{"id":43069,"date":"2013-08-16T09:08:09","date_gmt":"2013-08-16T16:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=43069"},"modified":"2013-08-16T09:37:07","modified_gmt":"2013-08-16T16:37:07","slug":"billabong-pro-tahiti-2013-kicks-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=43069","title":{"rendered":"Billabong Pro Tahiti 2013 Kicks Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wilkinsontahiti13Sr1<\/a><\/p>\n

The Billabong Pro Tahiti<\/a><\/strong> is on at Teahupo’o and the boys got down to business and through four heats of Round 2 before shutting down for the day. Kelly Slater <\/strong>worked his usual magic and slipped directly into Round 3 by patiently waiting until the final 15 seconds of his Round 1 Heat 5 matchup against fellow American’s Ian Walsh<\/strong> and Brett Simpson<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of lucky that one even came in the end,\u201d Slater said. \u201cI blew the best wave of the heat and lost my fins. I had the line I wanted and just lost my fins on the foam-ball and was too far behind to catch up. Brett (Simpson) had a few opportunities and paddled too wide. My waves weren\u2019t that great and I was just trying to make things happen.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The contest resumes today at 10:00 AM PST (7:00 AM Tahiti time). For the official word (including the rest of the Round 2 match -ups) from the ASP, please follow the jump.TEAHUPO\u2019O, Tahiti (Thursday, August 15, 2013) \u2013 The Billabong Pro Tahiti, Event No. 6 of 10 on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour (WCT), completed Round 1 and the opening four heats of Round 2 today, with the world\u2019s best surfers taking on racy three-to-five foot (1.5 metro) barrels at Teahupo\u2019o.<\/p>\n

John John Florence (HAW), 20, current ASP WCT No. 14, continued his impressive return to form today, putting in a dominant performance in a relatively wave-starved heat. The Hawaiian prodigy opened his Tahitian campaign with an excellent 9.07 barrel ride, quickly followed with a 7.50 for three ferocious backhand turns. Florence\u2019s success left Julian Wilson (AUS), 24, and Miguel Pupo (BRA), 21, in need of a combination of scores at the end of the heat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWaves were pretty fun, better than I thought it was going to be,\u201d Florence said. \u201cThere\u2019s a weird wind chop on it. The other heats were more consistent and had the double-ups and I got that one 9. I was able to get a backup and do a couple of turns, so I\u2019m stoked. Tahiti is always fun and always beautiful. Happy to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joel Parkinson (AUS), 32, reigning ASP World Champion, was another to capitalize on recent momentum (following a win in Bali) and got the best of a high-scoring Round 1 affair this morning compliments of technical backside tube riding. The Australian would best Kolohe Andino (USA), 19, and Anthony Walsh (AUS), 30, despite a perfect 10 point ride from the wildcard to earn the win.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought it was going to be a battle,\u201d Parkinson said. \u201cI didn\u2019t think my two 8s were going to be enough and then it slowed down. The swell isn\u2019t completely here yet and there will be a quick flurry and then the waves will slow down. I\u2019ve got a couple of good boards and I\u2019d love for nothing more than some good waves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly Slater (USA), 41, 11-time ASP World Champion and four-time Billabong Pro Tahiti winner, was on the back foot for the majority of his Round 1 heat this morning until the dying moments of the bout. However, with seconds on the clock, the current ASP WCT No. 2 drove through a deep backhand tube, earning an 8.50 for the ride and a position in Round 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was kind of lucky that one even came in the end,\u201d Slater said. \u201cI blew the best wave of the heat and lost my fins. I had the line I wanted and just lost my fins on the foam-ball and was too far behind to catch up. Brett (Simpson) had a few opportunities and paddled too wide. My waves weren\u2019t that great and I was just trying to make things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordy Smith (ZAF), 25, current ASP World No. 4, got off to a quick start in his Round 1 heat, dominating his affair from start-to-finish. The powerful South African would best fellow countryman Travis Logie (ZAF), 34, and trials winner Alain Riou (PYF), 30, compliments of a rare right-hander and a racy left barrel to secure a spot directly in to Round 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe swell is really west today and if you have that opportunity, you can go right,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI thought that one would be my highest score. I was pumped. In the beginning I waited for priority and lucked in to an 8.10 and that set me up for the heat right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith has admittedly struggled to find a result at the Billabong Pro Tahiti throughout his budding career, but hopes his experience at Teahupo\u2019o over the years will help him earn a top result in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always had one good wave in a heat and always come up against wildcards and that\u2019s a tough thing out here,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI think I\u2019ve chosen the wrong waves in the past as well. I really want to do well, especially in the Pacific leg. I\u2019m taking my time and watching the best guys out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), 31, navigated the tight Teahupo\u2019o tubes with incredible prowess, besting defending event champion and current ASP WCT No. 1 Mick Fanning (AUS), 32, and dangerous wildcard Jocelyn Poulou (PYF).<\/p>\n

\u201cI always feel pretty comfortable out here,\u201d Patacchia said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the best surf today, but we\u2019re still getting barreled, so it\u2019s fun. I\u2019ve been surfing against Mick (Fanning) a lot and surfing against him makes me surf better and surf smarter heats. I feel like my level of surfing is getting better because I\u2019ve been competing against him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fanning would go on to post a Round 2 win over Poulou this afternoon, advancing through to Round 3 of competition.<\/p>\n

Yadin Nicol (AUS), 27, ASP Top 34 replacement surfer, issued a big upset today, relegating local favorite Michel Bourez (PYF), 27, to Round 2 with a near-perfect 9.07 earned for a critical drop and deep barrel in the final minutes of their clash.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of onshore out there, so at the start I thought I might have to do some turns,\u201d Nicol said. \u201cWe had a weird priority call at the start that went in to my favor and I seemed to have priority on the last wave of the set. Most of the waves I got were bad, but it just turned out in my favor with that last wave at the end. That one hit the ledge at the end and I had to go. I pushed myself over the ledge and squeaked through, so I\u2019m stoked!\u201d<\/p>\n

Kieren Perrow (AUS), 36, veteran elite tour contender, rebounded from a horrific wipeout on his opening wave this morning to recover and earn the day\u2019s high heat total of 16.60 out of 20 with two excellent barrels.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a shocker to start,\u201d Perrow said. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what was going on and I couldn\u2019t set my line properly. I was just trying to take off deep and head slapped pretty hard when I hit the water. It was one where you had a headache right away. I had to reset after that. I started with a 7.67 and was only chasing a low score, but you really can\u2019t chase a small score out there. I was waiting for a good bomb and that one came.\u201d<\/p>\n

The end of the day was not without upsets, however, as wildcards Ian Walsh (HAW), 30, Anthony Walsh (AUS), 30, and Alain Riou (PYF), 30, eliminated top seeds Taj Burrow (AUS), 35, Nat Young (USA), 22, and Adriano de Souza (BRA), 26, in Round 2 of competition.<\/p>\n

Event organizers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 6:30am to assess conditions for a possible 7am start.<\/p>\n

When competition resumes, up first will be Michel Bourez (PYF), 28, against wildcard Nathan Hedge (AUS), 34, in Heat 5 of Round 2.<\/p>\n

Highlights from the Billabong Pro Tahiti are available via http:\/\/www.billabongpro.com\/tahiti13<\/p>\n

Surfline, official forecasters for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, are calling for:<\/p>\n

A small, mid period SW swell will continue Friday. Another small, shorter to mid period SSW swell is on track for Sunday and Monday. We\u2019ll continue to watch the long range charts for something that will potentially be a little better for the end of the event waiting period.<\/p>\n

For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com<\/p>\n

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 1 RESULTS:<\/strong>
\nHeat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 10.67, Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 10.63, Nat Young (USA) 3.13
\nHeat 2: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 15.07, Taj Burrow (AUS) 13.80, Nathan Hedge (AUS) 10.00
\nHeat 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.93, Alain Riou (PYF) 11.33, Travis Logie (ZAF) 6.57
\nHeat 4: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 16.06, Kolohe Andino (USA) 15.17, Anthony Walsh (AUS) 14.83
\nHeat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) 14.00, Ian Walsh (HAW) 13.83, Brett Simpson (USA) 9.43
\nHeat 6: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) 15.77, Mick Fanning (AUS) 10.60, Jocelyn Poulou (PYF) 8.80
\nHeat 7: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 16.60, Adrian Buchan (AUS) 10.60, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10.00
\nHeat 8: Yadin Nicol (AUS) 14.07, Michel Bourez (PYF) 13.13, Kai Otton (AUS) 12.67
\nHeat 9: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 12.16, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 11.87, Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.37
\nHeat 10: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.50, Jeremy Flores (FRA) 13.27, Adam Melling (AUS) 11.10
\nHeat 11: John John Florence (HAW) 16.57, Julian Wilson (AUS) 11.17, Miguel Pupo (BRA) 2.17
\nHeat 12: Damien Hobgood (USA) 13.16, Filipe Toledo (BRA) 6.93, Sebastian Zietz (HAW) 2.60<\/p>\n

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 2 RESULTS:<\/strong>
\nHeat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.37 def. Jocelyn Poulou (PYF) 10.50
\nHeat 2: Ian Walsh (HAW) 12.40 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 8.00
\nHeat 3: Anthony Walsh (AUS) 15.43 def. Nat Young (USA) 13.10
\nHeat 4: Alain Riou (PYF) 12.03 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 11.77<\/p>\n

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI REMAINING ROUND 2 MATCH-UPS:<\/strong>
\nHeat 5: Michel Bourez (PYF) vs. Nathan Hedge (AUS)
\nHeat 6: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Patrick Guduaskas (USA)
\nHeat 7: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA)
\nHEAT 8: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Adam Melling (AUS)
\nHEAT 9: Filipe Toledo (BRA) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA)
\nHEAT 10: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Brett Simpson (USA)
\nHEAT 11: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Kolohe Andino (USA)
\nHEAT 12: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Billabong Pro Tahiti is on at Teahupo’o and the boys got down to business and through four heats of Round 2 before shutting down for the day. Kelly Slater worked his usual magic and slipped directly into Round 3 by patiently waiting until the final 15 seconds of his Round 1 Heat 5 matchup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43069"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43072,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43069\/revisions\/43072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}