Jordy rings the bell in Oz
Durbanite wins iconic event and jumps to No 2 in the world
JORDY Smith took a giant leap towards realising his dream of becoming the world Surfing champion when he won the 56th edition of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in Australia this past week.
In his season among elite top 34 surfers on the WSL Championship Tour (CT), the 29-year-old Durbanite produced a consummate display of contest surfing in the pumping 2 to 2.5 metre waves on the final day, carving huge manoeuvres, displaying steely nerves and excellent strategy to win every heat he contested in the event.
The first South African to ring the bell on the trophy, Smith was overjoyed at finally capturing the title after finishing runner-up last year and having long been touted as the best performer at Bells Beach not to have won the event.
“I can’t even believe it – second last year and now this – it’s amazing,” Smith said. “This is an absolute dream come true. I’ve been working on winning this event for 10 years now and to get it today is incredible.”
The winner’s haul of 10000 points elevates Smith to equal No 2 on the CT leaderboard with three of 11 events completed. He has now won events in Australia, South Africa (2), Brazil, California and Hawaii.
With solid support from his family, a great coach in Chris Gallagher of California, excellent equipment, fully fit and with the complete package of surfing manoeuvres, Smith has all the elements required to mount a serious challenge to become the second South African world surfing champion, 40 years after Shaun Tomson clinched the crown in 1977. MORE than 120 of the country’s top surfers, along with a dozen international campaigners, are competing for the coveted titles, points and prize-money on offer in the Corona Durban Surf Pro, which started in one metre waves at Dairy Beach yesterday.
The third of nine events that will count towards the crowning of the 2017 WSL Africa men’s, women’s and junior men’s and women’s champions, the event features QS1 000 and JQS1000 rated events for each category with men and women also earning points on the international Qualifying Series (QS) rankings that will assist local surfers to qualify for entry into the highest rated events overseas.
Capetonian Michael February has dominated the men at the opening two events, winning the Nelson Mandela Bay Surf Pro in Port Elizabeth a fortnight back and then finishing runner-up in the Buffalo City Surf Pro in East London over the Easter weekend.
Sophie Bell of Salt Rock completed a rare double in East London, winning both the women’s and junior women’s events. The 16-year-old now heads the rankings in the juniors and lies second on the women’s leaderboard behind Crystal Hulett of St Francis Bay.
Koby Oberholzer of Warner Beach is one of the favourites for the junior men’s crown in the Durban beach breaks after claiming his first WSL event title in East London last Monday.