If there has been one theme of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, it’s been the upsets. We have seen giant after giant slain by wild cards
and replacements, and the remaining field certainly doesn’t look like what I
expected to see. The boys are halfway through the non-elimination Round 4, but
there are not many big names left.
The first big upset came two days ago when Julian Wilson
went down in Round 2. He looked off in his Round 1 heat, and Sebastian Zietz
took him out the next round. One heat later Kelly Slater fell to Stu Kennedy,
setting the tone for the upset theme at Snapper.
Things continued to get wacky in Round 3, where we saw Mick
Fanning, Gabriel Medina and Taj Burrow all go down. However, one juggernaut that
looked as good as we expected was Filipe Toledo. Toledo has won all of his
heats, including Round 4, and has already locked up a spot in the
Quarterfinals. He looks like the in-form surfer of the event thus far, and we
could see back-to-back wins for the Brazilian on the Gold Coast. I mean, just
look:
Aside from Toledo, we’ve still got big guns like John John
Florence, Joel Parkinson and Adriano De Souza lurking, but there are also
surprises like Stu Kennedy and Conner Coffin still alive. Both guys have looked
excellent on this event, and it will be interesting to see just how deep that
can advance. Toledo and Matt Wilkinson have locked up their spots in the quarters,
and we should see more heats today.
Here are the latest highlights:
No comments:
Post a Comment