Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach ON With Elimination Round 1

Pictured: Dayyan Neve (AUS), 31, will take on Marlon Lipke (DEU), 24, in Round 1 of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. Credit: © ASP/ CI/ ROBERTSON via GETTY IMAGES

BELLS BEACH, Victoria (Tuesday, April 7, 2009) – Round 1 of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach presented by Snickers will hit the water in three-to-four foot (1 metre) surf at Bells Beach starting at 9:30am.

Stop No. 2 of 10 on the 2009 ASP World Tour, the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach will be the first event of the season to incorporate the new format, where all of today’s Round 1 heats will be man-on-man elimination.

“We’ve waited this morning for the tide to drop and the conditions have cleaned up so we’ll be starting with Round 1 at 9:30am this morning,” Damien Hardmen, Rip Curl Pro Contest Director, said. “We’re planning to have a full day of waves so we plan on running Round 1, and with the new format providing zero room for error, our surfers will need to be on their game.”

Up first will be David Weare (ZAF), 28, against Nathaniel Curran (USA), 24, in the opening heat of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.

The Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach pres. by Snickers will be webcast LIVE via www.live.ripcurl.com

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

Click for Rip Curl Mens Jeans

Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Round 1 Match-ups:

Heat 1: David Weare (ZAF) vs. Nathaniel Curran (USA)
Heat 2: Roy Powers (HAW) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 3: Heitor Alves (BRA) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)
Heat 4: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Phillip MacDonald (AUS))
Heat 5: Dayyan Neve (AUS) vs. Marlon Lipke (DEU)
Heat 6: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)
Heat 7: Jihad Khodr (BRA) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 8: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Owen Wright (AUS)
Heat 9: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 10: Chris Davidson (AUS) vs. Adam Robertson (AUS)
Heat 11: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)
Heat 12: Nic Muscroft (AUS) vs. Dean Morrison (AUS)
Heat 13: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 14: Greg Emslie (ZAF) vs. Drew Courtney (AUS)
Heat 15: Tim Boal (FRA) vs. Mikael Picon (FRA)
Heat 16: Dustin Barca (HAW) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)

Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Round 2 Match-ups:

Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 2: Chris Ward (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 3: Kai Otton (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 5: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 6: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 7: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 8: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 9: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 10: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. TBA
Heat 12: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. TBA
Heat 13: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 14: Tim Reyes (USA) vs. TBA
Heat 15: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. TBA
Heat 16: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) vs. TBA