Sunday 18 July 2010
It was a blur of reeling barrels, heaving parties and world class surfing, and now the Billabong Pro 2010 crown belongs to Jordy Smith. Chris Mason tells of the final day of action and glory. All images by Paul van Jaarsveld.
And just like that it’s all over, with Jordy Smith reigning supreme.
Photos of the Finals between Adam Melling and Jordy Smith
For the first time in history the Billabong Pro started on day 1 of the waiting period ran for a solid four days before the champion for 2010 was crowned.
Smith is the first South African to win an ASP event since Shaun Tomson was wearing neon boardies and in doing so has moved into pole position on the AASP World Rankings. Smith beat rookie campaigner Adam Melling in a wave starved final to get a giant aloe-shaped trophy and line his pockets with a hefty R375 000. That’s besides the well deserved acclaim of being the Billabong Pro champ of course and current world’s best surfer.
Melling, formerly a relatively unknown Australian is in his first year on tour, and this second place has boosted from the lowly 41st position to 19th on the WCT World Rankings, putting him in the clear as the tour gets trimmed from 45 to just 32 competitors.
Melling was on fire all day and looked fast and dangerous on his first wave in the finals, but fell off at the very end trying to complete a 360 reverse.
Both surfers tore their first waves apart, with the difference really being that Smith held onto his last manoeuvre, to get an 8.90 while Melling got a 6.33. Smith then applied the choke hold with flashy but precise surfing to earn a 9.03.
Comboed, with mounting pressure and the home crowd against him, Melling deflated and actually duffed his last opportunity by falling off, and all Smith had to do was wait out the clock.
It was the end of the competition, but the beginning of a festive day on the beach, with people chugging beer and celebrating Madiba’s birthday and Jordy’s victory, while roasting in the unseasonably hot winter sun.
Jordy seemed predestined to win this competition from the beginning though, fresh off a win at the Mr Price Pro and with his powerful style and aggressive approach to wave-riding being favoured by the judges.
The only real hiccup he faced was coming up against Bede Dubridge, where he managed to get two scoring waves in a matter of two minutes at the end of the heat, and punted a superman grab in the middle of the first wave to buff his score.
With it all said and done now in J-Bay, attention will soon be turned to Tahiti, and hopes of a world title for South Africa rest squarely on the broad shoulders of Jordan Michael Smith.
Photos of the Quarter Finals and Semi Finals
For all the highlights go to http://billabongpro.com/
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