Tavarua - The swell jumped up from
yesterday and this morning it quickly became evident that Restaurants would be
the best venue for today¹s competition.
The waves were pumping all day right in front of Tavarua where the world tour surfers were taking their craft to another level with long barrels, critical turns and fierce competitive strategy at one of surfing¹s most exciting playing fields.
The day saw a bit of everything competitive surfing has to offer including some exciting upsets and buzzer beaters. Yadin Nichol took down world No 1 Adriano de Souza, Kolohe Andino beat last years runner-up Gabriel Medina and tour rookie Sebastian Zietz defeated veteran Ace Buchan scoring an 8.93 with seconds left.
The standouts of the day were John John Florence and
Jordy Smith.
John John scored the highest heat total of the day with a
near perfect 19.80 in his Round 2 heat against Bede Durbidge.
Jordy surfed against Glen Hall in Round 2 before the sudde death third round. He surfed incredibly strong in the last heat of the day ending up with am 18.30 heat total sending Kieren Perrow into a combination situation he couldn't recover from. Jordy is currently leading the world tour ratings.
Jordy Smith in action (ASP/Robertson)