Snot en Trane II

{youtube}Ql-ZNwE6WSs{/youtube}

It was a day of fragile egos and bad behaviour that has not endeared several surfers to fans. You could say that something snapped after 10 days of waiting to surf inconsistent 1-2' cross shore bumps. This kind of waiting makes the mood volatile. But it made for entertaining watching as Freddie P racked up the score of the day on a rock, Gabriel Medina said the F word on TV and Josh Kerr knocked his board out of the event.

Freddy Patacchia is offering a free surfboard to the person who Instagrams the best photo of them standing on the rock he rode onto:

"Best pic on Freddy's Rock wins a surfboard. Make sure to #freddysrock I'll pick a winner after the award ceremony & hand the winner a board shortly after. Must be present to win. So make a day out of it at the Quiky Pro. Get creative ?? @stephenisbelly & @snaketales are winning so far."

Reigning champion Gabriel Medina is likely to get some form of sanction after dissing event commissioner Kiren Pierow and swearing during a live interview on the web stream:

“Actually, like, first of all, that was a really bad call for the comp. We waited like 10 days, we extended two days to get waves like this, and I think KP (commissioner Kieren Perrow) didn’t do a really good job. I hope he can do better. And second was the interference. One day I will try to understand this new rule. And the third, is uh, next time Glenn (Hall) says ‘Fuck you’ to me, I’ll teach him some ... never mind.”

"Woah Woah," said the commentators, but it was too late. The F word had snuck onto the air waves.

Apparently his anger at Glen Hall stemmed from an interference call that meant he lost a heat he should have won.

“It’s great to beat Gabriel,” the cheeky Irishman said. “It was a good heat. The end result was a bit wild with the interference but he was way too close to me for me to be able to get a clean take off. I really like Gabriel and I was legitimately stoked for him last year. He’s passionate in the water and a legend out of the water. We did have words out in the water but it’s nothing personal.”

Pierow, however, was not amused. “This is professional surfing’s biggest stage, the stakes are high and there is no shortage of passion. Gabriel’s post-heat interview was not worthy conduct of an athlete at this level and the league has engaged in discussions with him and will take further action if necessary.”

Then Freddy Patacchia foot-pumped his board along a little foamie on the way in and smacked his board on what will now surely be named Freddy's Rock forever. Wonder what the judges scored him for that move? Later he wrote on Instagram: Judging criteria - speed, power & flow. I believe I ticked all the boxes, not to mention innovation. Under scored?? I think so. Haha. #areyounotentertained #bestjobieverhad #thisissnapper

It was a painful day for Josh Kerr on at least two levels. He boxed his board in a tantrum after losing his Round 3 heat. His bust board certainly looked knocked out, and so was he ... knocked out of the event.

In other less entertaining news, Parko, Kelly and John John all lost in round three. Brazilian rookies Italo Ferreira (BRA) and Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) took down Kelly and Parko respectively, while Matt Wilko defeated John John.

The press release continues: three-time World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS) looked strong throughout the day, first facing Dusty Payne (HAW) in Round 3 where he used his trademark carves to claim a nine-point ride and the top spot. Next he went on to win through Round 4 in a stacked heat against Adriano de Souza (BRA) and Bede Durbidge (AUS) for a place in the Quarterfinals. Beautiful rail work from De Souza almost sent the Australian to Round 5 after the pair tied the heat with 16.50 each, but victory went to Fanning for the highest single-wave score.

“Once you get to these final rounds everyone is ripping,“ said Fanning. “I had a look at the draw last night and thought there was a lot of heats that I didn’t know which way they would go. Everyone on this Tour has the ability to win this event, it’s whoever gets the waves.”

Fanning will face De Souza again in the Quarterfinals, after the Brazilian moved on to dispatch Matt Wilkinson (AUS) in a close Round 5 match-up with a passionate and energetic performance. Wilkinson looked in blistering form when he defeated John John.

Filipe Toledo (BRA) was another standout. He took down Kolohe Andino (USA) in Round Three and in Round 4, another nine-point ride helped him dispatch Jordy Smith and Wilkinson to move through to the Quarterfinals where he will face Durbidge.

Ferreira made it through to Round 5 where he was eventually defeated by two-time Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast winner Taj Burrow (AUS), who takes his place in the Quarterfinals where he will face Julian Wilson (AUS).

“The rookies are all on fire, they came out so strong,” said Burrow. “I didn’t take Italo lightly at all and I knew he’d be tough. I tried to be really selective and it was a close heat. I’m hoping for a few more feet on the swell tomorrow.”

The Quiksilver and Roxy Pro Gold Coast is webcast LIVE at WorldSurfLeague.com.

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 3 Results (1st to R4, 2nd = 13th):
Heat 1: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 13.00 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 8.77
Heat 2: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 13.67 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.20
Heat 3: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 15.77 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 9.93
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.60 def. Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 11.90
Heat 5: Julian Wilson (AUS) 10.43 def. Nat Young (USA) 8.94
Heat 6: Glenn Hall (IRL) 14.23 vs. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 7.50
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.56 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 15.00
Heat 8: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.90 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 14.44
Heat 9: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.76 def. Freddy Patacchia Jr. (HAW) 1.13
Heat 10: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.67 def. Matt Banting (AUS) 13.90
Heat 11: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 18.50 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 15.74  
Heat 12: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 17.83 def. John John Florence (HAW) 16.13

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 4 Results (1st to QF, 2nd & 3rd to R5):
Heat 1: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 17.23, Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 13.47, Italo Ferreira (BRA) 13.37
Heat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.37, Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.13, Glenn Hall (IRL) 10.50
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.50, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.50, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.50
Heat 4: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 17.83, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.57, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 12.23

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Round 5 Results (1st to QF, 2nd=9th):
Heat 1: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 17.34 def. Glenn Hall (IRL) 13.33
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.73 def. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 15.50
Heat 3: Adriano de Souza (BRA) 16.94 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 16.07
Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.83 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 11.83

Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Quarterfinal Match-Ups (1st to SF, 2nd=5th):
QF 1: Miguel Pupo (BRA) vs. Wiggolly Dantas (BRA)
QF 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Taj Burrow (AUS)
QF 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Adriano de Souza (BRA)
QF 4: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Bede Durbidge (AUS)
 
Roxy Pro Gold Coast Quarterfinal Match-Ups (1st to SF, 2nd=5th):
Heat 1: Malia Manuel (HAW) vs. Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW)
Heat 2: Stephanie Gilmore (AUS) vs. Silvana Lima (BRA)
Heat 3: Tyler Wright (AUS) vs. Courtney Conlogue (USA)
Heat 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) vs. Lakey Peterson (USA)

{youtube}ywPY5PKWgLc{/youtube}