Jordy is Back

While we have been pondering the debate of Rio vs J-Bay, Rio vs all-time Teahupo’o, and Rio vs all good sensibilities in every thing that surfing stands for, the boys continued to chip away at the shitty conditions at the primary contest venue of Barra da Tijuca and getting some amazingly good rides along the way.

It was our boy Jordy who showed the world what was really going on by scoring a thick backdoor pit and getting totally slotted for a good distance for the perfect 10-point ride. Then, and only then, did anyone actually consider that there was real surfing going down at this event.

Not to be outdone however, the 17-year-old Felipe Toledo came back strong with a crazy ride on which he put together a combo alley-oop to air reverse for the second 10-point ride of the heat, and the game changed.

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Jordy chased him as hard as only Jordy can, but it was not to be, and Jordy had to surf another round to get into the quarters (Felipe skipped round 5) where the two surfers met again. He came up against Glen Hall, trounced him and went on to meet Toledo in the quarters and beat him in this match-up.

While not wishing to detract from Jordy’s performance, Toledo was on-point throughout the tournament, busting big alley oops and air reverse combos – not bad for an 18-year old kid.
Jordy’s semi-final performance against Mick Fanning was a bit of a one-sided affair, with Mick tryint to match Jordy and the young Brazilians (Gabriel, Filipe) air game, and failing miserably, falling on all of his airs.

“I saw so many airs, so I thought I could go out and do that, and I failed miserably,” said a pretty cheerful Fanning, stoked with a semi-final result.

The final was a total cracker of a final, with Jordy and Adriano going tooth and nail to coin an old surfing cliché. Adrian had risen to the air challenge throughout the tournament, going for bigger and more radical airs throughout, and he threw them down again in the final.

Jordy, however, was playing a patient game, and sat and waited for the good ones. He knew what he had to do, and it was all about the airs. He took to the skies against the Brazilian and it was a close final (17.80 to 16.34) but at the end of it all it was Jordy’s first WCT victory away from South Africa.

“This win feels unbelievable,” Smith said. “It’s another dream come true.”

Jordy now sits at number 2 on the World Championship Tour rankings, a mere 250 points behind ratings leader De Souza.