Jordy Smith wins Round 1 heat at Billabong Pro Tahiti – 2011 ASP World Tour
South Africa’s Jordy Smith clinched victory in the fifth heat of Round 1 at the latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour event, Billabong Pro Tahiti, which went down on Saturday, August 20 at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti.
The 23-year-old Smith earned his victory by defeating Brazil’s Ricardo Santos and Raoni Monteiro to secure his place in the third round. Santos finished in second place, whereas Monteiro rounded out the third position.
The South African prodigy, Smith has been one of the most prominent surfers this season. So far, every stop of the 2011 ASP World Tour has seen him perform exceptionally well, which in turn put him in second place on the ASP World Title Rankings.
Pitted against two highly skilled Brazilians in the fifth heat on the opening day of the Billabong Pro Tahiti, Smith kept the momentum going with yet another spectacular performance.
Halfway through the battle, Smith locked a wave to pull off a string of impressive backhand tricks, earning 7.43 points for the effort. He soon collected an additional 7.93 points off his second business wave to move to a heat-total of 15.36 points, which
eventually carried him off to victory.
Talking to a reporter after the heat, Smith said, “I’ve been here most of the day and I’ve just been psyching to get out there. It’s so much fun – just perfect, blue barrels. I'm so happy to be here in Tahiti and the forecast looks pretty amazing. We'll
see how it pans out.”
Santos put up a remarkable fight as he attempted to keep his South African rival from clinching top honours, but the effort turned out to be in vain. Collecting 7.40 and 7.07 points off his two best waves, Santos finished in second place with a heat-total
of 14.47, consequently getting relegated to Round 2.
Monteiro had gotten off to a great start during the heat, adding 7.00 points to his account early on. However, he failed to follow it up with another good score and eventually finished with a heat-total of 8.47 points. The third-place finish got him relegated
to the second round as well.
Billabong Pro Tahiti comes at an extremely crucial time as the season will soon be going through the September rotation. Anyone ranking below 32 will be removed from the 2011 ASP World Tour.
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