Taj Burrow Wins Hurley Pro

Taj Burrow (AUS), 35,  won the Hurley Pro at Trestles yesterday  in a hard-fought Final over fellow Australian Julian Wilson (AUS), 24, in two-to-four foot waves at Lower Trestles. 

Stop No. 7 of 10 on the ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), the Hurley Pro at Trestles victory marks Burrow’s first ASP WCT win this season and 12th of his career.

Burrow’s win came at the hands of an action packed match up, with the two Australians delivering a series of exciting exchanges in the high-scoring final. While Wilson would put together multiple combinations on the Lowers rights, Burrow’s high-scores were found via both a powerful backhand attack on a wedging left and a lengthy righthand runner. 

“I couldn’t be happier,” Burrow said. “I really put so much effort in to this event and it just feels so incredible when it unfolds and goes your way.”

Burrow’s win at the Hurley Pro at Trestles marks his third career Final at the venue and puts him at No. 4 on the ASP WCT. 

With 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA), 41, finishing equal 13th at the Hurley Pro at Trestles, two-time ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS), 32, has taken over poll position on the 2013 ASP World Title Race via his 9th place finish.

“I came up a bit short in my heat yesterday and then I just made one mistake at the start of the heat and Travis (Logie) got that 8 and there wasn’t anything to fight back,” Fanning said.

The next stop on the 2013 ASP WCT will be the Quiksilver Pro France, which holds a waiting period from September 26 through October 6, 2013.

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES FINAL RESULT:1 - Taj Burrow (AUS) 17.072 - Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.97

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES SEMIFINALS RESULTS:SF 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.83 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.10SF 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.40 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 12.43

HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES QUARTERFINALS RESULTS:QF 1: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.67 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 12.33QF 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.93 def. Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 13.70QF 3: Michel Bourez (PYF) 17.90 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 14.00QF 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.64 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.04

CURRENT ASP WCT TOP 10:1 - Mick Fanning (AUS) 41,900 points2 - Kelly Slater (USA) 40,700 points3 - Jordy Smith (ZAF) 35,700 points4 - Taj Burrow (AUS) 35,400 points5 - Joel Parkinson (AUS) 32,450 points6 - Josh Kerr (AUS) 29,600 points7 - Julian Wilson (AUS) 28,850 points8 - Adriano de Souza (BRA) 27,500 points9 - C.J. Hobgood (USA) 27,200 points10 - Michel Bourez (PYF) 26,500 points10 - Nat Young (USA) 26,500 points

Source: Hurley Pro 

Serge Dedina is the Executive Director of WiLDCOAST, an international conservation team that conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and wildlife. He is the author of Wild Sea: Eco-Wars and Surf Stories from the Coast of the Californias