Irons takes Mr Price Pro 2005
11 July 2005
Stepping out of the shadow of his elder brother, Andy Irons, the defending Mr Price Pro Champion, Bruce Irons took a second consecutive Mr Price Pro title for the Irons family at Durban's North Beach on Sunday
The Mr Price Pro is a six-star-rated World Qualifying Series event with R1-million in prize money. The anchor event of Durban's annual 10-day Vodacom Beach Africa Festival, the Mr Price Pro featured over 250 of the world's elite surfing professionals.
Irons set a comfortable pace to progress through five rounds of competition before landing himself in the hot seat, next to the powerful Brazilian Marcondes Rocha.
With a progressive surfing style, arguably better suited to the onshore conditions than his Brazilian competitor, Irons was the perfect character for the final.
Answering the Brazilian's power-packed backhand attack, the 25-year-old Hawaiian boosted over Rocha's initial 7.0 (out of a possible 10) ride, landing an
aerial reverse 360 to score an excellent 8.0. He then followed that up with a 7.10 in response to Rocha's 8.0.
On the edge of their seats
Despite some critical in-the-pocket surfing from Rocha, it was Irons' aerial affinity that had the judges on the edge of their seats. And, with 90 seconds left on the clock, panic set in for Rocha, who left the last set that pulsed through North Beach unridden, allowing Irons to step onto the beach as the 2005 Mr Price Pro Champion.
Amid a crowd of camera crew, photographers and adoring fans, Irons floated back to the tower to stand in the footprints of his elder brother, drenched in champagne as he lifted this year's trophy
"I've never done well in this event, although I've been competing here for eight years," said Irons.
"My brother was disappointed when he got knocked out earlier in the event, but he'll be stoked that I took the title today and kept it in the family."
WQS rankings boost
Irons picked up the winners' cheque of R105 000 (US$15 000), and although comfortably ranked 14th on the ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), his win at the Mr Price Pro six-star WQS on Sunday will significantly boost his WQS rankings. At the end of the year the bottom 16 on the WCT will be replaced by the top 16 on the WQS.
Despite his loss to Irons, Rocha earned significant points and a handsome R52 500.
"I am very happy with the second place. It's the best result of my career and a lot of points, which is really good for my WQS rating," said Rocha, who jumped 50 positions and is now ranked 13th on the ASP WQS.
"Bruce is one of my favorite surfers, so I was happy I came up against him in the final. If I'd found some waves I might have made it."
The 'hottest' heat
The quarterfinals were sparked with exceptional surfing from Irons and Australian Taj Burrow in what was one of the
"hottest" heats of the event. Posting the highest single wave score of the day, Irons opened with a lengthy tube ride, which seemed unimaginable in the onshore conditions.
Irons' scored a 9.60 for his first score of the heat. Burrows, in turn, waited to warm up before responding with a 9.00, carving out the face of his wave with futuristic "Taj"-styled turns that defied physics.
Performing under pressure, Irons pulled off a classy critical aerial reverse to seal the deal for another excellent score.
Pro Junior
The Pro Junior final, which was the curtain raiser to the main final, was testimony to the future of South African surfing with four of the country's best juniors up against each other to contest the title.
Top seed Brandon Jackson of Durban showed his training has paid off, posting a decisive victory over fellow Durbanite Damien Farhenfort, number-two seed Josch Schmeltzer of Westville, and Capetonian Dave Richards, who
finished in second, third and fourth respectively.
"I was leading the PST going into the event, so Im stoked with my win because I wanted to put a little bit more distance between myself and second place. I did that today so I'm really happy with my win," said Jackson.
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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