Occhilupo wins incredible final at the Margaret River Pro
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 2 April, 2006 : - - Legendary Australian surfer Mark Occhilupo completed a fairytale finish at the Margaret River Pro presented by O’Neill, winning in incredible circumstances today. Occhilupo, who turns 40 this year, won the first-ever professional event at Margaret River 21 years ago, way back in 1985. He returned to the event this year to try and claim a second win in what he had announced as his final time competing at the Margaret River event.
The win couldn't have been more nail-biting or controversial, as with only two minutes remaining, Occhilupo was in second place before paddling for a wave alongside leading Final surfer and good friend Jake Paterson. With only one surfer allowed to take the wave, both Occhilupo and Paterson collided. The judges deemed the collision to be Paterson's fault and he was penalised for the indiscretion, losing half his points for his second scoring ride and slipping from first to third position, allowing Occhilupo to take the win.
Paterson looked to have the final won with the highest-scoring ride of the final - an 8.83, which he scored midway through the final before backing it up shortly after with a strong 7.5. Occhilupo made his charge late in the final when he scored an excellent 8.4 ride to move from fourth to second and issue a challenge to Paterson.
When the interference occurred, with only two minutes remaining, everyone wondered who would be penalised. Most assumed both surfers would likely to be penalised, following multiple interference calls due to similar collisons over the final two days of the event.
Marc Occhilupo : photo Mario Vassallo
Delighted with his win today, Occhilupo said: “I really felt that final wave was mine and I think it was the right call. I’ve never been involved in that sort of finish before. It was an amazing situation to be caught in. In surfing, you’re friends up until the final three minutes and then it's anything goes, and that really was.”
Before the event, Occhilupo announced the contest would be his last competitive appearance at Margaret River, but the win today made him again change his mind. “I really do love this event and after this I'll be back, even if I am retired next year. My wife Mai would be here and she’d love to come across. Twenty one years ago was my last win at Margies, so you wouldn't really call this a back-to-back win hey!”
Paterson was disappointed with the final decision, but was philosophical. “It’s great that Occy won. I guess as he's been a fantastic supporter of this event. That was definitely the most bizarre finish I've ever been involved in though - that was crazy!”
“Margaret’s is a left and right-breaking peak, so it often presents situations like that. I actually thought it would be scored as a double interference and I probably still would’ve won. In hindsight I should have let him have the wave and made him surf for the win, because he required a big score. Still, that's surfing!"
Second in today’s final was South African Ricky Basnett. If a double interference had been called, Basnett would have won the final, though runner-up position was still a great result for the 20-year-old South African.
Fourth place went to local Margaret River surfer Tom Innes, in what was his highest-ever-placed performance in professional surfing. Innes is the son of arguably Australia's greatest-ever female swimmer, Shane Gould and his result today may well spur him to chase the World Qualifying Series (WQS) throughout this coming season. His performance today also saw him take out the Highest-Placed Regional Surfer award, presented by the WA Department of Sport & Recreation.
Final Results
1st Mark Occhilupo, Gold Coast, Queensland - 14.83 2nd Rick Basnett, South Africa - 13.67 3rd Jake Paterson, Yallingup, Western Australia - 12.58 4th Tom Innes, Margaret River, Western Australia - 12.50
The Toohey's Extra Dry Expression Session was also a feature of the day’s action, with young Newcastle surfer Travis Lynch taking out the win with some big powerful moves over the shallow Margaret River reef.
Jake Paterson : photo Steve Robertson
The four-star WQS Margaret River Pro, as part of the ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) World Tour, offered AUS$100,000 in prize money. The week-long event attracted thousands spectators, was watched by millions live on the internet via a real-time webcast and will be televised to over a billion people in more than 48 countries.
Around 200 professional surfers took part, representing 14 nations, including Hawaii, the USA, Brazil, France, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, New Zealand and Australia.
Men's WQS Ratings After Event #7, Margaret River Pro, Western Australia
Kling,Gabe
USA
1
4846
Basnett,Ricky
ZAF
2
3499
Beven,Patrick
FRA
3
2883
Kerr,Josh
AUS
4
2882
Todd,Mike
USA
5
2878
Ribas,Victor
BRA
6
2745
Howse,Jarrad
AUS
7
2732
Rebiere,Eric
FRA
8
2725
Simpson,Brett
USA
9
2680
Gouveia,Fabio
BRA
10
2650
Gudauskas,Patrick
USA
11
2483
Silva,Jean da
BRA
12
2479
Flores,Jeremy
REU
13
2448
Toth,Brian
PRI
14
2375
Courtney,Drew
AUS
15
2333
Silva,Andre
BRA
16
2320
Faria,Junior
BRA
17
2300
Eleogram,Ola
HAW
18
2267
Dornelles,Rodrigo
BRA
19
2208
Flintoff,Kirk
AUS
19
2208
Bourgeois,Ben
USA
21
2203
Padaratz,Neco
BRA
22
2187
Moody,Sean
HAW
23
2159
Lipke,Marlon
DEU
24
2148
Quinn,Maz
NZL
25
2137
Sedley,Leigh
AUS
25
2137
Boal,Tim
FRA
27
2119
Neves,Leonardo
BRA
28
2108
Ward,Shaun
USA
29
2081
Romao,Simao
BRA
30
2068
Hall,Glenn
AUS
31
2031
Perrow,Kieren
AUS
32
2029
Otton,Kai
AUS
33
1999
Curran,Nathaniel
USA
34
1983
Munro,Luke
AUS
34
1983
Bettero,Hizunome
BRA
36
1940
Fernandes,Gustavo
BRA
37
1935
Muscroft,Nic
AUS
38
1931
Alves,Heitor
BRA
39
1883
Ross,Daniel
AUS
40
1852
Gudauskas,Dane
USA
41
1829
Hansen,Bobby
NZL
42
1820
Neve,Dayyan
AUS
42
1820
Bryson,Royden
ZAF
44
1779
Riou,Alain
PYF
44
1779
Santos,Bruno
BRA
44
1779
Nolan,Asher
USA
47
1775
Powers,Roy
HAW
48
1726
Dunn,Ben
AUS
49
1720
Brown,Yerin
AUS
50
1710
Grillo,Danylo
BRA
51
1700
Herdy,Guilherme
BRA
52
1679
Goodrum,Darryll
USA
53
1678
Valiere,Evan
HAW
54
1646
Carroll,Nathan
HAW
55
1635
Petruso,Anthony
USA
56
1631
Yeomans,Nathan
USA
56
1631
Miranda,Bernardo
BRA
58
1623
Trekinho,Marcelo
BRA
59
1620
Hardman,Daniel
BRA
60
1610
Barca,Dustin
HAW
61
1594
Emslie,Greg
ZAF
62
1579
Centeio,Joel
HAW
63
1567
Thompson,Jay
AUS
64
1510
Hobgood,Damien
USA
65
1500
Machado,Rob
USA
65
1500
Occhilupo,Mark
AUS
65
1500
Nunes,Marcelo
BRA
68
1499
Quinn,Jay
NZL
68
1499
Garson,Kyle
USA
70
1493
Shibata,Jason
HAW
71
1491
Burrell,Shaun
USA
72
1488
Bourez,Michel
PYF
73
1479
Graves,Dylan
PRI
74
1478
Weare,David
ZAF
75
1443
Nora,Wilson
BRA
76
1412
Gutierrez,Pablo
ESP
77
1402
Paulino,Pablo
BRA
78
1399
Gutemberg,Joao
BRA
79
1390
McBride,Justin
USA
80
1368
Barnes,Jock
AUS
81
1366
Wright,Warwick
ZAF
82
1352
Harvey,Damon
AUS
83
1350
Teriinatoofa,Hira
PYF
83
1350
Ohno,Norimasa
JPN
85
1308
Hobgood,C.J.
USA
86
1290
Patacchia,Fredrick (jnr)
HAW
86
1290
Helm,Ryan
USA
88
1285
Moura,Paulo
BRA
89
1283
Stang,Che
USA
90
1253
Logie,Travis
ZAF
91
1250
Pires,Tiago
PRT
92
1232
Rosa,Diego
BRA
93
1230
Khodr,Jihad
BRA
94
1222
Neto,Dunga
BRA
94
1222
Gaskell,Hank
HAW
96
1205
Redman,Daniel
ZAF
96
1205
El Harim,Abdel
MAR
98
1203
Randazzo,Dean
USA
99
1191
Tutton,Jarrah
AUS
100
1180
For further information on the 2006 Margaret River Pro presented by O’Neill, or to watch the event live online, go to www.margaretriverpro.com. For travel, accommodation and visitor information, contact the Margaret River Visitor Centre on (08) 9757 2911, email welcome@margaretriver.com or visit www.margaretriver.com.
Major sponsors include Tourism Western Australia and new presenting sponsor O’Neill Australia, the world’s leading wetsuit supplier and a committed supporter of Australian surfing and ASP events worldwide. Other sponsors include Nova 93.7, Department of Sport & Recreation, SunSmart, Brownes Chill, Tooheys Extra Dry, Odyssey 2020, Surftech, Coca-Cola, Leeuwin Estate, Chooks Fresh & Tasty, The Sunday Times, Margarets Beach Resort, Margaret River Law, FCS Fin Control Systems, Tracks, Surfersvillage, Shire of Augusta Margaret River, Association of Surfing Professionals and Surfing WA.
Printer friendly
Send to a friend
