Leigh Sedley : photo Steve Robertson

Arrive Alive Central Coast Pro

Men's 4 Star WQS Event
Women's 4 Star WQS Event
Soldiers Beach, Norah Head NSW
11 - 16 March 2008

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Leigh Sedley took the biggest win of his career by taking out the final over Shaun Gossmann

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 15 March, 2008 : - - The Arrive alive Central Coast Pro saw the crowning of a new champion, as Leigh Sedley (Sunshine Coast, QLD) defeated Shaun Gossmann (Gold Coast, QLD) in the hotly contested Men’s Final. Sedley defeated Gossmann 13.34 to 12.77 to claim his maiden World Qualifying Series (WQS) win of his career – one which was made even sweeter with the US$10,000 prize purse.

Sedley, who had been one of the most consistent surfers throughout the event, used superior wave selection, patience and a blistering backhand arsenal to eventually outpoint Gossmann. “I’m so stoked with the result, it’s a perfect start to the year for me,” he said. “I had to wait 22 minutes for a decent scoring wave, but I knew that when it came I could get the scores I needed.”

Seemingly at the cross roads of his young career, Sedley was determined to do well this year – starting with the Arrive alive Central Coast Pro. “I had a pretty ordinary year last year, but managed to salvage it towards the end with some good results,” Sedley said. “This result is such a confidence boost for me. Hopefully it will be the perfect start to a good 2008.”

Leigh Sedley : photo Steve Robertson

“I was on the verge of loosing focus coming into this year; I said to all my family and friends it was now or never, but I trained really hard in the off-season. I just tried to work really hard on my surfing,” he said. Shaun Gossmann, who had steadily gained momentum after defeating the number one seed and current World Championship Tour (WCT) surfer Mick Campbell in the quarter finals, was happy with his opening result of the year.

“Coming into the event I wanted to make the final. So I am really happy to have reached my goal,” he said. “I really want to qualify for the WCT next year. I’ve been training really hard and working on my mental and physical fitness. This is a really good start to the year for me.” Needing a 6.18 in the last ten seconds to overtake Sedley and take the title, Gossmann received a 5.6 and his fate was sealed.

The Women’s side of competition is heating with the semi finals and final set to get underway at approximately 1pm. Semi final number one will see the best heat of the event with Sally Fitzgibbons (Gerroa) taking on local surfer and top seed Amee Donahoe (McMasters Beach). Both surfers have been in scintillating form and are doing battle for a sought after finals birth.

Shaun Gossman : photo Steve Robertson

The Arrive alive Central Coast Pro sees 144 male and 64 female surfers compete for total divisional prize money purses of US$80,000 and US$25,000 respectively, plus valuable early season WQS ratings points.

Results:

Final
1st Sedley,Leigh AUS 
2nd Gossmann,Shaun AUS 

Semifinal 1
1st Shaun Gossmann
2nd Gavin Gillette

Semifinal 2
1 Leigh Sedley
2 Toby Martin

Quarterfinal 1
1 Gavin Gillette
2 Khy vaughan

Quarterfinal 2
1 Shaun Gossmann
2 Michael Campbell

Quarterfinal 3
1 Leigh Sedley
2 Rhys Bombaci

Quarterfinal 4
1 Toby Martin
2 Matt Jones

Click here to view the Full Results

Mitch Coleborn : photo Steve Robertson

Men's WQS ratings after the Arrive Alive Pro

Gudauskas,Patrick	USA	1
Curran,Nathaniel	USA	2
Simpson,Brett	USA	3
Kling,Gabe	USA	4
Monteiro,Raoni	BRA	5
Barron,T.J	HAW	6
Toth,Brian	PRI	7
Boal,Tim	FRA	8
Zubizarreta,Gony	ESP	9
Gonzalez,Jonathan	CNY	10
Bettero,Hizunome	BRA	10
Collazo,Hodei	ESP	12
Ware,Austin	USA	13
Losness,Mike	USA	14
Spencer,Sterling	USA	15
Nora,Wilson	BRA	16
Gudauskas,Dane	USA	17
Hedge,Nathan	AUS	18
Sedley,Leigh	AUS	19
Powers,Roy	HAW	20
Costa,Danilo	BRA	21
Emslie,Greg	ZAF	21
Romao,Simao	BRA	21
Rosa,Peterson	BRA	21
Wright,Warwick	ZAF	21
Wilkinson,Matt	AUS	26
Gossmann,Shaun	AUS	27
Jones,Daniel	HAW	28
Gillette,Gavin	HAW	29
Hobgood,C.J.	USA	29
Lopez,Cory	USA	29
Nolan,Asher	USA	29
Yeomans,Nathan	USA	29
Cabrera,Jose Maria	CNY	34
Pilurzu,Federico	CRI	35
Rosa,Diego	BRA	35
Laulhe,Romain	FRA	37
Bacalso,Kekoa	HAW	38
Estienne,Jean Sebastien	FRA	39
Goodrum,Darrell	USA	40
Acero,Eneko	EUK	41
Burrell,Shaun	USA	41
Cardoso,Willian	BRA	41
Coutinho,Odirlei	BRA	41
Herdy,Guilherme	BRA	41
Martin,Toby	AUS	41
Ohno,Masatoshi	JPN	41
Paulino,Pablo	BRA	41
Santos,Ricardo dos	BRA	41
Lopes,Bernardo	BRA	41
Cansdell,Shaun	AUS	51

Click here to view the Full WQS Ratings

About Arrive alive
Arrive alive is the NSW Motor Accidents Authority’s (MAA) youth road safety program. The MAA regulates the Compulsory Third Party (CTP) personal injury insurance scheme in NSW (known as Greenslips). The MAA is concerned about the over-representation of young people aged 17 to 25 in road crashes. Young drivers in this age group are at a higher risk of crashing than drivers of older ages for lots of reasons, including their inexperience, attitudes to driving and a tendency towards risk taking behaviour.

The MAA has a major commitment to improving road safety in NSW, and recognises that achieving this requires effective communication with young people about risk taking on the roads. This is where Arrive alive comes in. Arrive alive includes a range of programs that reflect common interest areas for young people. These programs aim to involve young people in activities they enjoy while positively influencing attitudes and behaviours on the roads.  The MAA wants to see young people stay safe on the roads and Arrive alive!

Previous reports:
# 1 : Arrive Alive Central Coast Pro readies for March 11 launch
# 2 : Arrive Alive Central Coast Pro rolls out with opening party
# 3 : Soldiers Beach turns on for Arrive Alive Pro opening day

# 4 : Arrive Alive Central Coast Pro Rnd 2 top seeds dominate 
# 5 : Arrive Alive Central Coast Pro sees an in form Sam Page
# 6 : Arrive Alive Pro sets stage for Hamilton/Fitzgibbons duel

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Arrive Alive Media
Steve Robertson
stever@surfingaustralia.com

Michael Tyrpenou
michael.tyrpenou@gmail.com

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