Lay Day for Billabong Pro Tahiti, Final Day Tomorrow

Kelly Slater (USA), 38, past nine-time ASP World Champion, will take on rookie Adam Melling (AUS), 25, in Round 4 of the Billabong Pro Tahiti. Credit: © ASP / ROBERTSON

TEAHUPOO, Taiarapu/Tahiti (Thursday, September 2, 2010) – Small surf and heavy rains have forced event organizers to call a lay day for the Billabong Pro Tahiti.

Event No. 5 of 10 on the ASP World Tour season, the Billabong Pro Tahiti has one day remaining in which to complete the final day of competition.

“The surf today is largely uncontestable and we’ve called competition off for the day,” Richie Porta, ASP International Head Judge, said. “We have one day remaining in the waiting period and we’ll look to complete competition tomorrow.”

Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow at 6am to assess conditions for a possible 6:30am start.

When competition resumes, up first will be Dane Reynolds (USA), 24, against C.J. Hobgood (USA), 31, in the opening heat of Round 4.

Surfline, official forecasters for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, are calling for a small mix of south and southwest swell will prevail for the last day of the waiting period along with moderate to strong easterly trades.

Highlights from the Billabong Pro Tahiti will be available via http://www.billabongpro.com/tahiti10/

FUEL TV will be broadcasting the Billabong Pro Tahiti LIVE in Australia. Check out http://www.foxsports.com.au/fueltv for details.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 1: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)

Heat 2: Tiago Pires (PRT) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)

Heat 3: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)

Heat 4: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Manoa Drollet (PYF)

Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)

Heat 6: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)

Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Damien Hobgood (USA)

Heat 8: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)

Visit the Press Room on www.aspworldtour.com for news, images, transcribed athlete interviews and more.

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Media
Dave Prodan
email: dave@aspworldtour.com
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AUS mobile: +61 (0) 400 455 228

EVENT MEDIA

Billabong Pro Media Manager

Johnathan “JJ” Jenkins

email: johnathan.jenkins@billabong.com.au

Digital Photographs:
High-resolution digital images for newspapers and Internet sites are available via the ASP Digital Images Department – please contactkirstin@aspworldtour.com