06.15.01
Oneill Europe

Himmafushi Island, Maldives, Thursday, 14th June 2001 - Chris Ward from the USA came storming through in the last 10 seconds of the final of the O'Neill Deep Blue Open 2001 to walk away with the first place in the first ever professional surfing contest to be held in the Maldives. Ward who had trailed Brazilian Rodrigo Dornelles through out the thirty five minute heat this afternoon, busted a 360 in the dying seconds to relegate Dornelles to second spot in a nail biting, to the wire final at Jailbreaks. Australia's Lee Winkler took the third place and Dean Morrison fourth. The final took place under a clear Maldivian sky and with a building swell. A perfect end to a week of hard, top level surfing in this tropical paradise deep in the Indian Ocean.

Deep Blue Winner Chris Ward

"It was a really tough, it came down to the last wave and the last 10 seconds , I knew I just had to bust out." Said a dazed Chris Ward " When it came down to the last 3 minutes I needed 6.5 and I sat out back and wondered what I could do. So I just put in a few turns, a few big carves and busted an air and made it and they gave me a 6.6. At the time I wasn't sure but I got it and I can't believe it it's my first win. It's been such a good contest I'm so stoked, I'm lost for words."

It seemed clear to all the spectators that had gathered on the boats in the channel next to the massive right hander that the 2001 O'Neill Deep Blue Open title would be going to Dornelles who seemed to be untouchable from the start, however it was not to be. Dornelles was just one of the strong Brazilian contingent that had made the trip to the Maldives the Brazilian went hard throughout the contest.

"I almost lost my first heat in the competition but stole a place in the next in the closing seconds." Said a slightly miffed Dornelles back on the boat. "Now Wardo has done the same to me. I guess what goes around comes around. Second is ok, I would have been happier with first but its one of those things. I've really enjoyed surfing in the Maldives, I will have great memories of this competition."

Runner up Rodrigo Dornelles

Australia's Lee Winkler celebrated his birthday in fine form buy pulling in a third place after a long hard days surfing.

"I'm pretty tired but stoked. It's been a tough day, so much surfing but there's nowhere I'd rather be right now, this is the best way to celebrate my birthday it doesn't get much better than this. In the final I had a pretty good roll going. I was in contention but I slipped to fourth and I j but I hadn't had a third wave so I just went for it, I'm stokedŠ Chris (Ward) deserved the win, he left it real late but he went for it and pulled it off in the last seconds of the heatŠThe waves out there have been a blessing for us, waves like that in a perfect place like this is unreal. I rate the contest 10 out of 10, It's a great contest and not one anyone will forget in a hurry!"

The final was a fitting conclusion to a day of intense surfing and drama that had gone before. Cory Lopez currently ranked number one in the world crashed out in the 1st quarter final after a lull in the swell and strong cross shore winds created difficult conditions and made wave selection tricky. A last ditch aerial attack reaped no rewards and marked the end of the road for Lopez's Deep Blue contest.

South African David Weare looked unstoppable as his wave attack rocketed him to the Semi's.

"It's getting hard out there, everyone's just getting so many good scores. The pressure's really on. It's been a long day, so many heats, my legs are feeling it right now but I'm confident for the semi's, stoked with the way my board is going just pretty tired beating Cory was good. It's always good to take down the big names it boosts your confidence a lot, it feels good."

Australia's Mick Fanning, putting his good form down to reduced alcohol consumption, was surfing at warp speed again with early performances that looked like he could take it all the way to the final. After destroying the opposition in his quarter final, an ever modest Fanning said:

"It's really good out there, I got some really good scores early on. I really like good point breaks with walls and barrels so this wave really suits me as it's all of that, just missing the barrels today! Everyone left in the competition is really good, everyone's just going mad, the competition is hotting up it's really hard out there at this stage of the contest it really comes down to luck and whoever gets the waves, everyone's on the same level so it's really close."

Fanning's winning streak came to an end as cross shore winds briefly blasted the line up during his second semi final leaving the young Australian scrapping around for high scoring waves that never materialized.

Australia's Mick Fanning puts on a show early on

The waves did materialise for Chris Ward who accepted his first WQS victory on the deck of the contest boat as the sun set across the Northern Atolls. Steve Robson from ASP Australia thanked the Maldive Surf Association for all their help and vowed to make the O'Neill Deep Blue Open 2001 the first of many future professional surfing contests in the Maldives.

"It was an eventful day" Said contest director Matt Wilson "It's been hard at times due to the nature of the contest but we have been part of something very special. The surfing and the waves today were the best we have had. To see the final come right down to the wire, to the last wave of the event, summed the contest up for me. Because the wave was so good and so high performance, a lot of the guys were doing similar sorts of turns it made it really difficult to separate the surfers. And at the end it came down to point four of a point separating Chris Ward and Rodrigo Dornelles." We saw some awesome surfing over the past couple of days in one of the most beautiful places on earth so we're all stoked."

The end of a pioneering contest in the Indian Ocean. O'Neill Europe's Bernhard Ritzer vowed to come back in 2002 for another adventure in the Deep Blue.

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