Taj Burrow prevails over Jordy Smith to head into Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast Final – Surfing News
South Africa’s Jordy Smith succumbed to Australia’s Taj Burrow in the second Semi-final of Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast that went down at Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia, on Sunday, March 4, to advance through into the Final.
The crucial win the Semi-final carried him through into the Final, where he was going to face Brazil’s Adriano de Souza for the coveted event title.
The surfing conditions at the primary event site had not turned out to be ideal. The low size of the waves were proving to be quite a challenge for some of the best surfers from around the globe, testing their skills and experience as they pursued big scores.
With even the likes of three-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion Kelly Slater not feeling at ease in the two-to-three foot waves on offer, it was clear that the other surfers in contention for the event title clearly had their
work cut for them.
The 33-year-old Burrow was renowned for his ability to put on a solid performance under any conditions. He had been consistently doing justice to his repute since the start of the competition. Even though he stumbled in the opening round of the competition,
he had managed to come back strongly and enjoyed an excellent run of form since then to steadily make his way into the Semi-finals.
The 24-year-old Smith had been nothing short of impressive either and was expected to offer a strong fight to Burrow during the battle to secure a place in the Final.
As the second Semi-final got underway, Burrow got to down business early in the heat to post a 6.83 on the score-board. He soon locked a really juicy wave to unload a string of really stylish manoeuvres, earning an 8.73 for the effort to take his heat-total
to 15.56 points.
Smith got off to a slow start, but eventually stepped up to post a 5.53 on the score-board and soon backing it up with an impressive 8.67-point wave. The heat-total of 14.20 points, however, proved insufficient and thus forced him to surrender the title
shot to Burrow.
Talking to a reporter after the heat, Smith said, “I'm just really bummed, I wanted to make the final so bad. If you want to win a world title you've got to win finals. I guess it's a really good start to the year and now I hope to go and do really well
at Bells, hopefully win or make the final at least.”
Burrow and De Souza were to face-off in the final battle of the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover to determine who got to lift the first event title of the 2012 ASP World Tour.
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