Saturday 17 July 2010
South African surfers Jordy Smith and Sean Holmes did their country proud today at the Billabong Pro by plowing through the dauting competition to advance to the Quarterfinals. Chris Mason reports on a leisurely Saturday that was proudly South African and Paul van Jaarsveld completes the picture with some A grade images.
All roads led to Supertubes this morning, and they were all jammed with chattering crowds. Saturday meant that everybody came to the beach, and brought their aunties, Labradors and coolest sunglasses.
It’s been a quarter of a century since the humble beginnings of this now massive event, and over the years the big brand must have logged some good karma, or at least enough for three days of solid surfing and sunny weather.
The day was proudly South African though, and our boys did the country proud more than once.
Jordy Smith proved unequivocally that he is a force to be reckoned with and moved into the ASP No 1 ranking by out surfing world No. 11 Owen Wright in what was touted the best heat of the day.
Wilson, a tall, lanky Australian, had been in Jeffrey’s Bay for a week or so before the event and looked on top form throughout the event. Both surfers got good scores to start, with Smith posting an impressive 8.60 to put him in the lead. Wilson answered with an equally good (in my opinion) wave to get him 7.90.
For a moment after that it looked pretty even as both guys had a few throw away waves, but things changed as Jordy cemented his victory with an amazing 9.27 ride. The wave was actually a smaller one and mediocre by all accounts, but Smith linked a huge first tail-slide cutback directly into a clean barrel, then came out and did a massive floater to come around a close out section about 20 feet long, threw in two more floaters, a snap and a last whack to seal the deal.
It was one of those moments when something ordinary (the wave) is made extraordinary and a clear indication that the big guy from Durban has what it takes to be the next world champ.
The other Saffa to shine was Sean Holmes, who lived up to his nickname and slayed not one but two giants with gouging hacks and local knowledge.
Kelly Slater was the first to fall in Heat 8 of Round 3, but it was by no means a one-sided battle and the heat could have gone either way until the very last moment, with Holmes winning by a tiny 0.06 points (see heat scores below).
Holmes took another giants head by beating Andy Irons in Heat 4 of Round 4 of the day, and again the margin was miniscule at 0.43 points.
This means that both Smith and Holmes are through to the quarterfinals and day four of the Billabong Pro 2010.
The day finished with some wayward swell filing into the bay, so there is a strong chance the contest will run tomorrow. For all the results, and to watch the day’s action, go to http://billabongpro.com/jbay10/
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