The ASP World Tour's best 34 male surfers, one Rip Curl Wildcard
and one local Victorian Wildcard from the Wingman Trials will be at
Bells over Easter to compete in the year's second Men's ASP World
Tour contest. There will be only one winner at the end of the
marathon slog, earning the opportunity to ring the prized Bell on
the final day of competition.
Australian Taj Burrow, straight from a win on the Gold Coast,
will come to Bells with confidence, hopeful of taking down
defending champion Joel Parkinson and the other contenders.
Two-time ASP World Champion Mick Fanning, rising stars Owen Wright,
Gabriel Medina and Julian Wilson, and of course 11-time ASP World
Champion Kelly Slater are all must-watch surfers during the
event.
The guys will share the Southern Ocean swells with the ASP
Women's World Tour's best 17 surfers, who will also be at Bells
this Easter to compete the season's second event.
Defending champion Sally Fitzgibbons is hopeful of back-to-back
wins, while 4-time ASP Women's World Champion Stephanie Gilmore
will be looking to extend her current lead on the World Tour
ratings. Other hot favourites include reigning ASP World Champion
Carrisa Moore, reigning ASP Rookie of the Year Tyler Wright and
current World No. 2 Laura Enever.
The third diamond in the act will be the Rip Curl International
Grom Search Finals, fronting the the world's hottest 16-year-old
junior talent from Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, USA, South
America, Europe and South Africa. The sport's future stars are bred
from this junior series, so expect the unexpected when they're in
the water.
The Rip Curl Pro is presented by FORD with partners the
Victorian Government, Telstra, Tooheys Extra Dry, Jim Beam,
Sea-Doo, Skullcandy, Surf Coast Shire, Tracks, Fuel TV, Ozmosis,
Official Forecaster Coastalwatch Plus and co-managed by Surfing
Victoria.
The 2012 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach will be webcast LIVE via www.live.ripcurl.com and
broadcast live on Fuel TV in Australia and Portugal, ESPN in Brazil
and MCS Extrême in France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Africa
and Mauritius. You can also watch the event live via the Rip Curl
Live Events iPhone app, available free in the iTunes App Store.