Dale Staples took out John John Florence to reach the quarter finals of the Billabong Pro at Supertubes. A solid result for the St Francis local and a sure sign that he’s up for the challenge of beating the world’s best surfers and qualifying for the WCT. It’s a tough road, but just like his new bakkie, Dale Staples is built tough.
Eager to hear how ‘Ducky’ felt about his equal 5th place finish in front of his home crowd, we fired a few questions his way;
Zigzag: Ducky, well done on your excellent result. What does it feel like to have competed against 144 other surfers and come out equal 5th?
Dale: I’m really stoked knowing that I beat some of the best WQS as well as some WCT surfers at the best point break in the world!
For the most part the waves this year were as good as they get. What was it like being one of only three or four surfers surfing cooking 6-foot Supers?
For me it was probably the best freesurf sessions of my life with only three other guys out (and only one in the later rounds). As you know when Supers cooks it attracts a lot of surfers into the lineup!
You surfed against some other high profile surfers, but what was it like surfing against probably one of the world’s most talked-about surfers, John-John Florence?
I surfed as if it was just another surfer I needed to beat, but John-John is one of my favourite surfers, so it was really nice to have a heat against him.
It was interesting to see the difference between a regular WQS event and this year’s Billabong Pro in flawless conditions. Do you think competitors approached this event differently because of the waves?
I think Supertubes shows the strengths and weaknesses of surfers. I just tried my best to concentrate on my strengths and used my local knowledge to maximise my scores.
Dale buried a lot of rail during his march to the quarter finals. Image by: ASP / CESTARI
You’ve surfed in the Billabong Pro before, as a wildcard when it was still a WCT event. Was this event different for you as a competitor now that it is a WQS event?
I definitely prefer the WQS format as I could earn valuable points, as apposed to no points as a wildcard in the WCT. I hope it will be a WCT some time in the future though.
WCT or WQS? What are your thoughts for next year’s Bong Pro?
Hopefully a WQS 6*Prime as the points are better!
So what is next on the calendar for Dale Staples?
I have a couple of 6* and Prime WQS events to do for the remaining part of the year. I hope to achieve a top 60 ASP one world ranking by the end of 2012. I am currently ranked 76th, so I am hoping for a couple more good results.
Judging by the support on the beach during your heats, everyone is hoping for that too. Anyways, well done once again Dale, you flew the South African flag high for all of us this year.
Shot, I am a proud Saffa surfer trying to crack the WCT. Hopefully one day I’ll qualify and join Travis and Jordy along with some more SA WQS campaigners.
well done Dale, this pic is almost a carbon copy of one of Sean Holmes pics a while back, same turn and same style!