Slater Eliminates Hobgood
In Battle Of Champs

Snapper Rocks, QLD, Australia (Friday, March 8) Six-time world champion Kelly Slater today eliminated current no #1 and fellow Floridian CJ Hobgood in round three of the Quiksilver Pro. The US$250,000 tournament again went mobile from

its main location of Burleigh Heads to the waves of Snapper Rocks, with round two completed, as well as 10 heats of the third this afternoon. Surf remained in the 4-5 ft (1.5m) range, with northeast winds increasing throughout the day, creating a slight chop on the otherwise hollow wave faces.

The highly anticipated clash of the world champs proved worthy. A capacity crowd lined the foreshores as Slater rose to the occasion, dominating the younger titleholder from the onset, with a flawless first ride. The 30-year-old then picked off a second wave that grew both in size and shape as he worked his way down the line, executing an array of critical manoeuvres, to earn 8.85-points. He then kept the pressure on with a solid third ride, creating a nightmare scenario for his opponent, who ultimately
required a combination of scores (14.11-points) to catch him.

"I knew I needed to make sure my first wave was a quality one, and it seemed
that my timing was right," began Slater. "It worked out, and I got three
solid waves with nice open faces all the way down the point. I was in sync
and he was out of rhythm".

"Maybe I was trying too hard," reasoned Hobgood afterward. "I was so pumped
up. I made a couple of mistakes in the beginning and it was over. I think I would have lost to anyone then. I just blew it.

"That's my second time in a man-on-man heat with him, last time was at Pipe
(Haw), and I'm just trying to figure out what I do wrong," he continued. "I'm sure I'll surf against him a bunch of times this year. It's the first contest and there will be a lot more. I'll just try to enjoy myself on the Gold Coast now and hopefully do better in the next event. I hope he goes well this contest."

Twin brother Damien Hobgood enjoyed more success, eliminating an in-form Shane Dorian (Haw). After posting the highest tally of the event so far against 2000 world champion Sunny Garcia (Haw) this morning, where Dorian collected a 9.35, 9.0, and an 8.25 to seal victory on 26.6-points, his momentum stopped in round three. The Hawaiian failed to score anything over 5.5, and required a combination of waves, since Hobgood had amassed three great rides.

"That's my second time in a man-on-man heat with him, last time was at Pipe
(Haw), and I'm just trying to figure out what I do wrong," he continued.
"I'm sure I'll surf against him a bunch of times this year. It's the first
contest and there will be a lot more. I'll just try to enjoy myself on the
Gold Coast now and hopefully do better in the next event. I hope he goes
well this contest."

Britain and Europes Russell Winter did well in Heat 1 and then was drawn against Shea Lopez in Heat 3 and although started with an 8.00 could not match the big rides from Shea who produced a number of 7.00 in a row. Russell did produce a 6.00 but that was the best he could find in response. The good news is that he surfed well and looks set to continue his good form onto this year.