Quiksilver Pro Durban 

Men's 6 Star WQS Prime
New Pier Durban South Africa
13 -  20 April 2008

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

WEARE BEATS WARE TO WIN QUIKSILVER PRO DURBAN 2008! 

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 19 April, 2008 : - - Bluff, Durban – An inspired performance from Durban’s Davey Weare saw him surf to victory against USA’s Austin Ware in excellent surf at Ansteys on the Bluff near Durban. Utilising their Prime-status alternative venue, the contest organisers had little hesitation in choosing Ansteys for the final day of surfing at the Quiksilver Pro Durban.

“Ansteys was always on the radar,” said contest director Matt Wilson of the venue choice for the day. “There’s not much happening at New Pier, or anywhere else on the coast, and we’re seeing some great waves here. The surfers are happy, so it was the right decision to make.” A day of great surfing, big moves and barrel rides ensued, with some explosive match-ups the order of the day.

Josh Kerr from Australia was in the first heat of the day against fellow Australian Shaun Cansdell, and won it convincingly with big turns and some trade-mark airs. “This is a great wave and stoked we moved here,” said Kerr of the new location. “These waves have plenty of push and there’s opportunities for big scores, so it definitely was a good idea to move the event. I got lucky in that heat by catching the good ones, but a win’s a win, so I’ll take it.”

The last local surfer Davey Weare surfed a red-hot heat against German surfer Marlon Lipke, with the Durban surfer sneaking into some tight barrels and off-the top combinations to keep the local hopes alive. One wave in particular looked like a perfect barrel but Davey was clipped while exiting the tube. Still, he had done enough to win the heat.

Davey Weare : photo Quiksilver/Ewing

“My first wave was a great one, with a little barrel and a nice hook,” said Davey. “I though that I was going to make that second barrel, and if I had it would have taken some of the pressure off the heat, but it still worked out alright for me.”

The quarter-finals took to the water at low tide, and there were some hollow sections and a few little barrels coming through for the last eight surfers. Emerging victorious from their encounters were Austin Ware who defeated by Josh Kerr, Jihad Khodr who defeated Heitor Alves, David Weare who eliminated Dustin Barca, and Portuguese surfer Tiago Pires who took out Leigh Sedley from Australia.

“Well, the waves are fine here at Ansteys. We got a few good ones in that heat,” said Tiago afterwards. “I much prefer the waves at New Pier, but there’s nothing there today, so we’re lucky with these waves.”

In the first semi-final Austin Ware from America eliminated Brazilian Jihad Kodre from the event, after Jihad’s best wave scored a zero. Ware had priority at the time, and was up and riding on the inside when Jihad took off. “I went for that wave as I needed an early start. I didn’t even see what Jihad was doing,” said Ware of the incident. “Still, stoked to get so far. This is my first six star final, so I am absolutely pumped!”

Davey Weare turned the heat on against Tiago Pires in the second semi-final and surfed an inspired heat in front of his home crowd. Davey linked his scoring waves all the way through to the shorebreak with some good combinations of moves and impressive laybacks.

Austin Ware : photo Quiksilver/Ewing

“I was so stoked to hear the crowds cheering me after every wave,” said Davey, commenting on the vocal local crowd. I’ve got my wife and my daughter and family here, my dad, and all my best friends. It’s unreal to hear their support.” Davey was looking relaxed and surfing smoothly in the clean conditions at Ansteys.

The Quiksilver Pro Junior hit the water just prior to the main final, and was a tightly contested final between Klee Strachan from Warner Beach and Nick Godfrey from St Francis. Near the end of the heat it was Godfrey in the lead and with priority when he gave a wave to Strachan. Klee maximised the opportunity, pulled off a big turn on the outside and weaved his way all the way through to the shorebreak for a massive hit, a big score and the Pro Junior title.

The tide had moved in for the final of the main event between Weare and Ware, but the waves were still pumping. Davey’s first scoring wave consisted of a clean tube ride and a big close-out move, and he just improved from then onwards.

Without wishing to detracts from Austin’s performance, Davey Weare peaked during the final and was clearly going to win it. He followed up with two more big scores that showed off his repertoire of futuristic airs and big turns, and Austin was left needing a 9-plus score to get into the lead. Austin was gracious in his defeat, praising Weare on his performance, and it was a very stoked Davey who emerged from the water the Quiksilver Pro Durban 2008 Champion.

Klee Stachan : photo Quiksilver/Ewing

“So incredibly happy right now,” said Davey on the beach just seconds before he was hoisted up on his friends shoulders and carried up the beach. “I had a good start, and during the event whenever I had a good start I seemed to do well. I’m a bit overwhelmed right now, I can’t remember all that went on in the heat. The support really did help, so thanks to all those people who were cheering me on from the beach.”

Weare wins US$15,000 and 3000 points for his efforts, and solidifies his hunt for a spot on the coveted World Tour in 2009.

Results:

Final
David Weare def. Austin Ware

Semifinals
S1: David Weare def. Tiago Pires
S2: Austin Ware def Jihad Khodr

Check the Full Results

Current Men's WQS Ratings
Gudauskas,Patrick	USA	1
Bettero,Hizunome	BRA	2
Monteiro,Raoni	BRA	3
Ware,Austin	USA	4
Sedley,Leigh	AUS	5
Gossmann,Shaun	AUS	6
Barron,T.J	HAW	7
Simpson,Brett	USA	8
Curran,Nathaniel	USA	9
Davidson,Chris	AUS	10
Cansdell,Shaun	AUS	11
Weare,David	ZAF	12
Hedge,Nathan	AUS	13
Cardoso,Willian	BRA	14
Paulino,Pablo	BRA	14
Bombaci,Rhys	AUS	16
Courtney,Drew	AUS	17
Bacalso,Kekoa	HAW	18
Kerr,Josh	AUS	19
Boal,Tim	FRA	20
Lipke,Marlon	DEU	21
Spencer,Sterling	USA	22
Campbell,Ryan	AUS	23
Wilkinson,Matt	AUS	24
Garcia,Sunny	HAW	25
Toth,Brian	PRI	26
Henrique,Pedro	BRA	27
Gonzalez,Jonathan	CNY	28
Kling,Gabe	USA	29
O'Rafferty,Darren	AUS	30
Gudauskas,Dane	USA	31
Nicol,Yadin	AUS	32
Collazo,Hodei	ESP	33
Cabrera,Jose Maria	CNY	34
Bourez,Michel	PYF	35
Muscroft,Nic	AUS	36
Flintoff,Kirk	AUS	37
Losness,Mike	USA	38
Wright,Warwick	ZAF	38
Dornelles,Rodrigo	BRA	40
Souza,Adriano de	BRA	40
Ward,Chris	USA	40
Romao,Simao	BRA	43
Melling,Adam	AUS	44
Fahrenfort,Damien	ZAF	45
Yeomans,Nathan	USA	46
Palmboom,Rudy (jnr)	ZAF	46
Emslie,Greg	ZAF	48
Zubizarreta,Gony	ESP	48
Barca,Dustin	HAW	50
Khodr,Jihad	BRA	51
Whitaker,Tom	AUS	51
Silva,Jean da	BRA	53
Sodre,Yuri	BRA	54
Estienne,Jean Sebastien	FRA	55
Riou,Alain	PYF	56
Atkinson,Dion	AUS	57
Gillette,Gavin	HAW	58
Cuizon,Dustin	HAW	59
Carroll,Nathan	HAW	60
Ross,Daniel	AUS	61
Alves,Heitor	BRA	62
Fisher,Paul	AUS	62
Gudauskas,Tanner	USA	64
Bastos,Leandro	BRA	65
Howse,Jarrad	AUS	66
Ward,Shaun	USA	67
Thompson,Jay	AUS	68
Ziems,Corey	AUS	69
Laulhe,Romain	FRA	70
Coutinho,Odirlei	BRA	71
Waring,Chris	USA	72
Ohno,Masatoshi	JPN	73
Powers,Roy	HAW	74
Wilson,Blake	AUS	75
Flores,Jeremy	FRA	76
Galvao,Renato	BRA	77
Lopez,Cory	USA	77
Pilurzu,Federico	CRI	79
Page,Sam	AUS	80
Pires,Tiago	PRT	80
Cheadle,Luke	AUS	82
Campbell,Luke	AUS	83
Hansen,Bobby	NZL	83
Petruso,Anthony	USA	85
Perry,Jack	AUS	86
Coleborn,Mitchel	AUS	87
MacDonald,Phillip	AUS	88
Savalli,Hugo	REU	88
McBride,Justin	USA	90
Souza,Wesley de	USA	91
Hall,Glenn	AUS	92
Centeio,Joel	HAW	93
Geiselman,Eric	USA	94
Sullivan,Kevin	HAW	95
Silva,Andre	BRA	96
Santos,Robson	BRA	97
Thornton,Blake	AUS	97
Buchan,Adrian	AUS	99
Spencer,Michael	AUS	99
Sullivan,Jarrad	AUS	99
Dowthwaite,Josh	AUS	102

Check the Full Ratings

- Images from Saturday -

- More photos from Saturday - 

To watch the event live log onto the event mini-site on quikprodurban.com and follow the webcasting link. The web commentator team comprises former world champion Martin Potter, and former long-time WCT competitor Jake Paterson, as well as mix of competitors and Quiksilver South Africa team members.

Previous reports:
# 1 : Quiksilver Pro Durban highest rated WQS in South Africa
# 2 : Quiksilver Pro Durban 6-Star Prime set to run at New Pier
# 3 : Quiksilver Pro Durban hosts Komunity Project Future Stars

# 4 : Science Fiction technology airs with Quiksilver Pro Durban 
# 5 : Quiksilver Pro Durban attracting world's top WQS surfers
# 6 : ASP grade 2 Quiksilver Pro Junior contestants gearing up

# 7 : Bo Shabalala wins Kommunity Project Future Stars event
# 8 : Quiksilver Pro Junior scores small perfection at New Pier
# 9 : Virgin Mobile Trials run in small surf at Quik Pro Durban

# 10 : Missing surfers & boards cause a Quiksilver Pro lay day
# 11 : Chris Davidson gets perfect ten at Quiksilver Pro Durban
# 12 : Locals go big in firing New Pier at Quiksilver Pro Durban
# 13 : Josh Kerr flies, Smith bows out at Quiksilver Pro Durban

www.quiksilver.com
www.mxit.co.za/wap
www.quikprodurban.com
www.quiksilver.com/podcasts
www.surfingsouthafrica.co.za

More African Surfing News available here
Check the latest Africa Surf Reports and Forecasts

New! B2B News ASBE-Surf   |  Receive News-Alerts

Quiksilver Marketing Manager
Dane Patterson
dane.patto@quiksilver.co.za

Quiksilver South Africa
Craig Jarvis
media@quiksilver.co.za

WQS Contests - Surfersvillage