Jeffreys Bay, South Africa — The Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay marks the official midway point on this year’s Foster’s ASP World Tour. The event’s waiting period begins today. World No. 2 Damien Hobgood will take on rookies Ben Dunn and
Jeffreys Bay, South Africa — The Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay marks the official midway point on this year’s Foster’s ASP World Tour. The event’s waiting period begins today.
World No. 2 Damien Hobgood will take on rookies Ben Dunn and Luke Munro in Heat 7 of Round 1, but Hobgood knows that there is a bigger battle to be fought against top-ranked Mick Fanning of Australia and third-ranked Andy Irons of Hanalei, not to mention perennially top-seeded surfers Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson and Kelly Slater who fill ratings slots four through six respectively.
Hobgood, whose best year-end result was a World No. 4 finish in 2005, finished seventh in the world last year. A win in Tahiti backed up by a final berth in Chile have seen him shoot to world No. 2 where he sandwiched between stiff competition in Fanning and Irons.
“Those guys are definitely sitting in the driver’s seat but I just want a shot at it,” Hobgood said in a release. “I’m under the radar but just happy to be in the mix. I actually prefer flying under the radar.”
Bede Durbidge, current Foster’s ASP No. 7, is another dangerous blip on the radar. The dark horse featured in the final of the first event of the year before backing that result up with two quarterfinal finishes. An equal 33rd (last place) finish at the last event in Chile saw him slip in the ratings.
“I had a good start to the year but I didn’t do very well in Chile so that was a bit of setback for me ratings wise,” Durbidge said. “Coming into JBay I’m feeling really good though. I’ve come here for the last five years and I love the wave, it’s similar to the waves at home, so I’ll be looking to get a good result here and boost myself back up in the ratings.”
Rookie Royden Bryson is also hoping to capitalize in conditions he’s comfortable with. He, along with fellow rookies Kai Otton and Josh Kerr, will contest the barreling right-hand wave known as Supertubes for the first time when competition commences.
“I’m excited; I’ve wanted to surf in the Billabong Pro at Jeffreys since I first watched the contest when I was much younger,” Bryson said. “It’s the only World Tour contest on home soil and you always feel more confident and positive at home. You just feel more comfortable on the whole.”
Bryson is one of four full-time 2007 Foster’s ASP World Tour surfers who hail from South Africa.
Tour veteran Greg Emslie, third-year competitor Travis Logie and rookie Ricky Bassnett complete the quartet. There is a strong possibility that the number of locals surfing in the main event will increase once the outcome of the Von Zipper Trials is known.
The 12-man trials event will feature six Von Zipper nominated South Africans and six international surfers and will be run just prior to the main event.
The South African contingent will include Warwick “Wok” Wright, Damien Fahrenfort, Shaun Payne, Rudy Palmboom and Klee Strachan, with the final local trialist still to be named. The international field will include Pablo Paulino of Brazil, Torrey Meister of Hawai‘i, Wade Goodall and Laurie Towner of Australia, Stirling Spencer from the US and Tiago Pires of Portugal.
A call on competition status will be made today.
The event will be Web cast live on www.aspworldtour.com and www.billabongpro.com.
For pairings, see below:
