TEAHUPOO TAHITI May 13 - The many faces of Teahupoo were on show for today’s Billabong Pro Tahiti with conditions ranging from tricky on-shore to perfect off-shore as six heats of round two of the ASP men’s world tour event were completed.
Cyclonic winds, torrential downpours and tropical sunshine all apart of the day that saw top seeds enter competition in the 1.5 metre (4-6ft) waves at Teahupoo - after three lay-days of incontestable conditions.
Thirty year-old Taj Burrow (Yallingup, W.A., Aus) barreled his way through to round three in the clean left-handers on offer for his opening round two heat. The world no.7 locking in two high sevens to easily eliminate his European opponent Marlon Lipke (DEU) with the days highest heat total of 15.33 (out of a possible 20),
Burrow capitalized on the one hour break that Contest Director Luke Egan was forced to call when a major south-east front smashed the contest line-up. Burrow stayed out for a warm-up session prior to his match-up and was totally in sync with the ocean from his opening ride.
Burrow finished with a heat total of 15.33 to leave Lipke requiring a two wave scoring combination on the siren with a heat total of 6.67 (out of a possible 20).
Burrow will take on fellow Australian Kieren Perrow (Byron Bay) in round three.
2004 Billabong Pro Tahiti champion C J Hobgood (Florida, USA) was another to impress leaving his Australian opponent Phillip MacDonald (Sydney) with no come-back. The goofy footer dominated their round two heat by picking off all the high scoring rides to finish with a heat total of 14.50. MacDonald struggled to find any scoring rides to finish with a heat total of 0.77.
Hobgood will take on the replacement surfer Jay Thompson (Burleigh Heads, Aus) in round three. The lanky Australian has continued to cause damage to the top ranks and today eliminated European star Jeremy Flores (Fra) from their round two match-up. A lucky last wave by Thompson saw him claim victory over his fellow world no.14 ranked opponent to move through to round three
World no.29 Josh Kerr (Gold Coast, Aus) caused the upset of the day eliminating world no.3 Fred Pattachia (Haw) in a close round two heat. The talented pair went wave for wave with Kerr finishing on top with a heat total of 15.16 to his opponents 14.50.
Australian surfer Mick Campbell (Port Macquarie, Aus) progressed through two rounds defeating Hawaii’s Roy Powers in round one before eliminating Adrian Buchan (Avoca, Aus) in the last round two heat of the day.
Top seeded surfers yet to commence their campaigns include nine time world champion Kelly Slater (USA), current world no.1 Joel Parkinson (Gold Coast, Aus) and former world champion Mick Fanning (Gold Coast, Aus). Slater and his girlfriend Kalani cruised the line-up in their jet-ski watching all the action from the channel.
With the new format only two more days remain in which to crown the 2009 Billabong Pro Tahiti champion.
Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 6:30am to assess conditions for a possible 7:30am start.
BRAZILIAN surfer Heitor Alves won the days opening heat over Tahiti's only world ranked competitor Michel Bourez. Alves will next face South African sensation Jordy Smith in round two.
Surfline, official forecasters for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, are calling for a moderate WSW swell to fill throughout today with favorable winds, followed by another WSW swell from Thursday through the weekend.
For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com
REMAINING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 15: Heitor Alves (BRA) 15.00 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.00
Heat 16: Mick Campbell (AUS) 15.84 def. Roy Powers (AUS) 5.87
BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 14.50 def. Phillip MacDonald (AUS) 0.77
Heat 2: Jay Thompson (AUS) 13.83 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 11.37
Heat 3: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 11.50 def. Tim Reyes (USA) 11.50
Heat 4: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.33 def. Marlon Lipke (DEU) 6.67
Heat 5: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.16 def. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 14.50
Heat 6: Michael Campbell (AUS) 13.66 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 10.84
REMAINING BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 7: Taylor Knox (USA) vs. Kai Otton (AUS)
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Heiarii Williams (PYF)
Heat 9: Bede Durbidge (AUS) vs. Andy Irons (HAW)
Heat 10: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Dayyan Neve (AUS)
Heat 11: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Dustin Barca (HAW)
Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)
Heat 13: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Aritz Aranburu (EUK)
Heat 14: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Dean Morrison (AUS)
Heat 15: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Ben Dunn (AUS)
Heat 16: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Tim Boal (FRA)
