Jordy takes title in Victoria
"I’ve been working on winning this event for 10 years now and to get it is incredible.”
TOP local surfer, Jordy Smith recently won the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach after electric performances in pumping six-to-eight foot conditions at the iconic venue in the Australian State of Victoria.
Smith bested fellow finalist Caio Ibelli (Brazil) in a classic Bells Beach showdown to close out the Australian leg.
The third stop of the World Surf League (WSL) Championship Tour (CT), the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, is the longest-running surf event in the world. This year’s 56th iteration saw a competitive field of elite surfers throw down their best performances with Smith earning the right to ‘ring the Bell’ for the first time in his career.
Smith secured his sixth Championship Tour win following a series of heated match-ups against Ibelli, 2017 CT Rookie Ezekiel Lau (Hawaii) and 2015 WSL Champion Adriano de Souza (Brazil). The win marks Smith’s best result here at Bells, following his runner-up finish in 2016, and moves him up to World No. 2 on the Jeep Leaderboard.
“I can’t even believe it, second last year and now this, it’s amazing. I was stoked to have made it into Round 4 and then every heat after that was a bonus. I tried to take it easy and not take things too seriously, as you may have been able to tell from some of my claims in the final. This is an absolute dream come true. I’ve been working on winning this event for 10 years now and to get it is incredible,” Smith said.
An intense final witnessed Smith and Ibelli blast huge scores as they put all on the line to win. Smith charged with two 9-point rides for the lead. Ibelli answered back with a near-perfect 9.63 (out of a possible 10), needing a 9.25 with ten minutes left on the clock. Smith continued to heat things up with a 9.13, raising the requirement to a 9.28. With a 17.46 two-wave score, Ibelli was not able to defeat the South African’s commanding 18.90.
“I wasn’t sure how many opportunities I was going to get with the high tide so I just took every wave I could. Once I got the 9, a bit of the pressure dropped and then, sure enough, Caio [Ibelli] kept coming. He is an amazing surfer and has been so on point this event. After a few years of injury and re-building, I feel like the pieces of the puzzle are coming together this year. My family and wife are right behind me and I couldn’t do it without their support,” said Smith.
The next stop on the 2017 WSL Championship Tour is the Oi Rio Pro in Saquarema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 9 to 20 May.
