The day opened up with Kelly Slater taking on local wildcard Isei Tokovu. It was no match as Kelly Slater did what he always does and combo-ed the young local. This win advances Kelly on to Round 3. Heat 2 consisted of Taj Burrow and Brazilian Willian Cardoso. Taj bested Cardoso who is looking for a good result to put him in the top 34. In Heat 3, an injured Josh Kerr beat out veteran Taylor Knox. Kerr sustained a Grade 2 tear in his left ankle on his second wave of his heat in Round 1. He was positive after his heat and told commentators that he was going to do his best to compete in his Round 2 heat. It proved to be a good move as this win puts him into Round 3 where he continue on his way towards a good result and closer to a World Title.
Julian Wilson overcame Californian Pat Gudauskas in Heat 4 with the days highest heat total of 18.57. He was my standout of the day. With each heat that passes, he is looking more focused and comfortable surfing Cloudbreak. He seems to have a better understanding of where to take off and which waves to go on. Julian is looking very confident, this could be the contest that starts his run this year. With a good result or a win here, I believe that he could be very dangerous in the remaining contests; last year, he proved to the surfers on tour that he can excel in the waves of Portugal (where he and Kai Otton were awarded the heat of the year), France (where he had a second place finish after an all-star final between Gabriel Medina and himself), Tahiti (a similar wave to Cloudbreak), Trestles (we've seen what he is capable of here), Santa Cruz and Pipe. All that Julian needs to get himself going is a solid result to build up momentum and confidence, something that he seems to be lacking so far this year after a few lackluster results.
Freddy Pattachia overcame Michel Bourez in their Heat 5 battle. Freddy is looking extremely good in Fiji. After failing to re-qualify after last season, he managed to get the injury wild-card and compete this year in place of fellow Hawaiian Dusty Payne, who has been out the entire year so far with a leg injury. With a result here, Freddy can come closer to solidifying his spot on tour next year.
Heat 6 was all about Gabriel Medina as he beat Yadin Nichol. Medina was awarded the contests first 10-point ride on a long, multi-sectioned wave. For having never surfed Cloudbreak before this contest, Medina is looking very comfortable. I think that this gives surfers on tour a reason to fear him. He is dangerous. Many only consider Medina a threat in punchy beach-breaks because of his abilities above-the-lip, but by getting a 10 (a well earned 10 at that) on a wave in Fiji over those of Kelly's, Jordy's and so on, it goes to show that he can surf any wave and absolutely destroy it to bits. That he is not a one move man, no, he can power-surf too. Move over Adriano, Brazil has a new national surfing hero. He will be the future star and first Brazilian World Title winner.
In a heat that I saw going the other way on paper, Miguel Pupo took out Matt Wilkinson in one of the best heats of the day. I really thought Wilko had this one. Fresh off of a win in Brazil, a wave such as Cloudbreak is perfect for him. Pupo though, also showed the world that he is not just an aerial freak and that he too can find the better barrels in a heat. I thought one wave of Wilko's was underscored. Pupo beat out Wilko solely due to a difference in score on one wave each. Pupo got a long barreling, multi-sectioned wave, which was very good, don't get me wrong. But I thought that Wilko's wave was better. Wilkinson got a nice little barrel in the beginning and then threw down two MASSIVE turns under the lip on a pretty big wave. We have not seen too many big turn so far in this event, but those were two of the best turns yet. It was a shame to see Wilko go this early on, I had him going far.
In Heat 8, Kieren Perrow and Ace Buchan went at it. KP, a sleeper for many, was sent packing as good friend, Buchan beat him in a very close heat. KP had one of the waves of the event so far. Not sure how it wasn't a ten, I think it was better than Medina's, he was just as deep and it was on his backhand. It was an unseen early exit for Perrow, but Buchan is one of the most underrated surfers on tour to me. Not many people think of or know his name, but he is easily top 3 goofy footers on tour in my opinion.
Kolohe Andino was sent home in another Round 2 loss, this time to Tiago Pires. I did not see Kolohe winning this heat. In Round 1, he did not look comfortable out there and I felt that going up against a veteran and powersurfer such as Tiago Pires, that he wouldn't have what it took to win this heat and advance. Pires is fresh off of a solid result in Brazil - it is nice to see him surfing well again; Pires almost did not re-qualify for the tour this year, but he is putting together some good heats and getting the results that he needs. At the end of the heat, Andino treated his board like a punching bag after he realized that he was not going to advance. He snapped his board in two after landing about 10 solid punches on it. I hate to see him not doing well on tour this year. As an amateur last year on the WQS, everyone had high hopes for him this year, especially after beating the best surfers in the world at the US Open in Huntington and at Trestles and after the number of contests that he won on the 'QS. Perhaps he came on tour a year too early. He doesn't seem ready to me which is weird because he is one of the best surfers in the world. Hopefully he can get it together and get the results that he needs soon.
In the closest heat of the day, Brett Simpson barely overcame South African Travis Logie. I really thought Travis (being one of the most experienced surfers out here in Fiji) had this one. He only lost by .2 points. A frustrating loss for Logie, but a much needed win for Simpo. We will see if he can carry the momentum into Round 3.
The day ended after Heat 10; with two heats that still need to be finished (H11-Melling/Durbidge; H12-Monteiro/Otton), it will be interesting to see who Taj Burrow and Adriano de Souza will face in Round 3. All of the remaining surfers in Round 2 are dangerous in waves like this and can prove to be a challenge for Burrow and de Souza.
With the lack of swell here now, the forecast is looking insane for the end of the week and weekend. A large storm is brewing in the Southern Ocean right now and has its sights set for Fiji and Tahiti. If the forecast remains true, which Surfline forecasters believe will be the case, we can expect to see 15-25+ft Cloudbreak to finish out the event. Remember that around this time last year, we saw some of the best Cloudbreak ever as a massive swell slammed into the small island nation. It is the same swell that Kelly Slater chased and purposefully skipped out on J-Bay for. While it wont be that good/big, it will still be the perfect way to end this already perfect event.
I wasn't too off on my Round 2 picks. Unfortunately, on two that I was, I lost two surfers on my fantasy team - Perrow and Wilko.
Round 3 is looking to be a doozy. Taj Burrow and Adriano still need Round 2 to finish before they receives their opponents, but as for the rest of the field, Round 3 looks like this: H1(Taj Burrow/TBD); H2(John John Florence/Ace Buchan); H3(Josh Kerr/Damien Hobgood); H4(Mick Fanning/Tiago Pires); H5(Alejo Muniz/Gabriel Medina); H6(Joel Parkinson/Mitch Coleborn); H7(Kelly Slater/Freddy P); H8(Jeremy Flores/Heitor Alves); H9(Owen Wright/Brett Simpson); H10(Jordy Smith/CJ Hobgood); H11(Julian Wilson/Miguel Pupo); H12(Adriano de Souza/TBD).
A lot of these heats could go either way, some could determine the fate of the closeness of the World Title race. Here are my picks for Round 3: Taj will lose IF he goes up against Kai Otton or Bede, other than that he will advance. John John will win his heat. H3 scares me, I need Kerr to win, but Damo is a legend out here. If Kerr is healthy though, or better at least, I think that he can pull it off. Mick will win his heat. I think that Muniz can pull his heat off and upset Medina; he looked very good on the first day in big surf. H6 could come back and bite me, but I truly see an upset here - Coleborn over Parko. Coleborn is a charger and I think that he will beat Parko, but it will be a scrappy heat. Slater over Freddy P. Jeremy Flores over Alves. Owen Wright over Simpo. H10 is another one that I just dont know. I also need CJ to win and I think he will, but Jordy is dangerous. I'm still going with CJ because of his history here. Julian over Pupo. Adriano loses his heat no matter who is in it.
I can't wait to see this swell hit. With only one 10 so far, I am sure that there will be a few more before the contest is over.
How is your team looking so far? What do you think of the event? Who do you have winning this thing?
LEAVE COMMENTS! Thanks.
As always, here is the Day 2 highlights video. Enjoy.
Spread the word about Worn Trails to your friends.
Watch a live webcast of the Free Surfs going on right now in Fiji and watch the contest when its running here www.volcomfijipro.com
We may see the contest continuing tomorrow. 3PM on the East Coast, 12PM on the West Coast is when they make the call, so check in then.
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