Jordy Squeaks Thru Round Three

Wed 3 March 2010

SNAPPER ROCKS, Queensland: Jordy Smith continued his passage through the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast by winning a closely contested heat against Portugal's Tiago Pires in Round Three today. 

Jordy beat the Portuguese in Heat 16 of Round 3 but not by a score big enough to satifsy the outrageously talented youngster.

However, a win is a win, even if it was only 15.23 over 14.77 out of a possible 20. Earlier, in Round 2, big Jordy blitzed to a 17.86 score in barrelling 3' surf, squeezing his sizeable frame into the tightest of tubes. Jordy, a strapping 22-year-old lad who stands six four two tall, recovered from a lackluster Round 1 performance with an epic double tube ride and a few whip slash off the tops to almost get a perfect 10 on one wave, with judges awarding him a 9.93.

"You always want to try to impress the crowd and whoever's watching but you just got to slow it down sometimes and just try to get the scores," the modest young Smith said. "I just surf like 70% or 80% and then, in the later rounds, I just give everything."

Contributing to Smith's victory in Round 2 was a near-perfect 9.93 out of a possible 10 (the highest scoring wave of the day), for a super deep forehand barrel that brought the tens of thousands in attendance to their feet in raucous approval.

"I kind of got lucky on that one wave," Smith said. "It was such a good wave. I'm sure anyone could have had a good score. I'm just lucky I got it. It was kind of slow in the ning and then walled up all the way down the bank."

The opening eight heats of the elimination, man-on-man Round 2 at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover were completed in pulsing two-to-three foot barrelling righthanders at Snapper Rocks.

Dane Reynolds (USA), 24, current ASP World No. 10, was another standout in Round 2, posting an impressive 17.33 out of a possible 20, eliminating 2010 ASP Dream Tour rookie Blake Thornton (AUS), 29.

"I was happy they ran it today," Reynolds said. "The other morning, I kind of got sacrificed for the tide because they have to start at a certain point to finish the round, and the first heat they're going to start in bad surf. But today it's really fun out there and they made a great call."

QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 2 RESULTS

Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.84 def. Garrett Parkes (AUS) 11.83
Heat 2: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 14.93 def. Blake Ainsworth (AUS) 12.76
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 10.07 def. Craig Anderson (USA) 8.70
Heat 4: Damien Hobgood (USA) 15.57 def. Neco Padaratz (BRA) 13.73
Heat 5: Dane Reynolds (USA) 17.33 def. Blake Thornton (AUS) 10.23
Heat 6: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 17.86 def. Marco Polo (BRA) 10.27
Heat 7: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 14.87 def. Travis Logie (ZAF) 13.37
Heat 8: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 16.10 def. Tanner Gudauskas (USA) 15.56

QUIKSILVER PRO GOLD COAST REMAINING ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS

Heat 9: Dean Morrison (AUS) vs. Matt Wilkinson (AUS)
Heat 10: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Nathan Yeomans (USA)
Heat 11: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) vs. Jay Thompson (AUS)
Heat 12: Mick Campbell (AUS) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 13: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Patrick Gudauskas (USA)
Heat 14: Ben Dunn (AUS) vs. Daniel Ross (AUS)
Heat 15: Roy Powers (HAW) vs. Andy Irons (HAW)
Heat 16: Drew Courtney (AUS) vs. Luke Stedman (AUS)

ROXY PRO GOLD COAST ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 1: Sofia Mulanovich (PER), Bruna Schmitz (BRA), Nikita Robb (ZAF)
Heat 2: Chelsea Hedges (AUS), Paige Hareb (NZL), Claire Bevilacqua (AUS)

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