World's best surfers fly in for ASP World Tour kick-off

Wax heads and surfing fans get excited - the world's best surfers are headed to the Gold Coast as two of the biggest surfing events kick start the 2010 ASP Men's and Women's World Tours next month. From 26th February through to 10th March, the 2010 Quiksilver Pro presented by Land Rover and the Roxy Pro will take place on the southern end of the Gold Coast's iconic point break of Snapper Rocks.

This year's Quiksilver Pro presented by Land Rover will feature the world's top 45 ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals) surfers including the likes of reigning two-time World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS) and current world number two and hometown hero Joel Parkinson (AUS). Nine-time World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) is the only non-Australian to have won the Quiksilver Pro (twice), and looks to be a top threat in the 2010 competition. Surfing sensation Julian Wilson (AUS) surprised the crowd last year when he knocked out Kelly Slater and will no doubt be looking to do the same again this year as he competes as a wildcard.

Snapper Rocks is one of the most beautiful beaches in Australia, so even if you're not a crazed surfing fan, why not head to the Gold Coast to support the Aussies competing and even get the chance to meet your favourite surfer! The Quiksilver Pro is a free event, it will be packed full of entertainment such as a celebrity surf event and stacks of other goodies - so go on, grab your boardies and don't miss out on the best beachside event of the year!

The Quiksilver Pro provides fans with four days of action-packed surfing, and to make sure the events have the best surf conditions, organisers allow for a 12 day waiting period, so you can guarantee the barrels will be huge!

This year, event organisers are predicting a fierce level of competition, and the ASP judges will analyse the surfers on their commitment and degree of difficulty, innovation and progressive maneuvers, combination of major maneuvers, variety of maneuvers and speed, power and flow when scoring waves in each heat.

For those who can't make it to the beach, the event will be webcast live from various camera angles and will include post event interviews with the world's elite surfers.

Jérémy Flores is back!

The French Quiksilver team rider Jérémy Florès arrived in Australia at the beginning of the week to prepare for the first event of the ASP World Tour 2010, The Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.  A foot injury at the end of the 2009 season forced Jeremy to miss the last three World Tour Events (Mundaka in Spain, Peniche in Portugal and Hawaii). In spite of the injury, Jérémy Florès did not need to rely on an "injury wild card", succeeding in requalifying himself for the elite Tour in 2010 by results alone.  An amazing feat.

After a long break at the end of the year, Jérémy Florès has recharged his batteries, without taking a break from physical training.  The Frenchman returned to the water with renewed enthusiasm in the Canary Islands in early January.  Here are his thoughts on his recovery and his return to his fourth season amongst the World’s Top 45 surfer.

"I'm really glad to be able to get back in the water, my foot is feeling good.  The time out of the water enabled me to prepare well physically for the new season and I’ve done things that I wouldn’t normally have time to do, therefore, I’ve taken positive experiences from this injury.  I’ve felt great from this quick trip to the Canaries, it went well, because I needed to spend a lot of time in the water.  I really pushed myself and I‘m super motivated to take on this new season!"

The Quiksilver Team surfer will train on the Australia’s Gold Coast until the opening event of the ASP World Tour 2010, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, which runs from February 27th to March 10th. Jérémy must also join the French surfing team for a few days of training in Australia.

Michael Picon and Aritz Aranburu return to the new format WQS Tour

The European Surfers of Team Quiksilver, Michael Picon and Aritz Aranburu will return to the WQS (World Qualifying Series) this season.

For Miky Picon, the experienced European pro, this season has two goals: to try to requalify for the elite by taking part in the main WQS events (as he did previously in 2006 and 2008) but also to begin to work professionally at the centre of the Quiksilver group.  As his sponsor and supporter for a long time, Quiksilver has committed to collaborate with Miky in order to make him one of its main ambassadors, to put his great experience and his network to use within the company.

For Aritz Aranburu, the objective is to regain his place in the elite of the ASP World Tour by the end of the season.  The challenge is sizeable as the elite ASP circuits and WQS are changing format in 2010.  In order to make the two tours more competitive, the ASP will tighten the elite Tour to just 32 surfers in the course of the season (after Tahiti).  Consequently, the early events of 2010 will be crucial for Jérémy Florès.  He must place inside the world’s Top 32 before the Tahiti cut off point, in order to challenge at events such as The Quiksilver Pro France, in September, which will only include the Top 32 surfers .

The arrival of best 13 surfers of the WQS in September will again make the events even more competitive and will toughen the process of qualification for the elite Tour the following season.

Maxime Huscenot Takes Out ASP World Junior Championships

Quiksilver Team rider Maxime Huscenot (REU), 17, and Roxy Team rider Laura Enever (AUS), 18, have claimed their respective ASP World Junior Titles, dominating the punchy two-to-three foot (1 metre) waves on offer at North Narrabeen for the final day of the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships fueled by Monster Energy.

 



Huscenot, who received entry into the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships as an ASP International wildcard, wowed spectators and surfers alike today, besting an in-form Jadson Andre (BRA), 19, in the hard-fought Final to claim the ASP World Junior Title.

 



“This is the biggest day of my life and it’s absolutely unbelievable,” Huscenot said. “It feels like I just won a heat, not the ASP World Title – it’s incredible. Jadson (Andre) is an amazing surfer and the whole Brazilian team rips so hard. I cannot believe it is my day. I am at a loss for words.”

 



A relative unknown at the international level prior to this year’s showdown at North Narrabeen, Huscenot bested a bevy of the world’s hottest up-and-coming surfers to take the prestigious title and emphatically announce himself as a force on the world surfing stage. 



 

“I knew I was not a big name coming here,” Huscenot said. “Jadson was the best surfer, doing massive air reverses that I cannot even dream of doing. But I just surfed the best I could and I guess the judges appreciated it. I never dreamed I would be here. I was injured in October and couldn’t surf for a month. But I trained hard and got the wildcard here and once I made it past the fourth round, I knew it was going to be a good event for me. It feels amazing to be the first Frenchman to claim the ASP World Junior Title.”

Jeremy Flores Requalifies for the ASP World Tour 2010.

Frenchman, Jeremy Flores has earned a place on surfings elite World Tour for the 2010 season.  Aged just twenty one, next year will be be a fourth year on the Dream Tour for Flores.  Having regularly placing in the Top 10, Jeremy is reigning ISA World Champion and will be one of only three Europeans to remain amongst the World's Top 45 surfers.  

An ankle injury forced Jeremy to miss the last three events of the 2009 Tour.  Despite this, his earlier results were enough to secure a 25th finish in the rankings, which by the years end allowed automatic qualification for the 2010 season.  
 
Jeremy looks set to return to competition at the first event of the new year, the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast in Australia.  Last year Jeremy placed ninth in the event, which alongside another his ninth place finish in the Hangloose Pro in Brazil, marked the two key results for his season.

In 2009 there were seven Europeans on tour, this number has now dropped to three.  In 2010 Jeremy will by joined by Portuguese surfer Tiago Pires, who finished the year rated 24th and Michel Bourez from French Polynesia, who finished the year ranked 21st.  

The first event of the 2010 ASP World Tour is the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, which is due to run February 27th - March 10th.