GIANT KILLER
TWEED local Dane Pioli has pulled off the upset of the competition at the World Surf League’s Australian Longboard Open, knocking off reigning two-time world champion Taylor Jensen in the round of 16.
Pioli, the current Australian champion, went to town at his home break of Kingscliff, comfortably outsurfing his main rival and biggest threat in the competition.
With the former world champ eliminated, the win puts Pioli on the cusp of a fourth Australian Longboard Open crown.
The result seemed almost effortless in the end for Pioli, who outsurfed and outsmarted Jensen in his signature free and easy style, taking out top spot with 14.80 after scoring the best wave of the heat, a 7.93, with five minutes to go.
After the heat, Pioli was sucking in hard for air, and although he made it look so, beating the world champ is never easy.
“That was nerve-racking because that was probably the hardest heat of the whole heat draw,” Pioli said after the win.
“You don’t like to see his (Jensen’s) name come up on the heat draw because you’ve pretty well got yourself in second.
“To get through that heat and to beat the current world champion, it just makes my life easier going on in the event.”
The duel was the latest chapter in an ongoing rivalry at Kingscliff between Pioli and US-based Taylor, who have won the event seven times between them and faced each other in multiple finals.
Pioli looked in command from the first wave as he quickly got on top of Jensen.
From there, he continued to distance himself from the world champion as he constructed an unassailable lead.
“I caught the first wave of the heat and I like to get off to a quick start,” Pioli said.
“I started building scores – I went from five to a six to a seven to an eight. And Taylor, I think he was a bit rattled, surfed another part of the beach and not much came.
“When he came back up he was a bit upset and aggressive, but that’s just the way it goes when you’re competing at this level.
“Overseas, in the world events he normally smokes me, so to get him on my home turf is pretty good.”
Pioli is now into the quarter-finals, where he will be riding high on the feeling of beating the world’s best.
“I’m frothing … sometimes I doubt myself and feel like I’m too old, I’m not in great shape and not surfing as good as I used to, but when it all comes together like that you think, ‘yeah, this is why we’re still doing it’,” he said.
“I only live up the road here in Tweed and to feel like all the hard work is actually starting to pay off is so good.
“I’m meant to be at work right now and I guess my boss was hoping I was going to lose, but I’m going to have to ring him, I’m sure he’ll be happy.”