22 September 2011, Phuket-Thailand: It was a very full day of competition under sunny skies and 1-1.5 meter waves on the beautiful white sands of Patong Beach in Phuket at the Quiksilver Thailand 2011 Surf Compitition today as the Open Longboard Division contestants got the day started at just after 8 am and running until the quarterfinals had been completed, and then the Men’s Open Shortboard Division running until almost sunset getting through the 4th heat of the 3rd round before the sun went down in the West.
Running away with the highlight award for the day was Bali’s Marlon Gerber in the Mens’s Open Shortboard Division, who in Round 3 with put on a clinic of small wave mastery with combinations of turns, hacks, airs, and floaters to post the two best single wave scores of the day, first a 7.25 and then a whopping 8.25 to end the heat with an amazing 15.5 point total (out of a possible 20 points).
“From the beach the waves didn’t look that good,” said Gerber at the end of his heat. “But they were a lot better than they looked. My board is working really well, it’s the same board I won my last contest in Indonesia with, so I could get speed and make just about any maneuver I tried. It was really fun out there, and I’m having such a great time here. It’s my first time in Phuket and I’m very stoked to here, meeting all the crew and having a blast. Can’t wait to surf again tomorrow!”
The Longboard Division contestants put on impressive displays of both noseriding and progressive longboarding prowess in the morning’s session for some highlighs as well, including Arif “Mencos” Nur and Husni Ridwan from Indonesia, Aaron Wright from America, and Luke Landrigan from the Philippines.
It was Landrigans’s first time to Phuket and he was all smiles after his winning his quarterfinal heat. “It was great to be out there and getting so many fun waves, I never realized that there was such good surf here. And there are all kinds of other things to do here as well, so I’m really happy I made the trip. I’m competing in both the longboard and shortboard divisions, just to make sure I get all the waves I can during the few days I’m here!”
Tomorrow’s morning call will see the Women’s Division contestants seeing action first beginning at approximately 8 am depending upon wave conditions, followed by the completion of Round 3 and most likely Round 4 of the Men’s Open Shortboard, in addition to possibly some Masters Division heats.
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