In massive and perfect conditions, South African surfer Jordy Smith bowed out of the Billabong Pro Tahiti in very controversial conditions. The waves were 8 to 10-foot and perfect at the Teahupo’o Reef when Jordy took to the water against fellow South African and Durbanite Travis Logie for their round three match-up with both surfers pumped up to do well. Jordy on a quest for a world title and Travis on a quest to requalify for the World Tour for the second half of the year.
The second wave of the heat was a bomb and Jordy took off late. He pulled straight into a massive barrel, grabbing his rail in textbook backhand surfing style, but was knocked off by the foamball and suffered a heavy wipeout over the notoriously shallow reef. When he popped up he was in obvious pain and was picked up by the water patrol.
As they attended to what appeared to be a rib injury, the contest was put on hold. The official statement was that it was possibly a life-threatening injury (a broken rib can pierce a lung) and Travis Logie had to wait it out with his injured friend for 3 and a half minutes. But Jordy, possibly sensing the enormous task at hand of winning a world title, paddled back out with his injury to finish off the heat. Clutching his ribs in obvious pain, and pulling into barrels, Jordy scored a great wave at the end of the heat, got fully barreled and won through to the non-elimination round 4. Or so he thought.
Clutching his ribs in obvious pain, and pulling into barrels, Jordy scored a great wave at the end of the heat, got fully barreled and won through to the non-elimination round 4
After much talk, it was decided that the ASP had made a mistake to hold off the heat for 3 and a half minutes, and that to be fair on the surfers, the heat had to be rerun in its entirety. So the boys took back to the water after the completion of round three. Both surfers were holding injuries, with Jordy still in pain and Logie nursing a bruised shoulder after bouncing on the bottom after one bad wipeout in their earlier heat. Jordy, determinedly on a world title mission wanted this one badly, just as he wants every heat, and did his utmost to get the scoring bombs. That he managed to score a 4.27 and a 7.10 in his condition is testament to his driving desire, but he was left needing a score of 7.84 at the end of the heat to take the win from a dogged Travis. There was a final exchange of waves at the end of the heat, but Jordy did not score high enough to oust his mate and was eliminated from the event. Controversy aside, Jordy did openly admit that the ASP had made a mistake, and dealt with the whole situation like an adult, albeit an adult in pain. The situation is far from over however, and the situation needs to be reviewed in detail to see what went wrong and why the decisions were that were made were made.
It was one of the best days of competitive surfing in years, with giant bombs just booming on the reef, and despite so many people pondering how the best surfers in the world would handle one of the scariest and most dangerous waves in the world, everyone charged courageously, with Jordy and Travis two of the biggest chargers of the event. Jordy might be out of the event, but he is not yet out of the world title hunt. He is currently sitting at number one on the World Tour ratings and a world title is still well within his grasp. His only threat sits with Slater, who is the only surfer out of the top five who is still in the event. Currently sitting at number 6, Slater could use a good result here to boost his campaign and make a late run on the title.
The quarterfinals and the rest of the contest could quite possibly run tonight 7 pm our time. Stay tuned to www.billabongpro.com for updates.
The day before had seen some of the biggest surf in recent years that saw the contest put on hold for a day while to crazy tow surfers took to the water. Every wave ridden that day was incredible, with one of the biggest and most courageous rides ridden by Bruce Irons, brother of the late Andy Irons, who won the event just a short year ago.
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