Taj Burrow, en route to numero uno, Gold Coast

Yesterday at Snapper Rocks, Taj Burrow beat Adriano De Souza in the final of the Quiksilver Pro, Gold Coast. Taj won every heat but his first during the event, taking down Dane Reynolds, Travis Logie, Julian Wilson, Ace Buchan (twice), Jordy Smith and, finally, Adriano on the way to hoisting Quik’s mini surfboard trophy. Having won the event in 2010, then falling on Kelly Slater’s sword in a wave-starved final last year, d’you reckon this fruit tastes sweet for Taj? “I feel so good now!” he said. “I had a really good event last year, but came up short in the final against Kelly. Then, today, when I found myself against Adriano, I was really nervous because he got me in a final in Brazil last year. He’s really tough and I don’t like competing against, him to be honest. There was a lot of weight on my shoulders in that final, so it’s pretty rewarding to come out on top.”

Footplants like this were a regular occurrence in Taj’s heats during the event, thanks to some newly juiced-up pins – care of trainer Johnny Gannon. And, it was turns like this that pushed him through heat after heat (with the odd tail-blow too, of course). After starting 2012 with a clean slate, Taj Burrow is, right now, number one in the world. All he’s gotta do is hold on.