (ZAF) 15.43, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.00, Jay Thompson (AUS) 12.20

Heat 16: Dean Morrison (AUS) 14.00, Mick Campbell (AUS) 9.67, Neco Padaratz (BRA) 8.00

Upcoming Round 2 Heats:

Heat 3: Andy Irons (HAW) vs. Yadin Nicol (AUS)

Heat 4: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Ricky Basnett (ZAF)

Heat 5: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Jihad Khodr (BRA)

Heat 6: Bruce Irons (HAW) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)

Heat 7: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Travis Logie (AUS)

Heat 8: Fredrick Patacchia (AUS) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)

Heat 9: Dayyan Neve (AUS) vs. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA)

Heat 10: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Luke Munro (AUS)

Heat 11: Chris Ward (USA) vs. Neco Padaratz (BRA)

Heat 12: Tim Reyes (USA) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)

Heat 13: Ben Dunn (AUS) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)

Heat 14: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Pancho Sullivan (HAW)

Heat 15: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)

Heat 16: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)