11 July 2008 Day Two

Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay
Stop No. 5 of 11 on the 2008 ASP World Tour
Supertubes, Jeffreys Bay
July 10–20, 2008





Round 2 of Billabong Pro underway at Jeffreys Bay



JEFFREYS BAY (Friday, July 11, 2008) – Consistent one to 1.3 metre (3-4 foot) waves, light winds from the NNW and cloudless skies at Jeffreys Bay on Friday morning saw the Billabong Pro get underway with Round 2 at 7.30am.



Action on Day 2 of the 11-day waiting period started with a cracker-jack encounter between current World No. 2 Joel Parkinson, the 1999 event winner, and fellow Aussie and good friend Mark Occhilupo, the 1999 ASP World Champion who retired last year and earned his entry into this year’s event via a win in the VonZipper Wildcard Trials yesterday.



It was Parkinson who progressed to Round 3 as the heat format changed from the three way duels of the opening round to the man-on-man elimination match-ups where the loser is out of the event.



The second heat saw three-time world champ Andy Irons defeat another wildcard in fellow Hawaiian Granger Larsen. Despite excellent surfing by the highly rated Pro Junior, Irons’ superior power was apparent and he cruised to victory by a large margin.



With East London’s Royden Bryson the only one of the five South Africans to win his Round 1 encounter and advance directly to Round 3, there will be four heats featuring SA competitors today.



First up is wildcard winner Rudy Palmboom Jr. who faces World No. 10 Bobby Martinez (USA) in heat 3. Then Ricky Basnett (Bluff) takes on Jeremy Flores (FRA) in heat 5 before Travis Logie (Durban) is pitted against Californian Timmy Reyes in heat 8.



World No. 19 Jordy Smith (Durban), third in this event as a wildcard in 2006, has a tough match-up with Brazilian veteran Neco Padaratz in heat 15, the second last match-up of Round 2.



Surfline, the official surf forecasters for the Billabong Pro, predict the swell will gradually diminish during the day with smaller waves and onshore winds over the weekend as a high pressure system moves over the area.



Although far ahead, the prognosis for next week is excellent with a huge frontal system currently in the Roaring Forties midway between South America and Africa likely to produce the kind of waves Jeffreys Bay is world famous for starting next Tuesday.



There will be plenty of action in Jeffreys Bay over the weekend even if the competition is on hold waiting for classic surf. Not only will the world’s top surfers be out at Supertubes cutting loose in freesurfing sessions, there is an autograph session with surf stars Andy Irons, Taj Burrow, Joel Parkinson, Mark Occhilupo and the whole Billabong SA team at 5.30pm on Saturday.



Evening entertainment includes live music at The Mexican with Black Hotels and Autonative appearing tonight and A. King and Crave on the Saturday night bill.



Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay

Round 2 Results

Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) def. Mark Occhilupo (AUS)

Heat 2: Andy Irons (HAW) def. Granger Larsen (HAW)



Upcoming Round 2 Match-Ups:

Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) vs. Rudy Palmboom Jr. (ZAF)

Heat 4: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Nic Muscroft (AUS)

Heat 5: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Ricky Basnett (ZAF)

Heat 6: Luke Stedman (AUS) vs. Daniel Ross (AUS)

Heat 7: Kai Otton (AUS) vs. Jihad Khodr (BRA)

Heat 8: Tim Reyes (USA) vs. Travis Logie (ZAF)

Heat 9: Pancho Sullivan (HAW) vs. Ben Bourgeois (USA)

Heat 10: Dayyan Neve (AUS) vs. Tiago Pires (PRT)

Heat 11: Dane Reynolds (USA) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)

Heat 12: Tom Whitaker (AUS) vs. Rodrigo Dornelles (BRA)

Heat 13: Damien Hobgood (USA) vs. Mick Campbell (AUS)

Heat 14: Ben Dunn (AUS) vs. Luke Munro (AUS)

Heat 15: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Neco Padaratz (BRA)

Heat 16: Chris Ward (USA) vs. Mikael Picon (FRA)



The Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay runs from July 10-20, an 11 day waiting period during which contest director Mike Parson can select the best possible conditions for the 63 heats required to determine the champion.