Barbadian Josh Burke was simply brilliant as he won the prestigious World Surf League’s Ron Jon Quiksilver Pro Men’s Qualifying Series 1 000 at Cocoa Beach in Florida, Sunday.
The 21-year-old Burke gave a jaw-dropping display of surfing against first-time finalist Colt Ward of the United States to land wave scores of 8.33 and 5.03 for an overall total of 13.36.
Ward, who hails from California only managed below-par scores of 5.00 and 1.73 in his waves for a combined total of 6.73 as he was simply no match for Burke, who earned US$2 500 for his victory and 1 000 points.
Burke also put on an impressive show in his semi-final showdown with last year’s Junior Pro winner Ryland Rubens of the United States, landing wave scores of 8.17 and 4.43 for a total of 12.60.
On Saturday, Burke easily won his quarter-final against last year’s semi-finalist Tommy Coleman, powering to an overall score of 15.03. Coleman only managed combined scores of 11.07
Ward, on the other hand had eliminated event favourite and defending champion, Evan Geiselman in the semi-finals.
Even before his triumph, Burke was confident he would come out on top after bowing out at the semi-final stage in two previous events in Florida.
“I want to make that next step, and to take a win here would be amazing. I didn’t do well in Australia but a third in these QS 1000s isn’t really a good result in the long run, so I’ve set my goals high here,” Burke said.
“My focus goes beyond the North America QS events because to make that Top 100 by the cut- off you have to do some traveling, but these are great for momentum and key for building success.
“I’ve just changed my whole attitude this year and I’m staying a lot more positive,” Burke added. “I’m trying to understand and be in sync with the waves more which I’ve noticed is helping here especially. I feel like the waves have come to me here. So it’s important to be happy and that’s been a big difference in my surfing,” Burke explained.
Burke will be returning home, along with Dane Mackie, who was eliminated in the third round, to compete in the Barbados Surf Pro Men’s and Women’s QS 3 000 at the Drill Hall Beach, from March 27 to April 1. (EZS)
