Lay Day Called for Billabong Pro Mundaka

MUNDAKA, Euskadi/Spain (Friday, October 9, 2009) – The Billabong Pro Mundaka has called it’s fourth consecutive lay day, and with little swell on the horizon, event organizers are considering the relocation to nearby Sopelana for the coming days.

Event No. 8 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Billabong Pro Mundaka optioned to run the man-on-man elimination Round 1 format on the opening day of the waiting period, completing eight heats, before entering it’s current holding pattern, and as swell patterns have indicated, the decision to run the condensed format could prove vital.

“We waited around for most of the day to see if the projected pulse would show on the lower tide but it hasn’t so we’ve called competition off for the day,” Mike Parsons, Billabong Pro Contest Director, said. “Looking in our swell window, we’ll see what materializes, but if we cannot finish the opening round at Mundaka tomorrow, we’ll strongly consider moving to our backup location at Sopelana.”

Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 10:30am to assess conditions for a possible recommencement.

When competition resumes, up first will be ASP Dream Tour veteran Dean Morrison (AUS), 28, up against event wildcard Dean Bowen (AUS) in Heat 9 of Round 1.

Highlights from past days’ Billabong Pro Mundaka will be available via http://www.billabongpro.com/mundaka09/

The Billabong Pro Mundaka will host the world’s best surfers from October 5 through 17, 2009.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

BILLABONG PRO MUNDAKA ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Jihad Khodr (BRA) 13.60 def. Roy Powers (HAW) 11.10
Heat 2: David Weare (ZAF) 13.50 def. Tim Boal (FRA) 7.17
Heat 3: Drew Courtney (AUS) 11.67 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 10.17
Heat 4: Tiago Pires (PRT) 14.66 def. Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 13.17
Heat 5: Ben Dunn (AUS) 13.16 def. Marlon Lipke (DEU) 9.10
Heat 6: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 15.80 def. Hodei Collazo (EUK) 10.96
Heat 7: Michel Bourez (PYF) 13.34 def. Damien Fahrenfort (ZAF) 10.00
Heat 8: Kai Otton (AUS) 13.84 def. Reubyn Ash (GBR) 11.50

REMMAINING BILLABONG PRO MUNDAKA ROUND 1 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 9: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs. Dean Bowen (AUS)
Heat 10: Mick Campbell (AUS) vs. Marcos San Segundo (EUK)
Heat 11: Chris Davidson (AUS) vs. Nathaniel Curran (USA)
Heat 12: Tim Reyes (USA) vs. Michael Picon (FRA)
Heat 13: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Nic Muscroft (AUS)
Heat 14: Dustin Barca (HAW) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)
Heat 15: Chris Ward (USA) vs. Dayyan Neve (AUS)
Heat 16: Jay Thompson (AUS) vs. Greg Emslie (ZAF)

BILLABONG PRO MUNDAKA ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 2: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. TBA
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 6: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 7: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 9: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 10: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. TBA
Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. TBA
Heat 12: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 14: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 15: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 16: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. TBA