04.11.01
ASPworldtour.com

Garcia in fine form despite knee injury.

Bells Beach, Victoria, Australia - Current world and defending three-time Rip Curl Pro champion Sunny Garcia (Haw) today put aside a recurring knee injury to dominate six-time world champion Kelly Slater (USA) in their first round encounter. Clean 4-foot (1.3m) waves graced the Bells Beach lineup early this morning, but deteriorating conditions and gale force winds caused organizers to postpone the event after only three heats were completed.

Garcia, 31, put on an inspired performance against Slater and Luke Hitchings (Aus), showing no signs of the torn medial ligament that has kept him out of the water for the past 10-days. Though initially advised his right knee would leave him out of the water for 8-weeks, the Hawaiian defied doctor's orders by surfing with an all-out powerful approach to advance straight into the third round and leave Slater needing a total of 9.56-points.

"That heat went good considering 10-days ago the doctor told me I wouldn't be in the water for eight weeks," explained Garcia. "Luckily I flew up to Queensland (Aus) and had some therapy done on my knee and they were able to get the tenderness out. It's still a little loose and a little wobbly, but with a whole lot of tape and a knee brace, it feels pretty good. I was pumped to surf against Kelly, a six-time world champ. To me it seems like he wants to come back and steal some of the limelight. I'm always up to the challenge and it feels good to surf against Kelly, but it's even better when you beat him.

"Just knowing that I had Kelly in my heat ... " continued the current world champ. "Last night I didn't sleep that well. I've been amping to surf against him. I think the adrenaline rush I had during the heat helped put the psych in my mind and the hurt in my knee to rest. Everything is feeling good. Hopefully, if I do have him in the next round (the third), I can beat him again. We'll have to see, but right now I'm feeling pretty good about my knee.

"Bells has always been a very special event," Garcia added. "To win it three times has been incredible. It was a childhood dream just to win one. The possibilities of having four and to tie MR (Australia's four-time world champion Mark Richards) would be insane."

Austrailian Mark Occilupo shows the competition how it's done.

1999 world and 1998 Rip Curl Pro champion Mark Occhilupo (Aus) also put on a fantastic display this morning to easily progress past World Championship Tour (WCT) rookie Rodrigo Dornelles (Brz) and 1999 event winner Shane Dorian (Haw).

Occhilupo, 34, started his first heat of the season with a great wave to score 8.50 out of a possible 10 points, and then picked off another two good rides before either of his opponents had caught a thing. By the end of the 30-minutes, the Australian had left Dornelles and Dorian in his wake, both needing two good rides to catch him.

"It did work out pretty well for me, I got the first wave before it went a little bit inconsistent," said Occhilupo afterward. "I just got a second wave before they could get one and then all of a sudden I had three.

"I finished 20th last year and missed two events and was injured in another two," he explained of the substantial drop down the ratings he experienced in 2000. "I definitely feel really confident and I'm excited about this year. I felt good in that heat, and obviously I love Bells. I'm excited and quietly confident about this year. It's a shorter circuit and a good one, and that's why I came back to have another go. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't (after another world title). I'd love to have two, and that's what I'm going for. We'll see how it goes.

"Bells Beach just really suits my style (of surfing). I love coming to Bells. Some people really knock the waves, saying they find it hard to surf, but for me it's easier than a lot of other waves. It really agrees with me."

Current world number-two Luke Egan (Aus) was the other winner today, delegating Peterson Rosa (Brz) and event wildcard Zane Harrison (Aus) to the cut-throat second round. Egan, 31, made the most of the windy conditions to secure his spot in round three, acknowledging afterward his intentions for an elusive world title of his own.

"That heat then was very nerve-racking cause the wind came up onshore and I didn't want to get Kelly Slater in the first heat of the second round, as that could be pretty deadly," said Egan. "I'm not really warmed up yet; I didn't feel that good in that heat then. I'm stoked I got through.

"I've definitely been getting a lot of wraps for this year and I've trained pretty hard," he admitted in regard to his 2000 runner-up finish. "But I just have to put all that aside. If I want to be world champion there's a lot of hard work ahead of me and there's no denying that, or getting around it. I'm just out there to surf every heat as it comes and there are a lot of them this year. Hopefully I'm fit enough, and I think I am, to go through and surf all of those heats.

"Whoever starts off with a win here at Bells is going to be the first contender of all of us, and I'd love to do that. I've always had a bit of trouble making the quarter-finals here, so if I can make the quarters or better, I've done what I tried to achieve this week, to stay up in the front-runners for the start of the year."

Official results of the Rip Curl Pro Day 2; Round One
H7: Mark Occhilupo (Aus) 23.40
Rodrigo Dornelles (Brz) 12.75
Shane Dorian (Haw) 11.60

H8: Sunny Garcia (Haw) 24.00
Kelly Slater (USA) 20.30
Luke Hitchings (Aus) 14.90

H9: Luke Egan (Aus) 15.60
Peterson Rosa (Brz) 13.75
Zane Harrison (Aus) 9.15

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