aritz-aranburu
Aritz Aranburu of Spain (pictured) winning his Round 1 heat at the J-Bay Open in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa on July 10, 2014. Aranburu was in sensational form posting a near perfect 9.03 score to advance directly into Round 3. Lightfoot entered as a wildcard placing second to Kelly Slater in Round 1 before being defeated by ASP World No. 1 Gabriel Medina in Round 2. The J-Bay Open, stop No. 6 of 11 on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour was called ON today for Round 1. Photo: ASP/ Kirstin Scholtz
You know what’s awesome? Having J-Bay back. The tour without its South African gem just felt wrong, somehow. But now it’s back, and all is right in the world. The men were able to get through all of round one and part of round two before those dang devil winds got the best of the world’s best right-hander.
Of course, the old guard put on a bit of a clinic – just like you thought. With the exception of Parko, the usual suspects (Burrow, Slater, and Fanning) each used their precise power surfing to showcase the best that J-Bay can offer. And Jordy Smith? Yeah, that guy scored a 10. Jordy and J-Bay go together like peas and carrots. “I was anxious because I haven’t surfed a contest here in three years and I wanted to be on the best waves of the heat,” Smith said. “I ended up breaking my leash. Everything happens for a reason – it gave my time to relax and reset and then I went back out got my 10.”
See a full heat breakdown at ASPWorldtour.com