Once again the exotic and magnificent Maldives island’s will host one of the worlds best and most anticipated surf events - the ASP 5 Star Prime rated Maldives presents SriLankan Airlines Pro, running from June 3 through to June 9.

Renowned world wide and attracting the very best surfers from right across the globe, The Sri Lankan Airlines Pro delivers the true essence of the sport to the world with perfect surf, amazing weather and possibly the warmest surfing waters in the world - All this on a paradise island setting where the problems of the world disappear and the sport of surfing takes over!

Elite World Qualifying Series competitor Hira Terinatoofa (Tahiti) commented on the SriLankan Airlines Pro saying “Simply awesome! It’s my favorite event on the world tour. Everybody has fun enjoying fantastic surf and it’s just a wonderful experience. It’s just like my home in Tahiti - surf, sun and fun. A great event for surfing!”

The Maldives Islands is open to the entire Indian Ocean swell window and while great surf is consistent throughout the year, the monsoonal June winds have regularly delivered powerful and excellent surf to this event. Last year’s event saw Pasta Point on the Dhonveli Beach & Spa Resort Island add even more quality to the options of excellent surf available and Pasta Point will again be the events base with options to surf other quality surf breaks like Lohifushi, Cokes and Jails!

Just how important this event is to these surfers was highlighted last year when Australia’s Luke Munro won the event and then went on to qualify for the ASP Fosters World Tour. There’s a high degree of prestige attached to winning this event because the waves are so good. It’s the perfect testing ground to highlight surfings best and you’ll only win here if you’re truly a champion of the sport.

This years event sees multiple partners joining forces to ensure the best possible promotion which will include a fully serviced (vision, audio and live scores) live webcast along with an international television production crew who will produce a feature show for the world along with daily news feeds to the world and web highlight packages.

ASP Australasia Tour Manager Glenn Best commented on the event saying “The 2007 SriLankan Airlines Pro event is going to be a fantastic event thanks to the support of our key sponsors in SriLankan Airlines, Maldives Tourism & Promotions Board and John Keels Resorts who have all solidified their commitment in 2007. The Maldives is without question one of the most superb surfing event locations, and each year it continually gives up some of the best WQS waves on the globe, we are so fortunate to be holding the event in such a fantastic surfing location - With the event’s 5 Star Prime Rating bringing the best ASP ranked surfers into the Maldives it creates an explosive surfing event, and it’s all set in an idyllic tropical location. The 2007 SriLankan Airlines Pro event will have daily live vision web cast from the event site at ‘Pasta Point’ on the luxurious Dhonveli Beach & Spa Resort, - put simply, very few other WQS events offer such outstanding surf conditions and all set in 5 Star surroundings”

Just some of the quality surfers already on the entry list include Roy Powers (Hawaii), Leonardo Neves (Brazil), Kai Otton (Australia), David Weare (South Africa), Tim Boal (France), Enecko Acero (Spain), Tiago Pires (Portugal), Abdul El Harem (Morocco), Teppi Tajima (Japan), Brian Toth (Puerto Rico), Alex Grey (USA) and many more for what is possibly the worlds biggest elite representation at an ASP Professional event.

The SriLankan Airlines Pro, sitting right in the middle of the grueling ASP World Qualifying Series Season and almost right in the middle of surfing’s global community which will ensure a super quality event in an amazing location.

The countdown to early June is now on as everyone eagerly plans their pathway on SriLankan Airlines to the magnificent Maldives.

The 2007 Maldives presents the SriLankan Airlines Pro event is proudly supported by SriLankan Airlines, Maldives Tourism & Promotions Board, John Keels Resorts and Atoll Travel.

Watch all the event action live from the beautiful Maldives from 3 - 9 June on www.surfingaustralia.com

Steve Robertson
ASP Australasia, Surfing Australia Media Manager
ASP Int. Digital Photographer

Windsurfing, originally uploaded by shiham.

Enjoying all day!

For the 6th year running the Maldives will host another Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) world class surfing event in the stunning tropical islands - this time cosponsored by Oakley and Srilankan Airlines.

The 4 star rated ASP Australasia rated World Qualifying Series (WQS) will be held from 8-11 June 2006 at the never before used location of ‘Pasta Point’ on the south western tip of Dhonveli Beach Resort & Spa, which offers one of the world’s premier left hand point breaks located in the famous North Male Atoll. High level surfing action with ASP competitors from Australia, Hawaii, Japan, Brazil, South Africa and Europe are expected to compete for the prize money of US$ 75,000.

The Maldives is becoming an increasingly popular surf destination for enthusiastic world travelling surfers. Leading Australian World Qualifying Series surfer Adam Robertson described the upgrade announcement by saying “This is fantastic news, the Maldives is such a great event with perfect weather, amazingly warm waters and great quality waves. We all love going there to compete because we know we’re in for a real quality event.”

Mitch Thorson, Surf Marketing Manager, Oakley South Pacific says “Oakley is proud to begin an association with the ASP Australasia and Sri Lankan Airlines, and we look forward to developing a long term relationship with the Maldives and its people.”

“The Maldives represents all of the allure of living the surfing dream - tropical islands, perfect waves, incredible weather, great hospitality - we’re super fired up about this project!”

For further information about the event please contact:

ASP Australasia
Telephone: 02 6674 9888
Facsimile: 02 6674 9887
Email: brodiec@surfingaustralia.com