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Eight Men and Women Australasian Surfers Qualify for 2009 ASP World Tour of Surfing
December 11, 2008
PRESS RELEASE
Paige Hareb, 18 years old from Oakura, New Zealand has created history in qualifying for the elite 2009 ASP Women's World Tour. In doing so Paige is the first ever New Zealand woman to qualify to the elite ASP Women's ranks.
After a stunning debut year to the World Qualifying Series (WQS), Hareb charged out of the blocks in January 2008 taking the runner up trophy in a tight finish to Australian Sally Fitzgibbons at the ASP Billabong World Junior Championship, Hareb then continued on a solid WQS campaign through the year including a remarkable win in the highly rated Drug Aware Pro in Margaret River which provided the catalyst for her surprising rise within the ranks of professional surfing.
Hareb will be joined on the 2009 ASP Women's World Tour by fellow ASP Australasia member Sally Fitzgibbons (Gerroa, NSW, Australia) who spectacularly claimed the number one ratings place on the WQS and qualification in world record time.
Fitzgibbons has long been a star in the making and is destined to make a sudden and exciting impact on the world of professional surfing and if she continues her competitive form from 2008, she will be challenger for the World Title in her rookie year.
On the men's side of the World Qualifying Series, six Australasian surfers have either qualified or requalified for the 2009 ASP World Tour. Exciting young surfer Nic Muscroft (Jan Juc, Victoria, Australia), powerhouse Tahitian Michel Bourez, along with veteran competitor Drew Courtney (Umina, NSW, Australia) will both make their ASP World Tour debuts in 2009.
Whilst Muscroft and Bourez are at the beginning of their career's and have tasted World Tour competion and success courtesy of sponsor wildcards and injury exemptions, 2009 will be the first year they have both competed full time on the ASP World Tour.
Courtney has been competing on the WQS for ten years and whilst being one of the most exciting and dynamic surfers on the planet has not until now been able to turn his raw power and brute force ability into a consistent year of competition.
The three other competitors have all requalified for the ASP World Tour after having tasted varying success in the past and briefly returning to WQS competition. Josh Kerr (Tweed Heads, NSW, Australia), Chris Davidson (Narrabeen, NSW, Australia) and Phil MacDonald (Cronulla, NSW, Australia) will be looking to re-establish themselves among surfing's elite in 2009 and will be contenders in every event they enter.
Kerr has long been one of the most high profile and exciting surfers on the planet courtesy of his innate ability to produce gravity defying aerials and will relish the opportunity to once again compete against his peers particularly at his home break of Snapper Rocks.
In his younger years Davidson, now 30 years old was touted as the next big thing but due to a variety of personal issues and lack of sponsorship fell to the wayside and was all but forgotten. With a renewed focus and sponsor support in 2008 Davidson achieved what many thought was now beyond him and easily requalified to the 2009 ASP World Tour finishing in 2nd place on the WQS ratings and winning two high profile events during the year.
Whilst Phil MacDonald, a former Top 10 World Tour competitor, will be looking to return to the top of the ASP World Tour ranks and with many finals showings in the past could easily return to the pointy end of the 2009 World Tour ratings.
Congratulations to all of the Australasian ASP World Tour qualifiers and expect big things in 2009 as Australasian surfers get set to return to the top of men's professional surfing and retain their strangle hold on the ASP Women's World Tour.
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