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Billabong Pro - Teahupo'o, Tahiti.
Billabong is pleased to announce that they have secured the ASP license from Bluetorch to run the WCT event at Teahupo'o, in Tahiti, on May 8-19, 2001.
The Billabong Pro Teahupo'o will gather the world's greatest men and women surfers at the most spectacular wave location in the world.
This event will be the second of eight men's events on the 2001 ASP Tour, carrying a total purse of USD $ 250 000 for men and the women's WCT of the season with a USD $ 60 000 prize money.
Defending men's champion and 6-times World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) will be allocated the first wild card of the Billabong Pro Teahupo'o.
Trials will be run previous to the main event to determine the three other wild cards. The trial competitors will consist of Tahiti top locals and other Teahupo'o specialists selected from around the world.
Defending women's champion Keala Kennelly, who marked women's surfing last year when winning the event at Teahupo'o was ecstatic when she heard that her main sponsor would organise the event at her favorite wave in the world. " This gives me that much motivation to win it again !"
The Billabong Pro Teahupo'o will be the first of the three events in the Billabong Pro Series on the 2001 ASP World Championship Tour. The three Billabong Pro events will take competitors to three premier surf spots on three different continents. The two other Billabong Pro events include Jeffrey's Bay in South Africa (July 17-27) and the mythical Left-Hander of Mundaka in the Basque Country (October 10-22).
"We have been working towards securing the premium wave locations around the world and we feel we have achieved our objective. It also gives us a home for our second girls event on Tour", stated Billabong founder Gordon Merchant.
ASP CEO, Rabbit Bartholomew expressed his support to the announcement of Billabong organising the WCT contest at Teahupo'o. "It is great to see Billabong step in and take command of this epic event. This is very important stop on the World Championship Tour, particularly in this, the first year of our media partnership with Sportsworld Media Group. The surfers are pretty staked with this development."
Unfortunately, Billabong will now have to withdraw from the WCT event at Trestles, California, in accordance to the ASP rules stating that one company cannot hold more than three ASP WCT event licenses.
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