FOUR SEASONS MALDIVES SURFING CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2012
Surfing Goes Five Star and Beyond
August 27 – September 2, 2012
Two-time World Champion Damien Hardman Wins Grand Champions Final
Three-time World Champion Tom Curren Wins Thruster Division
Sunday, September 2, 2012: Four Seasons Resort Maldives at Kuda Huraa:
Australian surfing legend and two-time world champion Damien ‘Dooma’
Hardman (Aus), 46, narrowly defeated three-time world champion Tom
Curren (USA), 48, in the Grand Champions Final of the Four Seasons Maldives
Surfing Champions Trophy 2012 today.
The invitational event saw five world champions, Hardman, Curren, Mark
Occhilupo (Aus), Martin Potter (GB) and Phil Rajzman (Brz) compete across
three divisions to qualify for the Grand Champions Trophy.
It was a magical week in the Maldives for Hardman, winning both the Single
and Twin-Fin divisions to US$6,000 before adding another US$10,000 to his total
prize tally of US$16,000.
“I can’t remember the last time I won sixteen grand,” said Hardman.
“It’s been a great week, for our ages we are all surfing on top of our game
and Curren was amazing today,” said Hardman. “It was a serious contest out
there, but at the same time I had a lot of fun.”
Hardman opened quickly in the final, locking in an 8.83, leaving Curren
playing catch-up straight out of the gates. With two minutes remaining, the
door opened for Curren when Hardman lost priority, but the inconsistent
conditions favored the ever-strategic Australian, who would eventually go on
to claim the 2012 title. Curren, requiring a 7.5, made one last ditch effort but
only managed a 6.5 on his final ride to be forced to settle for second.“Opening up against Curren in a final where the winner gets ten grand and
the waves are quite slow was great,” said Hardman. “You can’t get a better
start than that so I think that was the one wave in the final that made the
difference.”
Curren who finished with a heat total of 16:10 to Hardman’s 16:56 was happy
with his performance and the US$6,000 win.
“It was a close final and could have gone either way,” said Curren.
“We had some great exchanges and I knew I had to go on that last wave, as
it was inconsistent, but it didn’t have the potential to get the score.
Sometimes it just goes that way,” added Curren.
Sultan’s Point turned on a flawless finals day for the Four Seasons Maldives
Champions Trophy 2012 with crisp three- to five-foot (1.5 metres) reef-break
waves pulsing through all day for the Thruster Division and the all-important
Grand Champions Final.
Curren (USA) timed his run to perfection, coming from behind with subtlety,
style and calculation to win the Thruster Division and secure a coveted Grand
Champions Final berth. Curren was in command from the outset of the final
over 2007 World Longboard Champion Phil Rajzman (Brz). The American style
master remained focused throughout the 30-minute match-up to leave
Rajzman, 30, requiring an achievable 6.07 score on the siren.
“I’m very happy,” said Curren. “I like my board a lot and the waves are much
better today. I knew Phil was going to be very hard to beat and it came
down to that last set of waves and he didn’t need much of a score, but it
went my way.”
Semifinal one between archrivals and two of surfing most influential stars,
Curren and Occhilupo, didn’t disappoint with its intensity. The lead
exchanged constantly until Occhilpo looked secure, but Curren proved he
could not be underestimated using a last second wave to take the win.
“That was a tough match-up with Occy,” said Curren. “There wasn’t that
many waves in that heat and Occy got that really good one at the end.
Then I got that pretty decent one behind it and that was enough.”
Despite losing in the opening round of the Thruster Division, Hardman’s earlier
wins in the Single and Twin Fin divisions saw the goofy-footer accrue enough
points to secure an all-important Grand Champions Final berth.
Minister of Defense and National Security Mohamed Nazim attended the
awards ceremony and presented the surfers with their trophies. Australian surfer/shaper Simon Anderson invented the Thruster design, which
was met with skepticism initially, but after enhancements in 1981, he won the
Bells Beach Classic and the Surfabout in Sydney, then later the Pipe Masters in
Hawaii. Those victories brought the Thruster to everyone's attention; from 1984
onward every world champion has used one.
Following the success of the second annual event, Four Seasons and
Tropicsurf have vowed to make the 2013 Four Seasons Maldives Surfing
Champions Trophy even bigger and better next year.
Four Seasons Resorts Maldives wished to thank their co-sponsors for their
support of Surfboard Traders, Coastal Watch, Wataniya, SAFCO, Dhiraagu,
Coca-Cola.
Further Event Information: Mandy McKinnon: Email:
Grand Final Trophy Results:
Damien Hardman (Aus) 16:56 Tom Curren (USA) 16:10
Thruster Results:
Final: Tom Curren 13:67 (USA): Phil Rajzman (Brz) 13:20
SF1: Tom Curren (USA) 16.10: Mark Occhlupo (Aus) 14:66
SF2: Phil Rajzman (Brz) 16:07: Martin Potter (GB) 15:90
RD1 Tom Curren (USA) 18:40: Phil Rajzman (Brz) 15:94 Martin Potter 13:50.
RD1: Martin Potter (GB) 16:54: Mark Occhilupo 15:70: Damien Hardman (Aus)