Standings for ASP's WCT Surf Tour Through 6 Events | Medina, Parkinson, Fanning

The race for the WCT championship is heating up as the Tour heads into the second half of its schedule. Through 6 events, only 3 surfers have won a competition, and those 3 have each won 2 comps: Mick Fanning, Gabriel Medina, and Michel Bourez.  

1. Quik Pro Gold Coast - Medina

2. Margaret River Pro - Bourez

3. Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach - Fanning

4. Billabong Rio Pro - Bourez

5. Fiji Pro - Medina

6. J-Bay Open - Fanning

Not surprisingly, Fanning, Medina and Bourez all sit in the Top 5 of the standings:

1. Gabriel Medina - 36,150

2. Joel Parkinson - 34,400

3. Mick Fanning - 32,650

4. Taj Burrow - 31,950

5. Michel Bourez - 30,500

6. Kelly Slater - 30,350

7. Adriano de Souza - 30,100

8. Nat Young - 25,900

9. Kolohe Andino - 22,500

10. Josh Kerr - 22,250

The title race will be won and lost in the final 5 events:

Billabong Pro Tahiti - Aug 15-26

Hurley Pro Trestles - Sept 9-20

Quiksilver Pro France - Sept 25-Oct 6

Rip Curl Pro Portugal - Oct 12-23

Billabong Pipe Masters - Dec 8-20



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J Bay Open Round 3 Results | Matt Wilkinson Knocks Off Kelly Slater

The swell has filled in on day 5 of the J Bay Open 2014 waiting period, and round Round 3 is on after an exciting first few days of Rounds 1 and 2.  No real surprises after Rounds 1 and 2 - all the big names were still alive: Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, and Joel Parkinson and the Brazilians like Gabriel Medina and Adriano De Souza.  

Surfing's J Bay Open July 10-21 | Gabriel Medina and Michel Bourez Top Rankings

The J Bay Open, surfing's 6th stop on its WCT, begins this Thursday, July 10 in South Africa.  It will be interesting to see what J Bay's iconic point break has in store for this year's edition of the event, featuring some surprises at the top of the rankings.

Gabriel Medina and Michel Bourez, each with 2 victories in the first 5 events, sit 1 and 2 atop the leaderboard heading to J Bay.  There's hardly been a time in the past years when Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning or Joel Parkinson hasn't led the tour, and this year may be a changing of the guard.  Kelly sits near the top in third, but hasn't won any events yet.  Neither has Parko, who's in 5th, and although Mick has a win, he sits back in 8th place. 

Check out all the action live streaming at the J Bay site.   



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Gabriel Medina Wins Volcom Fiji Pro, Jumps to #1 in WCT Rankings

Brazilian Gabriel Medina handled Nat Young in the finals of the 2014 Volcom Fiji Pro held at Cloudbreak in beautiful, barreling 3-4 foot waves.  With the win, his second of the season following his win at the first event of the year, the Quik Pro Gold Coast, Medina leapfrogged from 4th place to 1st place overall in the WCT standings.  

Fiji Pro 2014 | June 1 - June 13 | Kelly Slater Seeks Third Straight Win at Fiji

The 2014 Fiji Pro runs this June 1 through June 13 at Tavarua, Fiji, with the site of the competition varying between Cloudbreak and Restaurants depending on the swell conditions.  The Fiji Pro is the 5th stop on the WCT Tour for 2014.  

Entering the Fiji Pro, Kelly Slater sits atop the WCT standings, followed by Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson, Michel Bourez, and Gabriel Medina.  Last year's champ, Mick Fanning, has struggled in the early part of the season, and is in 8th place after an early elimination at the last event, the Billabong Rio Pro.

2014 Billabong Rio Pro is On Live | Kelly Slater Perfect 10 in Round 5

The 2014 Billabong Rio Pro is on live this morning for those of you looking to check out event number 4 on surfing's World Championship Tour.  Currently the last heat of Round 5 is going off with Josh Kerr facing off against Sebastian Zietz.  It's possible that they run the rest of the heats today and crown a champion this afternoon.  

Kelly Slater is on to the quarterfinals after a super deep perfect 10 barrel against Adriano de Souza in Round 5.  Other big names and recent world champions like Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson have already been eliminated.  Defending Rio Pro champion Jordy Smith is still alive and obviously has a great connection with South America's only wave on tour, at Rio de Janeiro.   Young guns Kolohe Andino and Nat Young also lurking in the quarterfinals.

Slater's Perfect 10 Sequence:

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ASP World Tour 2013 Season Recap: Mick Fanning vs. Kelly Slater

By Andrew Sachs
2013 ASP World Tour Season Recap: the 2013 season of the ASP surfing world tour will go down in history as a season as dramatic and exciting as any other, with an epic, year-long, back and forth battle between Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning that was only settled by Mick's last-minute heroics in his Round 5 and Quarterfinal heats at the last event of the season, Pipeline, that clinched him the title.  Kelly's 3 event wins in pumping conditions (Bell's, Cloudbreak, Pipe) topped Mick's 1 contest win (poor conditions, France), but Mick was Mr. Consistency, reaching the quarterfinals or better in 9 of 10 events.  The question is: should the most consistent surfer earn the world title or the one who wins the most in the best conditions?

Kelly Slater Wins Pipe Masters 2013 | Mick Fanning Claims the ASP World Title

By Andrew Sachs
Mick Fanning claimed his 3rd ASP World Title yesterday at the Pipe Masters in pumping 10-12 foot Pipeline on a day that will go down in surf history because of the near-perfect conditions and also because of Mick's remarkable last minute heroics in both Round 5 and the Quarterfinals, turning 2 near-certain heat losses into wins, and keeping Kelly Slater from his 12th title.

Mick Fanning - 2013 world champ

Pipe Masters 2013 | Kelly Slater Looks To Top Mick Fanning for World Title

By Andrew Sachs
After a nearly 2 month hiatus, the WCT is back on and the Pipe Masters, the final event of the season, is going off to determine who will be the 2013 world champ.  It's shaped out to be a battle between Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater, but the odds are stacked up against Kelly.  Anything less than a win by Kelly, and Mick claims his third crown (along with '09 and '07).  And, even if Kelly wins, if Mick reaches the semifinals, he's still the champ.  Like I said, tough odds, but if anyone is up to the challenge to pull victory from defeat, it's Kelly.

Mick Fanning Claims the Quik Pro France Title, Widens His Lead Over Slater at #1

By Andrew Sachs
Mick Fanning defeated Gabriel Medina to claim the Quik Pro France title, finally breaking through for his first win of the season.  Combined with Kelly Slater's ouster in the quarterfinals, Mick's win opened up a 5,000 point cushion over Slater at the top of the standings in the race for the 2013 world title.  It's important to note that the world champ is crowned based on his best 8 out of 10 events, so the current standings are not the true point totals that will be used to calculate the champ.  That said, Mick has no worse than a 9th place finish this season, meaning even if he bombed the last two events, he still would have a strong shot at ending up on top.  Slater and the rest of the field have their work cut out in the last two events in Portugal and Hawaii.

Taj Burrow Knocks Off Julian Wilson to Claim the 2013 Hurley Pro

By Andrew Sachs
Aussie ripper Taj Burrow conquered an upset-filled field to win the 2013 Hurley Pro, defeating fellow mate Julian Wilson in the finals to claim the victory.  The Hurley Pro proved to be the most unpredictable event of the season so far, with neither of Kelly Slater or Mick Fanning qualifying for the quarterfinals for the first time in 2013.  Taj and Jordy Smith (semis) used their strong finishes to move up 1 place each in the overall rankings to 3 and 4, respectively, gaining some ground on Mick and Kelly at 1 and 2.

Hurley Pro: Kelly Slater Gunning for 4th Straight Win at Lower Trestles

By Andrew Sachs
The WCT makes its only stop in the U.S. at Lower Trestles, San Onofre State Beach, California, for the Hurley Pro beginning next Sunday, September 15th, with the waiting period extending to the 21st.  A familiar storyline has played out through the first 6 events of the season, with Kelly Slater and Mick Fanning breaking away from the rest of the world's best surfers.  Kelly, fresh off his finals appearance in Tahiti, is looking to claim his third win of the season and his fourth straight victory at the Hurley Pro Event.  Mick is actually still looking for his first win of the season, but his consistency has kept him neck-and-neck with Kelly, by making at least the quarterfinals of all 6 events this season.  Something's got to give, right?

Ace Buchan Conquers Teahupo'o and the Billabong Pro Tahiti

By Andrew Sachs
Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater came into the Billabong Pro Tahiti sitting 1-2 in the standings, with each surfer looking to separate himself from the pack to kick off the second half of the season.  And while each of the former world champs surfed well, each fell victim to a red-hot Ace Buchan in succession in the semis and finals, as Ace picked up his second WCT win ever, and first since 2008.

Oakley Pro Bali Schedule and Preview | June 18-29 in Keramas, Indonesia

By Andrew Sachs
The WCT moves west to another tropical island, Bali, for the Oakley Pro Bali from June 18th to 29th, fresh off of Kelly Slater's dominating win at the Fiji Pro.  After the first 4 events of the season, Kelly has won twice and sits atop the world tour rankings.  But before we crown Kelly with his 12th championship, let's not forget about some guys lurking right behind him.  Mick Fanning is in second place and has actually been more consistent than Kelly this season, reaching the quarterfinals of every event - Kelly can't say that.  Also, in the last three competitions, Jordy Smith has reach the semis, finals (won it) and quarters, so he's surfing hot right now.  We'll see if their consistency holds up in Bali.

Kelly Slater Repeats as Volcom Fiji Pro Champ, Wins with Dominating Performance

By Andrew Sachs
Kelly Slater dominated the final rounds at the Volcom Fiji Pro en route to his second consecutive title in Fiji, once again proving why he is the world's best competitive surfer ever, and why Cloudbreak is one of his favorite waves.  His quarterfinal-semifinal-final scores were almost too high to believe unless you've seen the waves: 20.00, 18.17 and 19.80.  2 perfect 10's in the quarterfinals!  Nearly repeating 2 perfect 10's in the finals.  And let's not forget Kelly had a 19.30 in round 4.  Slater freakin' dominated!

photo: Andrew Christie

Volcom Fiji Pro 2013 Quarterfinals Set: Mick v. Parko, John John v. Jordy...

By Andrew Sachs
After 4 days of waiting, the swell was back yesterday at Cloudbreak and the waves were rolling in heavy as ever.  The competition moved ahead and finished rounds 3-5.  Kelly Slater put on another show at one of his favorite waves and scored a 19.30 in round 4 - with a perfect 10 wave and another 9.30 to advance into the quarterfinals.

Volcom Fiji Pro Early Heats: Slater's Late Arrival, Restaurants Firing, and John John's Perfect 10

By Andrew Sachs
The early rounds of the Volcom Fiji Pro have provided great waves and great surfing that we have come to expect from Tavarua.  The first two days of the competition were lay days, but those days were followed by 3 days of competition days.  The day 1 action took place 2 miles out to sea, at Cloudbreak, but the competition switched to Restaurants on day 3 when the swell jumped there, providing for ideal wave riding conditions.

Volcom Fiji Pro 2013 | Schedule and Preview

By Andrew Sachs
The waiting period for the Volcom Fiji Pro, the WCT's 4th event of the season, begins June 2 and runs through June 14th.  The biggest story line from the first three events of the season is the performance of Adriano De Souza and Jordy Smith.  Both Adriano and Jordy have won one event apiece and have faced off against each other in the finals and semifinals of the last two competitions, with each surfer winning once.  Those two are currently first and second in the overall rankings, ahead of former champions Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning and Joel Parkinson.

Billabong Rio Pro 2013 | Schedule and Preview

By Andrew Sachs
The waiting period for the the Billabong Rio Pro, the WCT's 3rd event of the season, begins May 8th and runs until May 19th in what is looking like a pivotal early season matchup down in South America.  Some early story lines are already building in what could be setting up as another Slater-Parko-Mick fight for the title.  Of course, Taj Burrow, Adriano de Souza and some young guns have something to say about that.

Slater Out Surfs Parko to Win Quik Pro Gold Coast

By Andrew Sachs
Kelly Slater started the 2013 WCT season off with a bang by winning the Quik Pro Gold Coast down under and beating defending champion Joel Parkinson in the finals.  Although there's a long season ahead, the opening event victory put the rest of the tour on notice that Kelly is showing no signs of slowing down and is in prime shape to fight for title 12!