2003 ASP/WCT BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY: DAY TWO

ROUND TWO

The aloes are in full bloom. It's mid-winter here, and everyon'1s arrived in J-Bay with enough warm clothing to survive a polar winter. But, as the commentator described it, "it's s hotter than a snake's ass in a wagon run."

Since I've never stuck a thermometer in a snake's ass, I'm not sure how hot that's supposed to be, but this isn't your average winter in J-Bay. There's no snow on the mountains and there's no cold front creeping up the coast. The sun is shining, and despite the unseasonal weather, the surf is cooking.

If Round 1 was a reporter's dream, Round 2 was a photographer's dream. Golden afternoon light and great 4-5ft conditions. Of course the surfer all the shutterbugs came down to shoot was the one and only R.K. Slater.

Slater had an awful opening heat, spending much of it waiting out back and splashing the water. Drawn against Aussie grommet Adrian Buchan in the losers, he started off the heat where he ended the previous one – sitting out back and splashing water. It looked like he had chosen to play the waiting game at the worst possible time. 20 minutes passed without a significant set.

When the waves eventually did pour in, Slater showed the liquid smoothness that has made him the most successful professional surfer of all time. He backed up a 9.07 with a conservatively scored 9.6, finishing off the wave with a mind-bending gouge on the shelf.

"The board I lost on this morning is an exact replica of my board I won on here in 1996," Slater said afterwards. "Um, I think!" (The afterthought referring to the year, not the board. Just as well this wasn't a surf trivia gameshow, as the year was actually was '97.) I took my smaller board out there this afternoon and it seemed to fit the wave better."

His 18.67 total moved him to the top of the stats sheet.

Only five heats of Round Two were surfed, all of them matching minnows through from the trials against top 10 ranked surfers. The most evenly contested duel was between former WCT traveling mates Mick Lowe and Greg Emslie. Lowey is something of a nemesis for Emslie, and knocked the South African out of his home event for the third time. Luck wasn't on Greg's side. Mick's last wave put him ahead by an arbitrary fraction of a point, and Greg spent the last ten minutes waiting for an easily achievable 6-pointer.

With that, the ocean went flat as the tide fattened up, prompting contest organizer Mike Parsons to call an early close to day two of the Billabong Pro 2003. Cross your fingers for another surprise come morning. --Jeremy Saville/ZigZag

RESULTS )
Billabong Pro Round Two (1st>Rnd3; 2nd=33rd receives US$3,000)
H1: Andy Irons (Haw) 15.83 def. Warwick Wright (SAfr) 10.76)
H2: Kieren Perrow (Aus) 15.17 def. Bede Durbidge (Aus) 12.07)
H3: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.67 def. Adrian Buchan (Aus) 7.53)
H4: Cory Lopez (USA) 15.33 def. Tiago Pires (Port) 14.2)
H5: Michael Lowe (Aus) 14.23 def. Greg Emslie (SAfr) 14.0)
)

Round One Heats (1st>Rnd3; 2nd & 3rd>Rnd2) )
H12: Peterson Rosa (Brz) 15.6; Nathan Webster (Aus) 15.17; Mark Occhilupo (Aus) 12.93)
H13: Daniel Wills (Aus) 14.44; Darren O'Rafferty (Aus) 12.34; Armando Daltro (Brz) 9.93)
H15: Richard Lovett (Aus) 14.67; Damien Hobgood (USA) 11.84; Victor Ribas (Brz) 11.0)
H16: Flavio Padaratz (Brz) 18.0; Chris Davidson (Aus) 15.1; Shea Lopez (USA) 13.34)
H6: Luke Stedman (Aus) 14.67; Neco Padaratz (Brz) 14.44; Kelly Slater (USA) 11.87)
H14: Sean Holmes (SAfr) 16.66; Danilo Costa (Brz) 9.27; Guilherme Herdy (Brz) 5.0)

Remaining Round Two Heats (1st>Rnd3; 2nd & 3rd>Rnd2) )
H6: Mark Occhilupo (Aus) vs. Tim Curran (USA) )
) H7: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Toby Martin (Aus) )
)SE H8: Shea Lopez (USA) vs. Fabio Gouveia (Brz) )
H9: Pat OÂ’Connell (USA) vs. Beau Emerton (Aus) )
H10: Paulo Moura (Brz) vs. Lee Winkler (Aus) )
H11: Neco Padaratz (Brz) vs. Nathan Webster (Aus) )
H12: Nathan Hedge (Aus) vs. Armando Daltro (Brz) )
H13: Shane Powell (Aus) vs. Danilo Costa (Brz) )
H14: Luke Hitchings (Aus) vs. Victor Ribas (Brz) )
H15: Trent Munro (Aus) vs. Chris Davidson (Aus) )
H16: Darren OÂ’Rafferty (Aus) vs. Guilherme Herdy (Brz) )

 

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