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UPDATE: RAFF SCHOOLS SLATER, ROSA ROASTS IRONS
6/27 - Event favourites Kelly Slater and Andy Irons will not surf again in this year's Rip Curl Search WCT. Giant killers Darren O'Rafferty and Peterson Rosa handed the multiple-time world champions their leave passes by winning Heats 4 and 5 of Round 4 respectively in this past hour.
For O'Rafferty, his win over Slater is a career first. For Slater, the loss has shattered his dream of becoming the first ever surfer to win three or more WCTs in a row twice.
Raff has now progressed to the Quarter-finals of the event where he'll meet Rip Curl team mate Mick Fanning in Quarter #2.
Quarter-final #1 will feature Danny Wills and Jake Paterson, while Rosa will surf against the winner of Heat 6 (currently in the water).
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BACKHAND SURFERS DOMINATE AT PERFECT REUNION ISLAND
With a crowd of over 15,000 spectators perched on the edge of the reef cheering loudly, natural-foot surfers (surfers who ride with their left foot forward) dominated the bulk of the heats today to win 10 out of 13 heats held at the Rip Curl Search WCT competition at Reunion Island's St Leu.
The event, the fifth on the $US270,000 Foster's Men’s World Tour, took place in near perfect conditions with 1.5 to 2 metre (four to six foot) waves gracing the famed left hand break (waves that break from left to right) which peels for over 200 metres.
Numerous excellent rides were recorded with the highest total score of the day going to 4th seeded Australian surfer, Trent Munro, who in heat 4 of round 3 scored a 9.57 out of a possible 10 and a 7.5 (to total 17.07) even after he’d badly corked his calf muscle by hitting the reef on a previous wave.
“On that wave, [the 9.57] when I took off, I kept the flow on the outside section of the wave and then really let loose on the inside,” said the stocky Munro. “I gave myself a bad cork in the calf earlier after coming off my board then hitting the reef on the shallows, but I was feeling good and my boards were feeling good.”
Munro claimed victory from 33rd seed, American Tim Reyes.
Number 8 seeded surfer, Australian Mick Fanning was another to blast through his round 3 heat, surfing with speed and precision to defeat fellow Aussie upstart, Bede Durbidge (seed number 27). Despite there being non-stop action in the 30-minute heat, Durbidge couldn’t find an answer to Fannings rampant attack.
“I had a great start with a 7.5 on my opening wave,” said a relaxed Fanning. “Bede came back at me on the next wave but just didn’t quite get the score. I then luckily scored a 9.1. I slid my fins out on the outside, which I didn’t mean to do, and then did a couple of floaters, but on the inside it was clean and it allowed me to do what I needed. I’m really relaxed and am here to have a bit of fun. I was worried about Bede and was lucky he didn’t get the scores he needed.”
The loan goofy foot surfer to win in round 3 was Brazilian and number 26 seed Marcelo Nunes. In conditions that became wind affected and bumpy as it progressed, Nunes held off a strong challenge from 9th seeded Hawaiian, Fred Pattachia and even landed a massive aerial manouevre to complete the job.
“”I had a great heat,” said an elated Nunes. “Fred and I have been going fairly well so far this year and this is a great result. I’m so proud to beat Fred, he came back with some big scores and needed a 5.0 to win but luckily he didn’t get it. I was lucky that I came here for the first time in 1999 so I know a little bit about the wave and that helped me a lot. Had I have never come here before it would have been hard to find a good wave.”
Twenty-second seeded surfer, American Taylor Knox, was one who was very unlucky not to progress through to round 4 after going down to the flashy Australian number 12 seed, Danny Wills. Earlier in the day Knox demolished Brazilian replacement surfer Bernardo Pigmeu after the heat was postponed due to Knox having treatment for a nasty injury sustained while free surfing on a nearby reef-break. Knox lost a large amount of skin from his elbow and his back but forged on despite the pain.
“Andy Irons and I tried to surf a reef just near by the contest break yesterday,” said a skinless Knox after his defeat of Pigmeu. “It looked like a fun wave but I tried to jump off a smaller one and was slammed on the reef really hard. I lost skin on my elbow and right down my back. I was just lucky it wasn’t on my stomach so I could still lay on my board to paddle. And with all the sea urchins which lay on the reef I thought I was going to look like a porcupine!”
After seeing his friend bleeding Irons figured it best he return to the beach immediately.
“There was a lot of blood in the water,” continued Knox. “And Andy thought it best he paddle in so he didn’t eaten by a shark! I’m glad he did because I’d hate to have that on my conscience.”
Wills meanwhile was very pleased to have claimed a win over Knox and like the many other natural foot surfers attacking the wave on their backhand (backs facing the wave) he enjoyed the near flawless waves on offer.
“The waves were so good and I was so excited I wanted to ride as many waves as I could,” said an amped up Wills. “I managed to score an 8.67 after I’d blown another really good wave earlier. But on that one I just mellowed out a bit and did what I normally do. It’s such a good wave for backhand surfing.”
ROUND 2 RESULTS
H11: Taylor Knox (USA) 17.26 def Bernardo Miranda (BRA) 14.33
H12: Travis Logie (ZAF) 14.00 def Guilherme Herdy (BRA) 8.60
H13: Paulo Moura (BRA) 15.23 def Renan Rocha (BRA) 13.36
H14: Tim Reyes (USA) 12.50 def Kalani Robb (HAW) 10.66
H15: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.83 def Luke Stedman (AUS) 13.60
H16: Victor Ribas (BRA) 14.04 def Greg Emslie (13.66)
ROUND 3 RESULTS
H1: Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.67 def Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 12.57
H2: Daniel Wills (AUS) 14.84 def Taylor Knox (USA) 14.50
H3: Jake Paterson (AUS) 16.27 def Tom Whitaker (AUS) 13.47
H4: Trent Munro (AUS) 17.07 def Tim Reyes (USA) 7.03
H5: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.67 def Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.00
H6: Marcelo Nunes (BRA) 14.83 def Fredrick Patacchia Jr (HAW) 13.00
H7: Darren O’Rafferty (AUS) 13.83 def Richard Lovett (AUS) 10.23
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