Damien Hobgood and Michel Bourez survive Round 2 of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay
After two consecutive lay days, the latest edition of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay was able to get underway with the remaining heats of Round 2 on Thursday morning, July 21st, at the coastline of Jeffreys Bay in South Africa.
The opening heat of the day, heat 7, saw America’s Damien Hobgood surf exceptionally well to take down his compatriot, Taylor Knox, in order to extend his life in the competition and eliminating his rival from the event in the process.
The outstanding performance by French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez in the eighth heat allowed him to prevail over Brazil’s Raoni Monteiro and advance to the third round, consequently removing his rival from the competition.
After a couple of days of rather challenging surfing conditions, the event site was graced by clear three-to-four foot waves on Thursday morning, promising an exciting surfing action through the course of the day.
The 32-year-old Hobgood, who had finished as runner-up in the previous edition of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, had gotten off to a bad start in this year’s competition. However, his determination to stay alive in the event brought out the best in him and
allowed him to take down his countryman, Knox, through some ferocious surfing.
As the seventh heat kicked off, Hobgood opened his account with a 6.67-point wave to instantly put his rival under pressure. Knox was unable to come up with a decent response, collecting a 2.00 off his first business-wave and 4.00 off his second to finish
with a heat-total of 6.00 points.
Even though his first-wave score proved to be enough to defeat Knox, Hobgood went for the overkill with his second wave, throwing down a string of exciting manoeuvres to add another 8.33 points to his account.
“I’ve been here for a while,” Hobgood said during his post-heat interview. “I lost out early in the ASP Prime event in Ballito and came here early and got some great swell. I think the lay days we’ve had have kind of helped me as I’ve been able to reset
and focus on the swell we have here. It’s never easy when it’s small on your backhand, but I feel good and my surfing feels good. Hope the conditions continue to improve over the next couple of days.”
Heat 8 saw the 25-year-old Bourez go on a complete rampage during his face-off against Brazil’s Monteiro. Apparently, the French Polynesian was no longer maimed by the serious injury sustained in Rio de Janeiro a couple of months back.
Almost half-way through the heat, the Bourez locked a wave to show off his ferocious forehand surfing. The outstanding effort earned him a 9.30. He immediately followed it up with another impressive wave, this time adding a 7.77 to his account, to move to
a two-wave total of 17.07 points and walk away with top honours from the heat.
Despite a determined effort, Monteiro was unable to rise up to the challenge of getting past his rival’s score. He collected a 7.60 and 6.43 off his two best waves to finish with a heat-total of 14.03 points. Consequently, he was forced to embrace defeat
and get eliminated from the competition.
For more updates on Round 2 of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, stay tuned to bettor.com
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