Shaun Joubert and Jordy Smith victorious in Round 3 of Mr. Price Pro Ballito
The fifth and sixth heat of Mr. Price Pro Ballito’s Round of 24 (Round 3) went down at the Surfers Beach in Ballito, South Africa, on Thursday, July 7.
South Africa’s Shaun Joubert dominated the fifth heat to advance to the Round of 12 (Round 4), putting his Hawaiian rival, Kiron Jabour, out of contention for the event title.
The sixth heat saw South Africa’s Jordy Smith overcome his compatriot, Sean Holmes, to go through to the next round, while bringing the competition to a premature end for his competitor.
Joubert had exhibited remarkable form during the earlier two rounds of the event and not much seemed to have changed in the third round. The South African continued to treat the crowd to big-wave riding during his heat.
As the heat kicked off, Joubert got right down to business, locking a huge swell that came his way to throw down a string of impressive manoeuvres and earning 6.50 points for the effort. His Hawaiian rival came up with a weak response, merely earning 3.33 points off his first wave.
Almost halfway through the heat, Jabour caught a wave to collect 4.17 points off it and took a small lead over his South African rival, though only a miracle would have allowed him to hold on to this 1.00-point lead. As expected, Joubert regained the lead with his second wave, scoring 6.77 points off it, to finish with a heat-total of 13.27 points against Jabour’s 7.50 points.
Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World No. 5 and defending champion, Jordy Smith was up against the event wildcard, Sean Holmes, in the next heat.
The battle turned out to be real intense, with both the surfers showing off their stylish skills in the huge 9.50 foot waves. The waves had a lot to offer and neither of the two surfers were in a mood to let the opportunity pass, treating the home-crowd to some top-level surfing.
Holmes scored 6.50 and 7.50 points off his two best waves, Smith managed to outperform his compatriot by scoring an outstanding 8.10 off his first wave and 7.23 points off his second, to reach a heat-total of 15.33 points and clinch victory.
In his post-heat interview, Smith admitted, “I battled in the beginning, things weren’t really going according to plan but luckily I seemed to find my feet halfway through the heat. There are a lot of guys out to win this event, it is coming down to crunch time on the rankings and the guys are going hard, so it’s only going to get harder from here.”
With this current form, it seems that Smith is well on his way to securing his second consecutive victory in the event.
For updates on Round 3 of Mr. Price Pro Ballito, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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