BELLS BEACH, Victoria/Australia (Thursday, April 8, 2010) – With little surf on offer this morning, event organizers have been forced to call a lay day today for the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.
Event No. 2 of 10 on the 2010 ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro saw a marathon day of surfing yesterday at nearby Winkipop, where the world’s best surfers broke performance barriers through Round 3 and the opening half of Round 4. Today’s projected drop in surf has forced a lay day, but event organizers are hopeful that tomorrow could see a champion crowned.
“It’s obviously too small to run anything today so we’ve called a lay day,” Damien Hardman, Rip Curl Pro Contest Director, said. “We have a bump projected for tomorrow and we’ll assess where we could possibly finish.”
Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7am for a possible 7:30am start.
When competition resumes, up first will be defending Rip Curl Pro winner Joel Parkinson (AUS), 28, up against compatriot Adrian Buchan (AUS), 27, in Heat 5 of Round 4.Highlights from yesterday’s Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by SNICKERS will be available via www.live.ripcurl.com
RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.90 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.90
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.77 def. Andy Irons (HAW) 11.93
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 17.30 def. Roy Powers (HAW) 13.77
Heat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 12.60 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 10.90
RIP CURL PRO BELLS BEACH REMAINING ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 5: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS)
Heat 6: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Jadson Andrew (BRA)
Heat 7: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Luke Stedman (AUS)
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)