Travis for Kelly?

Heat 5 of Round 1 was the standout of the day, with South African´s Jordy Smith and Sean Holmes pitched against Adam Melling. Both surfers had a score to settle with Jordy. Sean had mentioned he wanted to get back at Jordy for beating him in a previous event, while Adam lost to Jordy in the finals of the 2010 event.

Sean managed to squeeze the first barrel of the contest, and surfed well, but Jordy answered back with a massive 9.0 point ride - a gobstopping jawdropping freight trainer that included a barrel section and not one, but two airs. Melling also posted two strong scores, but Jordy nailed it.

News on the inside is that Chris Davidson (AUS) had a bad case of food poisoning even though he did show up for his heat against Adriano De Souza (BRA) who is recovering from a knee injury. Otton took the heat with a 5.00 pt lead and secured a spot straight through to Round 3.

The fact that Dane Reynolds called in sick and Bobby Martinez remains a no-show, is still overshadowed by the big question: "Will Kelly make it?!"

"Ooops ... just watched my heat but I'm getting barreled off my face in Fiji. No disrespect towards ASP or Billabong. Small surf."

Kelly Slater, who has been surfing an "unmissable swell" at Cloudbreak, Fiji, is cutting it close and already viable for a fine for not pitching for his heat today. Kelly said earlier "Ooops ... just watched my heat but I'm getting barreled off my face in Fiji. No disrespect towards ASP or Billabong. Small surf." and later on he said "I've said a few times that if the event holds past Sunday I can make it. Otherwise I hope Travis gets my spot with new rule. Sorry bru."

The ASP rule Kelly is speaking about was created today and will make it possible for Travis Logie (ZA) to take Kelly´s spot, or Bobby Martinez' spot, if he does not show. Up to this point, Kelly has not officially withdraw from the event. If he is a no-show five minutes before the heat, then Travis will surf against Shaun Payne in Round 2 and Kelly will be out of the competition. Travis has another chance to get Bobby´s slot if Bobby does not pitch. If Travis takes Kelly's slot, and Bobby does not show, one of the other wildcards will have the opportunity.

At the end of the the day it all boils down to if Round 2 runs tomorrow. Travis Logie is already in Jeffreys Bay, ready to take up the slot and is no doubt frothing at the mouth.

In the wake of this, lots of remarks are flying around, either condemming Kelly for being a bad sportsman or telling him to enjoy the surf in Fiji while he can. There are also thoughts of the widely advertised public signing at the Quiksilver shop scheduled for Saturday, with lots of his fans possibly being dissapointed by the King himself not showing up.

To put things in perspective, Kelly would need to hire a fighter jet with a mid-air refeul to make it in time if Round 2 runs tomorrow. The next call is scheduled for 7 AM tomorrow morning.

The forecast is not looking too good though, but looking at the following week, it would be unwise not to try and run at least some of the heats of Round 2.

The Billabong Pro J-Bay 2011 is proudly presented by South Africa’s adventure province Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency and further supported by Carling Black Label, Monster Energy, Coca Cola, Amarok, Vida e Caffe, Tavcor, VonZipper and Nixon.

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 1 RESULTS:

Heat 1: Tiago Pires (PRT) 11.04, Bede Durbidge (AUS) 6.66, Cory Lopez (USA) 6.60
Heat 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 13.10, C.J. Hobgood (USA) 12.17, Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 9.67
Heat 3: Jadson Andre (BRA) 12.90, Taj Burrow (AUS) 10.00, Gabe Kling (USA) 8.13
Heat 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.73, Heitor Alves (BRA) 12.17, Bobby Martinez (USA) 0.00
Heat 5: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.87, Sean Holmes (ZAF) 14.93, Adam Melling (AUS) 14.57
Heat 6: Alejo Muniz (BRA) 12.77, Shaun Payne (ZAF) 7.46, Kelly Slater (USA) 0.00
Heat 7: Kai Otton (AUS) 13.50, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 8.50, Chris Davidson (AUS) 4.73
Heat 8: Josh Kerr (AUS) 12.70, Owen Wright (AUS) 8.43, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 7.56
Heat 9: Daniel Ross (AUS) 11.70, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 7.80, Kieren Perrow (AUS) 7.73
Heat 10: Julian Wilson (AUS) 14.10, Taylor Knox (USA) 10.46, Damien Hobgood (USA) 9.70
Heat 11: Dusty Payne (HAW) 16.03, Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.10, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 8.77
Heat 12: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 12.66, Brett Simpson (USA) 8.87, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 7.60

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:

Heat 1: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Shaun Payne (ZAF)
Heat 2: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Sean Holmes (ZAF)
Heat 3: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Bobby Martinez (USA)
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Gabe Kling (USA)
Heat 5: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW)
Heat 6: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Cory Lopez (USA)
Heat 7: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Taylor Knox (USA)
Heat 8: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Raoni Monteiro (BRA)
Heat 9: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
Heat 10: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 11: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. C.J. Hobgood (USA)
Heat 12: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) vs. Chris Davidson (AUS)