Leading the Big Wave World Tour rankings coming into the Dive ’N Surf Oregon Pro at Nelscott Reef, Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker had his mind focussed on one thing in Heat 1 – make it through to the semi-finals. That was his first priority, as should the remaining event at Todos Santos, Mexico not run before the waiting period ends on 31 March, then it would be mathematically impossible for any of the other BWWT competitors to reign in his big lead and he would be crowned world champ.
And that’s exactly what he did. With an 8.00pt opening ride backed up by an 8.17, Twiggy took the win and advanced to the semi-finals. The KZN charger showed great patience to wait for his opening score, more than half the heat in fact, but when it came he made the most of it and scored an 8.00 to grab the lead over Alex Gray, who’d already had two decent rides.
Here’s a replay of Twiggy’s first ride:
Nelscott Reef looks a difficult lineup to master. A wide-open peak with waves coming in left and right, it wasn’t easy for competitors to choose the correct spot to wait for the winning wave. But these are the best big wave surfers in the world and most found their bearings and caught some bombs. A lot of heavy waves were ridden throughout the day. The best by eventual winner Alex Gray, who scored a perfect 10 in the final to take the title ahead of Shawn Dollar, whose game plan was to go out on a shorter board and just charge anything that moved. It was a risky plan, but a successful one.
Alex Gray showed great style and grace under pressure. Here’s his MR tribute in Heat 1.
After finishing third in the semi-finals, Twiggy advanced to the finals to claim equal third along with Hawaiian, Kohl Christianson. The wind had picked up by the final making the drops as bumpy as a ‘Kei dirt track.
You know the charging Saffa would have loved to have grabbed the win and make it three BWWT event wins in a row, but the job was already done in Round 1.
Should the Dive ’N Surf Todos Santos Pro in Mexico not run before the waiting period expires at the end of the month, Grant ‘Twiggy’ Baker will be crowned the Big Wave World Tour champion. And if it does indeed get the green light, you know Twiggy will be focussed on the job at hand and do what it takes to ensure he remains number 1.
(Update) We’ve received unofficial word that Twiggy has indeed done enough to claim the Big Wave World Tour title, whether the Todos Santos event runs or not, which contradicts earlier reports that this would only be the case if the Mexico event does not run.
Which means Twiggy is Big Wave world champ. Look out for an official announcement coming soon.
Watch highlights of the event on http://divensurforegonpro.com/live/
Dive ’N Surf Oregon Pro Official Results:
FINAL:
1st: Alex Gray – 27.17
2nd: Shawn Dollar – 24.17
3rd: Grant Baker – 23.67
3rd: Kohl Christensen – 23.67
5th: Will Skudin – 23.49
6th: Anthony Tashnick – 22.66
SEMI-FINAL 1:
1st: Shawn Dollar
2nd: Alex Gray
3rd: Grant Baker
4th: Nic Lamb
5th: Chad Jackson
6th: Zach Wormhoudt
SEMI-FINAL 2:
1st: Will Skudin
2nd: Anthony Tashnick
3rd: Kohl Christensen
4th: Marcos Monteiro
5th: Jamie Mitchell
6th: Colin Dwyer
WOMEN’S SUPER HEAT:
1st: Bianca Vallenti
2nd: Andrea Moller
3rd: Keala Kennelly
4th: Jamila Star
5th: Savannah Shaughnessy
6th: Paige Alms
7th: Wrenna Delgado
8th: Mercedes Maidana
Guys, surely someone can run some scenarios because I can’t see anyone catching Twiggy now even if Todos runs. Bit lazy journalism if SA just produced a world champ and no-one bothered to report it.
Howzit GUnit. We’re following up on official word. All reports we’ve received mentioned that Twiggy would only win the world title should the Todos Santos event not run. From our maths, there’s no ways Twiggy can be beaten, but each event rewards a different amount of points depending on wave size etc, so it’s a difficult one to work out officially. These are the unofficial standings according to our dodgy maths: 1st – Grant Baker = 2,630 points; 2nd – Nic Lamb = 1,155 points; 3rd – Ken Collins = 1,134 points; 4th – Shawn Dollar = 1,060 points; 5th – Alex Gray = 1,000 points
Thanks for the reply. Agree with your maths. According to the Bigwavetour website (click on surfers, rankings and scroll all the way down) a win is always 1000 points which makes Twiggy unbeatable. But fair enough, lets not get ahead of ourselves and wait for the official release.
And with the wave coefficient even if Todos runs at 50ft+ Nic Lamb can only get 1400 points which is still not enough. That’s if I understand the scoring correctly of course.
Amazing stuff – surely SA sportsman of the year!