Surgeons inserted a 17 cm rod, a metal plate, and four screws to hold him together. Photos: Facebook
When the 2016 Samsung Galaxy WSL Championship Tour season kicks off at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Bede Durbidge won’t be competing. It’s the first time any ‘CT event has run without Durbidge since the Australian started his career on tour more than a decade ago. Still rehabilitating from a devastating hip injury endured at the 2015 Billabong Pipe Masters, the Queensland native will instead kick off his 12th season as a part of the WSL’s live broadcast team.
“I’m 10 weeks into my injury and the last three weeks have been filled with a lot of pool therapy, which I’m making great progress at in my rehabilitation. I’ve been overwhelmed with all the support. I can’t thank everyone enough for their well wishes and look forward to putting a jersey back on in the near future.”
This latest announcement rounds out a week in which three Australian surfers have made headlines for announcing they’ll miss time on the tour. First, Mick Fanning announced his decision to take a “personal break” from the title hunt in 2016, opting to surf the tour’s first two events and suggesting that he’d like to return to J-Bay in July. Fanning pointed out that his plan is to compete enough to qualify for the 2017 tour and avoid taking an injury wildcard away from another competitor. Then Owen Wright announced that he would be taking the first half of 2016 away from the tour while he recovers from a serious head injury that was also sustained at Pipe.
Durbidge finished 12th on the 2015 Men’s Championship Tour Jeep Leaderboard, his best year end result since a four-year run of top ten finishes between 2007 to 2010. He finished the 2015 rendition of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast with a 5th place result, and will be replaced in this year’s event by Stuart Kennedy.
