Thursday 6th March 2003
Irons fired up in World Championships | |
|  | | Snapper Rocks overview Picture courtesy ASPTostee |
| | World champion Andy Irons has started where he left off with victory in his first heat of the 2003 World Championship Tour season in Australia.
BBC Devon Surfing Correspondent Simon Alexander reports from the line-up. |
| | | Irons got off to a slow start, but soon found his rhythm in the hollow Snapper Rocks surf.
The Hawaiian confidently outpointed his two Aussie opponents Lee Winkler and Quiksilver Pro Trials winner Luke Munro.
"Snapper's such a high performance wave," said Irons after his win.
"You've really got to pull out all the stops to make heats. I'm just stoked to be out of the first one. It's going to be crazy this year. The tour is going to be amazing. I'm just real excited the contests have started up again."
 | Kelly Slater cutting loose at Snapper Rocks.
Picture courtesy ASPTostee |
Six times world champion Kelly Slater joins Irons in the third round draw after the former Baywatch star turned on the magic against Californian Taylor Knox and WCT newcomer Tom Whittaker.
Knox took an early lead following a great six-second barrel that sees him leading the men's 'Torquay Time-Tunnel' progressive tally, but Slater made his presence known with the longest of lip-gliding floaters to collect serious points.
The Floridian then found his own tube, before executing a series of powerful open face gouges, tail slides and beyond vertical re-entries to leave the crowd in awe and the scoreboard showing a 9.53 score for victory.
"I was a little nervous, it being my first heat of the year," said Slater.
"I haven't surfed a contest since Pipe, so I was a little jittery in the beginning. I fell off on a couple and had to play catch-up on Taylor after he got a nice barrel. It's really crucial to get the highest scoring wave in a heat, as it's much easier to back up your second ride.
"My surfing feels really strong. I'm not sure how completely focused I am competitively yet, but mentally I'm in the game. This year it's going to have to fall into place a little differently 'cause my life is changing and my approach to doing things is different," added Slater.
A super selective Luke Hitchings snatched victory from 1999 world champion Mark Occhilupo and Chris Davidson. 'Occy' commenced his 2003 campaign with a near-perfect 9.7 ride, bashing the lip repeatedly on his backhand.
Hitchings' second scoring wave in the dying minutes earned an 8.93, however, and combined with his opening 8.67, pushed him directly into round three.
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