REYNOLDS AND SMITH ELIMINATE ASP FRONTRUNNERS IN BOOST MOBILE ROUND 2

Prodigious wildcards Dane Reynolds (USA) and Jordy Smith (ZAF) scored sensational upsets yesterday as they eliminated current Foster’s ASP World No. 2 Taj Burrow (AUS) and 2005 Boost Mobile Pro Champion Joel Parkinson (AUS) respectively in Round 2 of the Boost Mobile Pro presented by Hurley.

Event No. 6 of 10 on the 2007 Foster’s ASP World Tour, the Boost Mobile Pro commenced the elimination Round 2, running 16 heats in the one-to-three-foot (1 metre) surf at Lower Trestles. Reynolds, current No. 2 on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS), was highly-touted coming into the Boost Mobile Pro and proved why today as he dispatched of current ASP frontrunner Burrow convincingly.

“I feel relatively confident going up against the top guys,” Reynolds said. “I feel like it’s an uphill battle, but I like it that way. There’s no pressure on me, all the pressure is on them. That’s the only way I can surf well – without pressure. It benefits me, but it can go any way with the waves. It just went my way today.”

Smith, current ASP World Junior Champion and ratings leader on the ASP WQS, was in blistering form as well, fighting back against Parkinson after the Australian held an early lead. The young South African will now join fellow wildcard Reynolds in Round 3.

“It was good to see Dane beat Taj in the last heat – he’s a good friend of mine,” Smith said. “It’s good to see the underdogs get up. I hope I go can all the way. I wouldn’t be here surfing if I didn’t think I could go all the way.” Bede Durbidge (AUS), defending Boost Mobile Pro Champion, put all first round jitters behind him, convincingly dispatching ’07 Tour rookie Luke Munro in their Round 2 bout.

“It was really important for me to come back here and do well, being the defending champion for the first time at an event,” Durbidge said. “It’s cool and pretty exciting. It’s been tough, this Round 2 thing, but I got through and felt really good about that heat. I’m just looking forward to the rest of the event.”

Royden Bryson (ZAF), current World No. 32, was in stunning form this afternoon, netting the event high heat total of a 17.17 out of a possible 20. “It was a confident boost,” Bryson said. “I just have to keep doing the same thing going into the next heat. Being my first year on the tour I’ve learned a lot and moving through heats is always good.”

Victor Ribas (BRA), current World No. 37 and veteran Foster’s ASP World Tour campaigner, led a strong Brazilian contingent that saw Neco Padaratz, Rodrigo Dornelles, Raoni Monteiro and Leonardo Neves all advance through to Round 3.

“I’m used to these conditions and my board feels really good,” Ribas said. “Before my heat I spoke with Perry the head judge, to see what they were looking for. I think I took the right waves and I was patient, and did well. I am excited to hear that I had the highest heat total of the event, it seems like the judges liked my performance.”

Today will see Round 3 hit the water with some unbelievable match-ups including Mick Fanning (AUS) versus Dane Reynolds (USA), Kelly Slater (USA) versus Rob Machado (USA), and Andy Irons (HAW) versus Jordy Smith (ZAF) to name a few.

The call will be made at 7:30am this morning for a possible 8am start. The announcement will also be webcast LIVE on ‘The Dawn Patrol’ at www.boostmobilepro.com.

BOOST MOBILE PRO ROUND 2 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Andy Irons (HAW) 14.66 def. Sunny Garcia (HAW) 10.77

Heat 2: Dane Reynolds (USA) 15.83 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 12.26

Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.00 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 13.90

Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 16.07 def. Luke Munro (AUS) 5.17

Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) 14.50 def. Gabe Kling (USA) 11.00

Heat 6: Neco Padaratz (BRA) 14.17 def. Daniel Wills (AUS) 7.10

Heat 7: Troy Brooks (AUS) 13.66 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 10.16

Heat 8: Chris Ward (USA) 15.44 def. Trent Munro (AUS) 8.67

Heat 9: Pancho Sullivan (HAW) 13.17 def. Mark Occhilupo (HAW) 12.44

Heat 10: Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 14.50 def. Cory Lopez (USA) 11.87

Heat 11: Kai Otton (AUS) 15.90 def. Dayyan Neve (AUS) 10.83

Heat 12: Victor Ribas (BRA) 16.67 Luke Stedman (AUS) 13.77

Heat 13: Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA) 13.83 def. Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 13.66

Heat 14: Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 16.50 def. Michael Lowe (AUS) 13.33

Heat 15: Royden Bryson (ZAF) 17.17 def. Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 13.94

Heat 16: Leonardo Neves (BRA) 11.54 def. Greg Emslie (ZAF) 10.83