Kelly Slater starts strong in Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast
The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast got underway at Australia's Snapper Rocks, and Kelly Slater wasted no time asserting his dominance, posting the highest heat total of the day -- a 17.77 out of a possible 20 -- including the day’s high single-wave score of a 9.27 out of a possible 10.
"I missed a really good wave at the beginning of the heat and it kind of focused me," Slater said.
Reigning champion Mick Fanning also wasted no time in reasserting himself as one of the most lethal surfers on tour this year, dispatching fellow Australian's Kai Otton and Garrett Parkes with an excellent 17.36 out of a possible 20.
"It’s great," Fanning said. "I’m stoked to be able to surf good Snapper to start off the year."
Other top seeds, No. 2 Joel Parkinson, No. 3, Bede Durbidge and No. 5 Adriano De Souza, also posted Round 1 victories in the first of 10 events on this year's ASP World Tour.
Conditions allowing, here's the match-ups for Round 2 today:
Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Garrett Parkes (AUS)
Heat 2: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Blake Ainsworth (AUS)
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Craig Anderson (USA)
Heat 4: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Neco Padaratz (BRA)
Heat 5: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Blake Thornton (AUS)
Heat 6: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Marco Polo (BRA)
Heat 7: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)
Heat 8: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. Tanner Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 9: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 10: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Nathan Yeomans (USA)
Heat 11: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)
Heat 12: Mick Campbell (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 13: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 14: Ben Dunn (AUS) vs. Daniel Ross (AUS)
Heat 15: Roy Powers (HAW) vs. Andy Irons (HAW)
Heat 16: Drew Courtney (AUS) vs. Luke Stedman (AUS)
-- Kelly Burgess
Photo: Nine-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater put on an awesome display of competitive surfing wowing crowds that flocked to the sands of Snapper Rocks to watch the surfing icon in action. Credit: Kelly Cestari / ASP
To follow this blog on Twitter, please visit @latimesoutposts
