Mr. Price Pro

ASP 6-Star WQS Mens event
ASP 6-Star WQS Womens event
Ballito, KZN South Africa
29 June - 5 July 2009

Live Coverage  |  Results/Photos/Videos etc

TANNER GUDAUSKAS CROWNED MR PRICE PRO CHAMP  
 
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 July, 2009 : - - Just hours after celebrating both his 21st birthday and American Independence Day (both on 4 July), Tanner Gudauskas (California, USA) celebrated the biggest victory of his professional surfing career, taking out the ASP WQS 6-Star Mr Price Pro Ballito, today.

Gudauskas defeated Australian James Taipan Wood (Aus) rocketing to World No. 6 on the ASP World Qualifying Series and pocketing R159 000 (US$20 000) as well as 2500 ASP WQS ratings points.

“I just can’t believe it, this is a personal best for me!” said Gudauskas. “Every night this week I’ve been going to bed dreaming about winning this contest and putting myself up there where Pat (Tanner’s brother and WQS No. 10 Patrick Gudauskas) was at, and it came through today so I’m fired up!”

Attacking the 30-minute final with unprecedented determination, Gudauskas rode every lump of swell, snatching an early heat lead with a 6.83 (out of 10.00) for some clean backhand turns, riding out in an explosion of whitewater off his final maneuver.

While his opponent Wood opted to play the patience game catching his first wave at the 11 minute mark, Gudauskas projected fast out of his top turns, maintaining speed and power in the wind affected waves to score a 6.67 and further extend his lead over the Australian, who was left looking for a 7.67.

Tanner Gadauskas : photo ASP Africa

“I just got into this mindset that when the surf got worse I was going to get better and as the tide came up and it got less consistent, I just got more fired up and more pissed off,” said Gudauskas. “It’s crazy because I can hardly remember half of it now but my priority exchange worked out and it all came together and I’m just super fired up!”

Cloaked in stars and stripes, of the American flag, an emotional Gudauskas was chaired up the beach by his older brother Dane and quarterfinalist Dylan Graves (Pri), surrounded by a sea of adoring fans and media crew all wanting a piece of the newly crowned champ.

“When I came out of the water and saw my brothers and some of my friends all standing on the beach cheering for me I was almost in tears,” said Gudauskas. “We have a really strong crew from America right now and we’re all pushing as hard as we can to bust down the door and make the ASP World Tour and I think this year could be the year.”

Guduaskas is now the highest rated American surfer on the WQS tour, surpassing both WQS No. 7 Brett Simpson and his older brother WQS No. 10 Patrick Gudauskas.

Mr Price Pro Ballito runner-up James Wood, a former U16 World Champion who until today was yet to make his mark on the WQS circuit, joined Gudauskas in posting his career best result, taking home R79 000 ($10 000) as well as a serious boost of confidence.

“This second place is amazing, it’s the best I have ever done,” said Wood. “Obviously my strategy wasn’t the best but this result is going to help a lot. I didn’t expect to do this well and I just ended up on a good roll so I’m stoked and just want to keep the momentum going into the next few contests.”

Finishing in equal third positions were aerial maestro’s Australians Wade Goodall and Matt Wilkinson, who kept spectators glued to the action with their radical near perfect 9-point rides this morning. Both surfers earned R40 000 (US$ 5000) each as well as 1625 ratings points; Wilkinson jumping to WQS No. 12.

Netting good to excellent scores all week, including a near perfect 9.17 (out of ten) in his quarterfinal match-up against Dylan Graves (PRI), Wilkinson was relegated into second place by an on-form Wood during their semifinal, the Australian needing only a 6.61 to advance.

“If I had known I was going to come here and get third I would have been stoked, but to need a 6 to make a final is incredibly disappointing because I’ve caught a hundred sixes this week,” said Wilkinson.  “It’s disappointing but I’m still very happy with this result.”

Sponsored free surfer and new school innovator Wade Goodall suffered a similar semifinal loss. After posting a perfect 9.33 during the quarterfinals against South African Klee Strachan, Goodall lost confidence against Gudauskas in the semis. Failing to land any of his trademark air reverses, Goodall slipping into a combination situation (needing a combination of two-scoring rides) as Gudauskas racked up scores advancing into the final.

“I’m amped with this result,” said Goodall. “I got really nervous in that heat and my legs kept giving way on many of my airs. I hardly ever actually have to think that I have to make an air going into it, but still I’m stoked with how things went today.”

WQS No. 1 Daniel Ross (Aus) took home an equal fifth place finish, joining fellow quarterfinalists Dylan Graves (Pri), Klee Strachan (Zaf) and Nathan Hedge (Aus), all of whom earned R23 000 ($2950).

South African Klee Strachan (Winkelspruit) was the top placed local surfer in the event, finishing in fifth place after being defeated by Goodall in the semifinals. Strachan also went on to win the Best Wave award during the Glodina Expression Session, pocketing an extra R5000 in cash.

“Obviously you want to make it to the final and I was thinking maybe I can do this and was feeling confident in every heat,” said Strachan. “Unfortunately things didn’t go my way this morning, I didn’t get the waves but to get a result like this in my first year on the WQS is amazing, it’s the biggest confidence boost of my life.”

Australian Stuart Kennedy took out the Best Maneuver award while and Adam Melling (Aus) won the Best Aerial during the Glodina Expression Session both surfers pocketing R5000 for their efforts. 

The 2009 Mr Price Pro Balllito saw ten action packed days of world-class surfing unfold at the event’s new home of KwaDukuza. Ballito welcomed the world’s best with unbelievable surf, showcasing everything from perfect three meter (8-10ft) barrels to small wind affected beach break conditions. 

Finals:
Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 13.50 def James Taipan Wood (AUS) 8.73

Semi Finals:
Heat 1: James Taipan Wood (AUS)  13.77 def Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 12.17
Heat 2: Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 13.33 def Wade Goodall (AUS) 7.70

Quarter Finals:
Heat 1: James Taipan Wood (AUS) 14.67 def Daniel Ross (AUS) 0.00
Heat 2: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 16.84 def Dylan Graves (PRI) 12.33
Heat 3: Wade Goodall (AUS) 17.83 def Klee Strachan (ZAF)  11.40
Heat 4: Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 15.00 def Nathan Hedge (AUS) 9.90

Check the Full Results

WQS Ratings after the Mr. Price Pro

1	Ross,Daniel	AUS	12225
2	Wright,Owen	AUS	11338
3	Melling,Adam	AUS	11176
4	Andre,Jadson	BRA	10975
5	Thornton,Blake	AUS	10326
6	Gudauskas,Tanner	USA	9575
7	Simpson,Brett	USA	9351
8	Duru,Joan	FRA	9264
9	Logie,Travis	ZAF	9026
10	Gudauskas,Patrick	USA	8888
11	Ware,Austin	USA	8832
12	Wilkinson,Matt	AUS	8800
13	Polo,Marco	BRA	8769
14	Munro,Luke	AUS	8626
15	Hall,Glenn	IRE	8513
16	Howse,Jarrad	AUS	8288
17	Atkinson,Dion	AUS	8269
18	Zubizarreta,Gony	ESP	8251
19	Sedley,Leigh	AUS	8213
20	Gonzalez,Jonathan	CNY	8100
21	Silva,Jean da	BRA	8000
22	Jackson,Brandon	ZAF	7738
23	Thompson,Jay	AUS	7688
23	Yeomans,Nathan	USA	7688
25	Dantas,Wiggolly	BRA	7651
26	Courtney,Drew	AUS	7513
27	Sodre,Yuri	BRA	7350
28	Giorgi,Marco	URY	7238
29	Hedge,Nathan	AUS	7181
30	Gossmann,Shaun	AUS	7176
31	Wright,Warwick	ZAF	7069
32	Moura,Paulo	BRA	7064
33	Neves,Leonardo	BRA	6969
34	Toth,Brian	PRI	6914
35	Ohno,Masatoshi	JPN	6889
36	Collazo,Hodei	EUK	6851
37	Payne,Dusty	HAW	6800
38	Cloitre,Romain	FRA	6776
39	Nicol,Yadin	AUS	6676
40	Palmboom,Rudy	ZAF	6592
41	Robertson,Adam	AUS	6539
42	Bryson,Royden	ZAF	6442
43	Mathews,Mark	AUS	6339
44	Cardoso,Willian	BRA	6302
45	Gudauskas,Dane	USA	6251
46	Fahrenfort,Damien	ZAF	6114
47	Savalli,Hugo	REU	6025
48	Taylor,Lincoln	AUS	6014
49	Perry,Jack	AUS	5901
50	Aranburu,Aritz	EUK	5875

Check the Full WQS Ratings
 
Previous reports:
# 1 : Mr Price Pro comes to Ballito on the KwaZulu-Natal coast
# 2 : Record number of women entries at Mr Price Pro Ballito
# 3 : Surfers sight on Ballito for the R1.4 million Mr Price Pro

# 4 : Mr Price Pro Ballito Festival to run along with WQS event 
# 5 : Women prepare for massive swell at Mr Price Pro Ballito
# 6 : Mr Price Pro called of due to dangerous surf conditions

# 7 : Gale stops competition at Womens Mr Price Pro Ballito
# 8 : Womens Mr Price Pro ends with 24 riders at equal 13th
# 9 : Big action, big surf start Men’s 6 Star Mr Price Pro Ballito

# 10 : Epic surf Day 2 of Mr Price Pro Ballito, Staples hits a 10
# 11 : Strachan earns place into Mr. Price Pro from Michael Ho
# 12 : Three Saffas advancing into final 16 at the Mr Price Pro..
# 13 : Dan Ross into Mr Price Pro quarters WQS ratings leader

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www.aspworldtour.com

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Mr Price Group
Pierre Tostee
PATostee@mrpricegroup.com

Issued By
Kirstin Scholtz
kirstin@coveredimages.com

WQS Contests - Surfersvillage