Charging life and death tubes
Surf’s elite set to tackle world’s most dangerous waves at Teahupo’o
TENSION is mounting for the world’s best surfers at ‘the end of the road’ at Teahupo’o in Tahiti. The end of the road is literally where the coastal road stops at a tropical beach some 80km south east of Tahiti’s capital, Pape’ete, and is home to some of the world’s most dangerous waves.
Over the next 10 days the top 34 surfers in the world, including world title contenders Filipe Toledo, Julian Wilson, Gabriel Medina, Italo Ferreira and Jordy Smith, will be faced with two major battles at Teahupo’o.
Firstly, the fight for the Jeep Leader Yellow Jersey, currently worn by Toledo, and secondly, the daunting task of charging life and death tubes which crash over a shallow, razor-sharp coral reef.
After posting back-to-back wins at the Corona Open J-Bay and taking the lead in the race for the Yellow Jersey, Toledo pulled out of the recent US Open to focus on the Tahiti Pro. While warming up for this week’s showdown, however, he took a serious wipeout and added yet another ‘tattoo’ to his extensive body art.
A recent Instagram post from Toledo showed him dropping into a massive tube then, seconds later, the Brazilian being steam-rolled by the surging
WSL world title battles recommence in the picturesque French Polynesian islands this weekend where the Tahiti Pro Teahupo’o will welcome the top 34 surfers in the world. Pictured is defending Tahiti Pro champion and current world number two, Australian Julian Wilson, who will be out to take back the Jeep Leader Jersey from Brazilian Filipe Toldeo. SA’s Jordy Smith, a semi-finalist last year, is one to watch again this time. white water from deep inside the tube.
After being cartwheeled like a rag doll onto the reef at ‘Chopes’, Toledo was then videoed with his support team as they doused his severely lacerated back with freshly squeezed lemon juice while he wailed in pain. Despite the injury, Toledo will go on to face compatriot Yago Dora and Tahitian wildcard surfer Tikanui Smith in Round One of the event. While the extent of Toledo’s injuries are not known, his fellow world title contenders will either be secretly happy about his mishap or well aware that an injured Toledo could pose a serious threat to their world title chances.
Defending champion, Julian Wilson, who calls Tahiti his second home, takes on former world champion Joel Parkinson and the second Tahitian wildcard, Mateia Hiquily, in his opening heat. For Parkinson this year’s event, as with each of the events of tour, will be the last time he enters the water as a title contender due to his recent retirement announcement at Jeffreys Bay.
Missing from this year’s line-up will be five times event champion Kelly Slater who first won the event in 2000, with his most recent victory coming in 2016. Australian Mikey Wright once again received the call-up for Slater’s withdrawal due his foot injury which has foiled the 11 times world champion’s bid for a 12th world title this year.
Wright, brother of surf stars Owen and Tyler, has been on a dream run on both the Championship and Qualifying Tours this season and now finds himself in a strong qualifying position for the 2019 Championship Tour.
Reigning world champion John John Florence is another title contender on the injury list for Tahiti. Ruled out of the line-up from the last three events, Brazilian Wiggolly Dantas will replace the injured Florence.
Jordy Smith’s semi-final finish in last year’s Tahiti Pro confirms the massive strides he has made at Teahupo’o over the past decade. Smith bounced back from a serious wipeout at Teahupo’o in 2011 which caused extensive injuries to his ribs and dented his world title aspirations for two seasons. While charging big backhand barrels was previously never one of Smith’s stronger points, last year’s solid result confirmed the progress he has made in that space. Smith faces Hawaiian Ezekiel Lau and Brazilian Ian Gouveia in his opening heat.
Rookie Championship Tour surfer Michael February from Cape Town will no doubt be happy with the opening surf forecast for the event which sees small surf predicted for the first few days before favourable wave conditions arrive for early next week. February is matched with Frederico Morais (Portugal) and Willian Cardoso (Brazil) who finished runner-up to Smith in last year’s Ballito Pro.