It’s March and the year has definitely started, in terms of surfing and both the WCT and WQS. Although it is still early, and only one comp has gone down with regard to each tour, each point that each surfer earns from the very start counts for something. Basically, it’s impossible to get a whiff of who is going to come out on tops, but it is a good time to check out the year’s talents, the year’s wildcards, the potential winners and also, those who came on tour with on mission and one mission only.

The opening event of the WQS, the Roxy Women’s Pro Festival, was held in Aus at Philip Island in late Jan, and saw all this seasons ‘QS riders battle it out for a podium finish. The 6 star qualifying event lucked out with near perfect conditions, and was a battle from start to finish. It a close final, with both finalists scoring a 9.0 ride or more, it was the recently crowned World Junior Champ, Sally Fitzgibbons from Aus, who took the title, with Bruna Schmitz following closely behind. Both girls are no older than 17 years old, which is a pretty impressive feat for women’s surfing today, to have two 17 year olds in the finals of a WQS 6 star event. Jessi MIley-Dyer, the current world number 8, went up against Bethany Hamilton, tiger shark survivor to surf for third place. Sadly, the sea went flat and neither of the surfers had much luck in terms of wave selection and finished equal third. A stoked Bethany Hamilton was satisfied with her results, while Jessi wasn’t. For Bethany it was the highest finish in a major compo, and also the best result a physically challenged athlete has achieved in a surf contest and just the confidence boost she needed to start her year off.

So with the first contest done and the second on the horizon, the current WQS rankings are as follows:

1.Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS)
2. Bruna Schmitz (BRA)
3. Bethany Hamilton (HAW)
3. Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS)
5. Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)

Erica Hosseini from the States is the highest ranked American so far and is lying in tie 5 position, with fellow American Kyla Langen filling the tie 13th spot. The next WQS event is the Arrive Alive Central Coast Pro at Soldiers Beach in Aus, Mar 11-15.

The Roxy Pro held on the Gold Coast in Aus was the opening event for the prestigious 2008 ASP World Championship Tour this Feb. Presented by LG, which is a positive step in terms of corporate sponsors as far as I am concerned, the Roxy Pro went down at the infamous Snapper Rocks. After a bit of waiting, the final few days of the comp managed to score with decent 3 ft waves, which proved to be more than enough for Peru’s Sofia Mulanovich, who dominated the comp and took home this year’s first title and a handsome sum of cash. Sofia managed to score a massive 17. 34 out of a possible 20 in the finals, finishing ahead of Australia’s Samantha Cornish.

Carissa Moore was a stand out in the last day, with progressive surfing that eventually led to her defeating reigning World Champ Stephanie Gilmore and fellow Hawaiian Melanie Bartels before Sam Cornish took her out in the semis. So after the first WCT event, the top 5 ranked surfers are;

1. Sofia MUlanovich (PER)
2. Samantha Cornish (AUS)
3. Amee Donohoe (AUS)
4. Layne Beachley (AUS)
4. Rebecca Woods (AUS)

Although it seems like Aus is dominating, America’s hope, Karina Petroni, is lying tie 16th. It might not be the top position, but as her first year on the tour, she can only go up.

The next WCT event is the Rip Curl Pro held at Bells Beach in Aus, Mar 19 -24. Keep a close eye for info and up to date reviews.

Tags: ASP World Tour, Surfing, WCT, WQS