Jordy Smith : photo ASP Rowland/Covered Images

Team News

Emslie, Weare and Smith advance to last 32 in giant Hawaiian surf

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 3 December, 2008 : - - Sunset Beach, Hawaii -- South Africans Greg Emslie, David Weare and Jordy Smith all advanced to the last 32 in the O’Neill World Cup at Sunset Beach in Hawaii on Tuesday.

As High Surf advisories warned residents of the North and West coasts of the Island of Oahu of wave faces between five and eight metres (15-25 foot), competitors in the final ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) of 2008 battled the huge surf and powerful rip currents as they jockeyed for prize-money, points and prestige.

For Weare yesterday’s Round of 64 heat was a career defining moment. Having occupied a position in the Top 15 on the 1 000 strong WQS leaderboard for most of the year, the Durbanite had slipped to equal 14th after a early exit in the previous event at Haleiwa last week and was in danger of missing out on qualifying for the prestigious and lucrative 2009 ASP World Tour.

In a low scoring encounter won by Australian Rhys Bombaci with 8.06 points out of 20, Weare grabbed second place with 5.67 points, just three-tenths of a point ahead of Hawaiian TJ Barron (5.33) with World Tour campaigner Luke Stedman (AUS) in fourth after incurring an interference penalty.

While a top 15 finish is still not guaranteed for Weare, the points he earns for fourth place in his next heat will see him overtake Marlon Lipke (DEU), who was eliminated yesterday, and compatriot Greg Emslie. Third place in the heat, or better still advancing to the quarterfinals by finishing first or second, will move Weare into the top 10 in the rankings.

David Weare : photo ASP Kirstin/Covered Images

Emslie, rated No. 12 going into the event, is still in contention and kept his hopes alive for a South African record ninth year on the ASP World Tour by squeaking through his Round of 64 heat. The East Londoner and Californian Taylor Knox finished tied on 13.0 points behind heat winner Ian Walsh (HAW) with Emslie awarded second spot and a place in the last 32 thanks to his higher scoring single wave – 8.17 vs. 7.17 points.

However, Emslie needs to emulate his quarterfinal finish at Haleiwa before adding more points to his tally and as the ratings now stand he has been overtaken by Weare and Australians Drew Courtney and Phil MacDonald. This leaves the South African in a tenuous 15th spot with the likes of Yadin Nicol (AUS) and yesterday’s top single ride point scorer Pat Gudauskas (USA) still capable of leapfrogging him, although both need to advance to the semifinals to do this.

By contrast, without any WQS qualification pressure, Jordy Smith went out and ripped the massive waves, posting the event’s third best single wave score (9.50 out of 10) on his opening ride and exiting the water with a heat win and the highest heat total of the day – 16.83 out of 20. The Durbanite was on fire in the treacherous conditions and looking to improve on the runner-up spot he registered in the corresponding event in 2006 and his quarterfinal finish last year

Smith has not competed regularly on the WQS this year after winning the WQS title with a record setting total last year, a decision he may rue if he does not hold onto a top 27 place finish (he is currently No. 25) on the ASP World Tour rankings when he competes against the ASP’s top 45 ranked competitors for the first time at Pipeline in the season-ending Billabong Pipeline Masters starting December 8.

Ricky Basnett (Bluff), who reached the Round of 64 thanks to a fine heat win in his opening encounter on Sunday, suffered the opposite fate to Emslie when he was ousted from the event even though he tied for second place with Torrey Meister (HAW). Despite breaking two surfboards during their heat and riding a vintage surfboard his father had unearthed from under their house, the Hawaiian advanced with the higher single wave score of 5.57 to Basnett’s 3.50 points.

Basnett, who like Smith has not competed regularly on the WQS this year, is no longer in contention to qualify for what would have been his third year on the elite ASP World Tour next year. He will be doing his utmost at Pipeline to avoid entering the ASP record books as the only member of the world’s top 45 to complete an injury-free season without winning a single heat.

With the dream run of big surf forecast to continue for the rest of the week, all the action from the O’Neill World Cup can be followed live on the internet at triplecrownofsurfing.com and aspworldtour.com starting at 8pm (SA time) on each day of competition.

O’Neill World Cup of Surfing Sunset Beach, Oahu-Hawaii Round of 64 Results:
Surfers listed in order of 1st through 4th (1st & 2nd advance; 3rd and 4th eliminated)
H1: Leandro Bastos (Brz), Mick Fanning (Aus), Mark Occhilupo (Aus), Simao Romao (Brz)
H2: Damien Hobgood (FL), Dusty Payne (HI), Tiago Pires (Port), Mikael Picon (Fra)
H3: Dane Gudauskas (CA), Marcus Hickman (HI), Chris Ward (CA), Kekoa Bacalso (HI)
H4: Hank Gaskell (HI), C.J. Hobgood (FL), Marlon Lipke (Deu), Dayyan Neve (Aus)
H5: Rhys Bombaci (Aus), David Weare (ZAF), T.J. Barron (HI), Luke Stedman (Aus)
H6: Kai Otton (Aus), Rodrigo Dornelles (Bra) Kieren Perrow (Aus), Dustin Barca (HI)
H7: Chris Davidson (Aus), Torrey Meister (HI), Ricky Basnett (ZAF), Gabe Kling (FL)
H8: Yadin Nicol (Aus), Taj Burrow (Aus), Makua Rothman (HI), Shaun Gossmann (Aus)
H9: Dion Atkinson (Aus), Bede Durbidge (Aus), Jarrad Howse (Aus), Tim Reyes (CA)
H10: Jordy Smith (ZAF), Nic Muscroft (Aus), Sunny Garcia (HI), Nathaniel Curran (CA)
H11: Adrian Buchan (Aus), Patrick Gudauskas (CA), Yuri Sodre (Brz), Tanner Gudauskas (CA)
H12: Tom Whitaker (Aus), Drew Courtney (Aus), Brian Toth (PRI), Love Hodel (HI)
H13: Eric Rebiere (Fra), Phil MacDonald (Aus), Glenn Hall (Aus), Jeremy Flores (Fra)
H14: Ian Walsh (HI), Greg Emslie (ZAF), Taylor Knox (CA), Daniel Ross (Aus)
H15: Josh Kerr (Aus), Kamalei Alexander (HI), Ben Dunn (Aus), Pancho Sullivan (HI)
H16: Joel Parkinson (Aus), Kirk Flintoff (Aus), Hizunome Bettero (Brz), Ruben Gonzales (Prt)

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