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SURFERMAG.COM PRO TOUR UPDATES

Official Rip Curl Pro Round Three Heats (1st>Rnd 4; 2nd finishes=17th, receives US$4,000)

• H1: Mick Fanning (Aus) 15.2 def. Fabio Gouveia (Brz) 10.83
• H2: Kalani Robb (Haw) 17.27 def. Paulo Moura (Brz) 15.67
• H3: Damien Hobgood (USA) 11.23 def. Luke Hitchings (Aus) 8.5
• H4: Guilherme Herdy (Brz) 15.37 def. Taj Burrow (Aus) 14.74
• H5: Kelly Slater (USA) 12.4 def. Nathan Hedge (Aus) 10.73

Remaining Rip Curl Pro Round Three Heats

• H6: Mark Occhilupo (Aus) vs. Lee Winkler (Aus)
• H7: Dean Morrison (Aus) vs. Neco Padaratz (Brz)
• H8: Andy Irons (Haw) vs. Adam Robertson (Aus)
• H9: Joel Parkinson (Aus) vs. Victor Ribas (Brz)
• H10: Shane Dorian (Haw) vs. Sunny Garcia (Haw)
• H11: Daniel Wills (Aus) vs. Richard Lovett (Aus)
• H12: Shea Lopez (USA) vs. Armando Daltro (Brz)
• H13: Luke Egan (Aus) vs. Darren O'Rafferty (Aus)
• H14: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
• H15: Kieren Perrow (Aus) vs. Flavio Padaratz (Brz)
• H16: Cory Lopez (USA) vs. Phil McDonald (Aus)

Hawaiian Kalani Robb dominated action in the 2003 Rip Curl Pro this morning. Round three of the 31st anniversary US$250,000 World Championship Tournament (WCT) completed five heats, before inconsistent conditions forced organizers to postpone remaining action.

Clean 3ft (1m) surf was on offer at Bells Beach, with the 'Bowl' section hosting the world's best during the morning show. Competition was placed on hold for a number of hours in the hope higher tide conditions would allow more heats to run on the inside 'Rincon' section, but ultimately it was decided to hold another Tooheys Extra Dry Expression Session before a capacity beach crowd.

Robb, 26, displayed superb form against Paulo Moura (Brz) this morning. The Hawaiian collected a 9.17 and then another 8.1 for the day's highest combined total. His Brazilian opponent fought back with an outstanding backhand re-entry to post an 8.67 toward the end, but still required another 8.61 score to advance. Kalani's now guaranteed his best Rip Curl Pro result to date, with a 9th place finish or better, after eight previous attempts in the tournament.

"We got it good with a lot of waves then," said Robb, of the early conditions. "It usually takes me a bit longer in the year to get used to competing again, but I'm feeling good. My boards are working really well so I'm feeling confident."

Prior to the heat Robb actually damaged his surfboard by running into TWI water cameraman Mike Prickett, who suffered a cut to the face, but the incident did little to dampen the spirits of either Hawaiian.

Guilherme Herdy (Brz) then caused an upset by eliminating world #4 Taj Burrow (Aus) from the Rip Curl Pro. The Brazilian lead from the start following two 7+ rides, but the West Australian earned a great 8.67 score and then another 6.07 to swing the advantage midway through the inconsistent heat. As time elapsed, Herdy paddled into the last set needing a 7.55 and preceded to work over the clean right-hander on his backhand. He posted an 8.17 to advance into round four.

"It was a hard heat," admitted Herdy. "Taj got a really good score, so I knew I needed a good ride and I waited until the last set and tried to do something better than a 7.5 score. The wave came at the end, so I'm very happy."

Six-time world champion Kelly Slater (USA) continued his run, eliminating Nathan Hedge (Aus) today. The Floridian built his wave count up prior to the ocean going flat for nearly half of the heat, and anticipation mounted as final sets approached. Slater took the first ride as his opponent held priority, but he actually fell doing a re-entry when his rear fin broke off. Moments later 'Hog' stood up, only requiring a 6.08 to advance, and while he utilized the wave's full potential, was only able to post a 4.4 score.

"It's a really inconsistent day and we had something like 12-minutes without a wave," explained Slater. "I just tried to get my wave count going, as I knew a low score could win the heat.

"I knew his was going to be bigger and there were only two waves in the set," he added. "I broke my back fin off my board doing that turn and that's why I fell, so it was pretty frustrating, but luckily for me his wave kind of went fat and he didn't really get the moves in. It was down to the wire for him, so he had to make that wave and it can make you surf a little tentatively. It was kind of a nail-biter for me."

2001 Rip Curl Pro winner Mick Fanning (Aus) controlled the day's opening heat against Fabio Gouveia (Brz). Despite breaking his surfboard in half toward the end of the match, the 21-year-old had already locked in two good scores for a convincing victory, picking off his best rides under the watchful priority of his Brazilian opponent.

"I was just lucky Fabio didn't go those waves when he had priority, as they were my best two," explained Fanning. "I was a bit stressed when I snapped my board, as I was thinking a sets might come through and he'd get a nine easy on one of those, but luckily he didn't catch another."

The Rip Curl Pro would not be possible without the combined efforts of the different groups involved in the event's staging - Surfing Victoria; The Victorian Government Department of Tourism, Sport & The Commonwealth Games; The Surf Coast Shire Council; and the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) - plus the supporting sponsorship of Lifesavers, Ansell, Coca-Cola, Vodka Cruiser, Falls Creek, Fudge & Tooheys Extra Dry.

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