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Saffas Greg Emslie, Sean Holmes and Jordy Smith are all in Round 2 of the Bong Pro. Although Jordy gets an automatic qualification into Round 2 due to his top 16 ranking and the new 3-day format offering automatic seeding, Saffa Wildcard competitor, Holmes, and Emslie fought theri advancement through by winning their opening encounters yesterday.
Round 1 got underway at 7.30am in perfect 3ft, but very inconsistent conditions.
Ex J-Bay resident, 31 year-old Holmes, now living in Cape Town, justified his reputation as a serious J-Bay threat after taking out the highest heat score of the day (15.93 out of a possible 20 points) defeated Hawaiian powerhouse, Dustin Barca in the process. Dustin who managed to rake up the fourth highest heat score of Round One was unfortunate to have been up against Holmsie. Most other heats would have seen Dustin advance considering his heat score of 14.50.
“I was so nervous out there for the first ten minutes of my heat that I felt like I had stones for legs,” Holmes said. “About halfway through the heat, I loosened up and was able to collect some pretty good scores. For a natural-footer, the wave here at J-Bay is such a pleasure to ride. Although I haven’t competed in this event for a couple of years, I feel comfortable out there and I’ll look to get through a few more rounds before I’m done here.”
Meanwhile, Greg ‘The Foot’ Emslie, 32, SA’s most experienced ASP World Tour campaigner, started his match-up with Brazilian goofy-footer Heitor Alves strongly. The Foot posting left the South American in a combination situation at the halfway mark in his heat.
“I love competing at home with all my family and friends here," Emslie said. "You can definitely feel the support of everyone on the beach cheering for you and it's a special thing to surf for South Africa here at Jeffreys. I haven’t had the best year so far and will need to focus on requalification for the end of the year. It's important that you don't get too far ahead of yourself though and at the moment I'm just concentrating on the next heat."
The other three South Africans who competed in Round 1 were not so fortunate with wildcards Ryan Payne (St Francis Bay), who qualified for the Billabong Pro as the winner of Xcel Supertubes Showdown, and Devyn Mattheys (East London), who earned his berth by winning one of the three VonZipper Wildcard Trials heats last Thursday, eliminated by Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) and Tim Reyes (USA) respectively.
David Weare, in his second year as one of the top 45 on the ASP World Tour, was the victim of a wave-starved heat as the ocean went flat for long periods just after the low tide and both he and Chris Davidson (AUS) caught just two waves each. Davey rode his first wave with less than five minutes remaining while the Aussie had less pressure on his shoulders after striking early in the heat.
Jordy Smith (Durban), currently rated No. 8 and seeded in Round 2, is pitted against fellow new-school ripper Dane Reynolds (USA) in Heat 12, which will be one of the most watched heats of the round, while Greg Emslie is matched up with Bede Durbidge (AUS).
BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Michael Picon (FRA) 11.83 def. Tim Boal (FRA) 10.83
Heat 2: Nathaniel Curran (USA) 12.84 def. Jay Thompson (AUS) 9.33
Heat 3: Nic Muscroft (AUS) 15.17 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 9.37
Heat 4: Kai Otton (AUS) 10.40 def. Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 8.33 Heat 5: Dean Morrison (AUS) 10.83 def. Marlon Lipke (DEU) 8.67
Heat 6: Chris Ward (USA) 12.67 def. Torrey Meister (HAW) 10.16
Heat 7: Sean Holmes (ZAF) 15.93 def. Dustin Barca (HAW) 14.50
Heat 8: Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) 15.83 def. Ryan Payne (ZAF) 11.00
Heat 9: Tim Reyes (USA) 14.33 def. Devyn Mattheys (ZAF) 4.73
Heat 10: Heath Joske (AUS) 8.87 def. Dayyan Neve (AUS) 8.03
Heat 11: Greg Emslie (ZAF) 13.34 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 9.50
Heat 12: Chris Davidson (AUS) 11.00 def. David Weare (ZAF) 8.83
Heat 13: Michel Bourez (PYF) 14.33 def. Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 13.83
Heat 14: Roy Powers (HAW) 8.16 def. Jihad Khodr (BRA) 5.46
Heat 15: Ben Dunn (AUS) 8.50 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 5.80
Heat 16: Dane Reynolds (USA) 12.00 def. Drew Courtney (AUS) 5.77
BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.17 def. Michael Picon (FRA) 13.10
Heat 2: Kai Otton (AUS) 12.90 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 11.23
REMAINING BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Dean Morrison (AUS)
Heat 4: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Nathaniel Curran (USA)
Heat 5: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Roy Powers (HAW)
Heat 6: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 7: Kieren Perrow (AUS) vs. Kekoa Bacalso (HAW) Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Heath Joske (AUS)
Heat 9: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Sean Holmes (ZAF)
Heat 10: Mick Campbell (AUS) vs. Tim Reyes (USA)
Heat 11: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Dane Reynolds (USA)
Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Nic Muscroft (AUS)
Heat 14: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Chris Ward (USA)
Heat 15: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Greg Emslie (ZAF) Heat 16: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Chris Davidson (AUS)
Zag Tv checks in with rising Mossel Bay ripper, Johann Kriek, to pick his brain on surfing Inner and Outer Pool like a local.
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