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Supertubes produce the goods
11/07/2007 22:06 - (SA)
Jeffreays Bay - The 23rd edition of the Billabong Pro started in warm sunshine and clean if inconsistent head-high waves on day one of the 12-day waiting period in Jeffreys Bay on Wednesday.
Contest director Mike Parsons had no hesitation in sending the three heats of the Von Zipper Wildcard Trials into the surf immediately after the opening ceremonies had been competed at 08:30 and then continued with the first nine heats of round one of the main event.
South Africans outshone their international peers in the trials by grabbing all three wildcards on offer with local surfer Shaun Payne (St Francis Bay), Capetonian Damien Fahrenfort and Warwick Wright (Durban) winning their respective heats and being seeded against the top three competitors in the R2.1m Foster's ASP World Tour event.
As the surf continued to pour down the legendary Supertubes point, Luke Stedman took victory in the opening heat of the event when he tied with fellow Aussie Shaun Cansdell, both surfers earning 12.33 points (out of 20) for their top two scoring rides. But it was Stedman who advanced directly to round three on a count-back as he had the highest scoring single ride
Cansdell and Tom Whitaker, who placed third, will have to contest the sudden-death man-on-man second round draw where the winner advances and the loser is eliminated from the event in equal 33rd position overall.
Upset the formbook
The next four heats went with the seeding as Danny Wills (Aus), Bobby Martinez (US) and Australians Bede Durbidge and Joel Parkinson clinched victory and the relief of not having to battle through the second round, before 2001 world champion CJ Hobgood (US) upset the formbook by defeating 2006 event runner-up Taj Burrow (Aus) in heat six.
Ironically Hobgood's brother Damien, currently ranking second on the World Tour ratings, was himself upset in the very next heat, placing third behind fired up Australian rookies Luke Munro and Ben Dunn.
Top seed and defending Billabong Pro champ Mick Fanning showed why he is widely tipped to take the world title back to Australia for the first time since 1999 by putting on a consummate display of progressive surfing that left both rookie World Tour campaigner Jeremy Flores (France) and wildcard Shaun Payne (ZAF) needing a combination scores totalling 16.01 points for victory.
And then former three-time world champ Andy Irons (Haw) ground out victory over wildcard Damien Fahrenfort (ZAF) and the impressive Mick Campbell (Aus) in a low scoring encounter plagued by inconsistent waves that prompted organisers to place the event on hold for tomorrow when a substantial increase in swell is predicted.
Kelly Slater (US), the eight-time world champion, comes up against compatriot Chris Ward and wildcard 'Wok' Wright in the first heat to be run when the contest resumes.
Contest Director Mike Parsons will make the decision on that at 07:00 on Thursday morning when all forecasts indicate that the strong offshore SW wind, cold weather, rain and a huge swell out a sea could combine to produce epic surf at Supertubes.
Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay Results
Von Zipper Wildcard Trials (winner received wildcard)
Heat 1: Shaun Payne (ZAR) 12.17, TJ Barron (HAW) 11.74, Wade Goodall (AUS) 10.40, Rudy Palmboom (ZAF) 5.40 Heat 2: Damien Fahrenfort (ZAF) 15.17, Stirling Spencer (USA) 10.93, Luke Dorrington (AUS) 10.17, Dale Staples (ZAF) 8.67 Heat 3: Warwick Wright (ZAF) 15.67, Hodei Collazo (SPA) 13.17, Shaun Joubert (ZAF) 12.60, Pablo Paulino (BRA) 11.17
Round 1 (winner to Rnd 3, 2nd & 3rd to Rnd 2)
Heat 1: Luke Steadman (AUS) 12.33, Shaun Cansdell (AUS) 12.33, Tom Whitaker (AUS) 8.07 Heat 2: Daniel Wills (AUS) 16.50, Mark Occhilupo (AUS) 11.93, Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 9.63 Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 14.93, Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 10.74, Troy Brooks (AUS) 9.13 Heat 4: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10.50, Frederick Patacchia (HAW) 9.73, Gabe Kling (USA) 2.93 Heat 5: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.83, Pancho Sullivan (HAW) 13.83, Trent Munro (AUS) 6.83 Heat 6: CJ Hobgood (USA) 13.33, Neco Padaratz (BRA)12.17, Taj Burrow (AUS) 11.93 Heat 7: Luke Munro (AUS) 13.34, Ben Dunn (AUS) 11.27, Damien Hobgood (USA) 11.17 Heat 8: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.00, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 9.27, Shaun Payne (ZAF) 7.26 Heat 9: Andy Irons (HAW) 11.20, Damien Fahrenfort (ZAF) 8.07, Michael Campbell (AUS) 5.66
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Rugby
