JEFFREYS BAY, SOUTH AFRICA — The Billabong Pro entered its official waiting period this morning and commenced with two Von Zipper Trials heats. Five hopefuls advanced to earn coveted wildcard positions in the $25,000 World Championship Tournament (WCT), with 10
JEFFREYS BAY, SOUTH AFRICA — The Billabong Pro entered its official waiting period this morning and commenced with two Von Zipper Trials heats. Five hopefuls advanced to earn coveted wildcard positions in the $25,000 World Championship Tournament (WCT), with 10 heats of round one then completed as beautiful conditions greeted Jeffreys Bay.
Great 4-foot surf was on offer at Supertubes throughout the day, with some fantastic waves running down the long righthand point break.
Two-time consecutive (2000 and ‘01) Billabong Pro winner Jake Paterson (West Australia) posted the most significant win today by defeating reigning world champ and ratings leader Andy Irons, as well as ISA World Junior Champ and VZ Trialist Warwick Wright (Durban, SAfr). Paterson holds an awesome track record at the famed venue and surfed a patient heat, being rewarded a couple of bigger waves he attacked with trademark forehand snaps and extremely long floaters.
Irons, who has already won three of five WCT’s this season, remained within striking distance after a huge double rail grab aerial midway through the heat, but needing an 8.6 on his final ride, was only able to lock in a 7.5 score. He’ll now contest the ‘losers’ second round against wildcard Wright.
“This is one of my favorite places to come for sure,” began Paterson. “Obviously cause of my past results… but beating Andy is a good start to my campaign this year, for sure. He’s the form surfer on tour at the moment, so it’s a solid win. I knew I had to be really patient, so I played the game and surfed good enough to take the win.
“We were playing gentleman rules, so even though I couldn’t have paddled him up the point and made sure he didn’t catch another wave, I figured if he was good enough to get the score he deserved to win,” he added, referring to Irons’ last wave effort. “I saw him do the big air at the end and just thought, ‘oh, I’ve lost it.’ He needed to do something really big, which he did, but obviously it wasn’t enough.”
Fellow West Australian and world No. 4 Taj Burrow also put on an amazing first round performance against Tim Curran (CA, USA) and Nathan Hedge (Narrabeen, Aus). The 25-year-old let loose on his forehand with fast snaps and one critical aerial maneuver he launched through the lip and spun 180 degrees around, before landing in control for a near-perfect 9.57 score. His other 8.5 ride ensured the highest combined tally of the event so far with 18.07-points and left both opponents requiring a combination of waves to bridge the gap.
2001 world champ CJ Hobgood (FL, USA) dominated his match over Australians Toby Martin and Shane Powell. The Floridian racked up a 9.0 and then another 8.0 on his backhand for another commanding total and easily advanced into round three.
“I felt confident coming from Durban,” began Hobgood, who reached the final of the World Qualifying Series (WQS) completed only days ago. “I just wanted to catch the waves that ran a bit slower and let me do some turns. The other guys’ waves seem to out run them. It’s such a perfect wave, but if you don’t get the good ones it’s still hard.”
Defending Billabong Pro champion and current ratings No. 2 Mick Fanning (Gold Coast, Aus) set a commanding pace against Paulo Moura (Brz) and VZ Trials wildcard Tiago Pires (Portugal). The Australian opened with an 8.33 ride; following exceptionally fast turns and his rubber-like ability to make the most difficult of maneuvers look easy.. While Moura and Pires both locked in a couple good waves, Fanning’s lead remained throughout.
Official Billabong Pro Round One Heats (1st-Rnd 3; 2nd and 3rd-Rnd 2)
H1: Phil MacDonald (Aus) 14.5; Michael Lowe (Aus) 13.86; Beau Emerton (Aus) 12.17
H2: Luke Egan (Aus) 13.63; Fabio Gouveia (Brz) 11.63; Luke Hitchings (Aus) 11.5
H3: CJ Hobgood (USA) 17.0; Shane Powell (Aus) 11.97; Toby Martin (Aus) 11.64
H4: Taj Burrow (Aus) 18.07; Tim Curran (USA) 10.16; Nathan Hedge (Aus) 8.33
H5: Tom Whitaker (Aus) 16.0; Cory Lopez (USA) 11.67; Adrian Buchan (Aus) 10.93
H7: Taylor Knox (USA) 16.0; Kieren Perrow (Aus) 14.1; Greg Emslie (SAfr) 12.44
H8: Jake Paterson (Aus) 14.33; Andy Irons (Haw) 13.23; Warwick Wright (SAfr) 7.87
H9: Joel Parkinson (Aus) 16.17; Bede Durbidge (Aus) 13.5; Pat O’Connell (USA) 7.0
H10: Mick Fanning (Aus) 14.5; Paulo Moura (Brz) 12.6; Tiago Pires (Port) 10.27
H11: Dean Morrison (Aus) 11.67; Trent Munro (Aus) 11.5; Lee Winkler (Aus) 5.56
Von Zipper Trials (1st and 2nd-Main Event; 3rd & 4th eliminated) H1: Bede Durbidge (Aus) 12.67; Warwick Wright (SAfr) 10.5; Sean Holmes (SAfr) 7.5; Che Stang (USA) 6.1 H2: Greg Emslie (SAfr) 15.1; Tiago Pires (Port) 12.5; Adrian Buchan (Aus) 9.77; Ricky Basnett (SAfr) 8.44
