Trials at Gas bay

13 avril 2011

BA Box Pro Trials Underway at Gas Bay

Margaret River, WA, Australia (Tuesday April 12, 2011): Rounds 1 & 2 of the IBA Box Pro Trials have been completed in one-to-two metre waves at West Australia’s infamous ‘Gas Bay’, a wedging reef break located just south of Margaret River.

Gold Coaster Nick Omerod (Tweed Heads) and Sydneysider Sam Strachan (Cronulla, NSW) were two clear standouts on Day 1, with both riders progressing comfortably to Round 3 with excellent 9.0+ rides.

Omerod made it tougher on himself by entering the trials late and forfeiting a certain Round 3 seed, but with punchy peaks drawing hard on the Gas Bay reef, conditions resembled a favourite local haunt of the 26 year-old and he wasted no time in asserting himself in the WA lineup.

Omerod combined deep tube rides with solid rolls to walk away with two individual heat wins, accounting for the likes of Luke O'Connor (NSW, AUS) Leonardo Leite (BRA), Brady Devenny (WA, AUS) and Charles Ward (Tas, AUS) enroute to round 3.

Strachan too was impressive, constantly taking off deep behind the Gas Bay peak and launching hard off the lip. Advancing into Round 3 behind Strachan was the UK’s Eddie Read (ENG) while Kristian Greaghty (NSW, AUS) and Shaun Pyne (Cronulla, NSW) were eliminated.

Just eight trials spots into the The Box Pro main event are up for grabs from an international field of 64 hopefuls. Among the visiting internationals to hit the water when the Trials continues tomorrow are Sacha Specker (ZAF) of South Africa, Julien Miremont (FRA) of France, Keahi Parker (HAW) of Hawaii and Canada’s Vijay Maharaj (CAN).

The $30,000 IBA Box Pro is the second of eight events on the 2011 Men’s Grand Slam Series tour and has an eight-day waiting period beginning Thursday April 14 with just two full days of competition required to find a winner.

The current forecast suggests excellent conditions are likely to arrive early in the waiting period, with organisers making an official call on proceedings by 7:00am local time, Thursday morning.

All the action from The Box Pro will be available live at www.redbull.com/tv <http://www.redbull.com/tv> . Alternatively fans can watch it online at via www.ibaworldtour.com. Australian viewers can also tune into FUEL TV – check local guides for times.

Press updates, including pictures will be made available daily. A final TV newsfeed will also be made available.