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REINING
Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) world junior champion Jordy Smith stormed
the surf at Soldiers Beach today to become the 2007 Hot Tuna Central Coast Pro
champion. 
The
South African scraped past Brazilian Neco Padaratz by less than a point to post
his maiden victory in a World Qualifying Series contest. The
19-year-old surfed through five different heats in wild and windswept conditions
today. 
He
said the win is his most significant achievement since he won the world junior
championship in January and came second to Joel Parkinson at the World Cup of
Surfing at Hawaii's Sunset Beach last December. "This
is a really big win for me here today. I am looking to qualify for the World Tour
for 2008 so this is a great boost for my confidence and ambitions," he said. 
"It
was pretty wild out there but we get lots of waves like that back home so it was
fine. I like the bigger stuff," he said. Smith,
whose parents Graham and Luellen were watching their son surf via the internet
at their home in Umbilo in Durban , immediately paid tribute to his Mum and Dad
for their belief and support. 
Brazilian
Padaratz, who posted the day's second highest wave score (9.33) in the round of
16, had nothing but praise for the young man who edged him out from standing alone
on the winner's podium. "Jordy has grown up so
quickly and his body is just very powerful. He can paddle so quickly. 
"I
am very happy for him to get this win because we are friends anyway," Padaratz
said. Padaratz also paid tribute to his Grandmother,
who sadly passed away during the week while he was surfing in the competition
here. 
"Everything
I have, everything I know and the strength I have needed these past few years
is all down to her," Padaratz said in a touching speech while accepting his
cheque for second place.
Durban-raised Smith started his
blasting performances at this contest with the big names from the ASP World Tour
in the round of 64.
Today's win here saw Smith take the weekend
double. Yesterday, Smith won the Tooheys Dry Expression
Session to clearly demonstrate he is capable of high performance, futuristic surfing
and today he demonstrated he has the ability to transfer thoise skills to the
game where the best two scores count. The six foot two
inch Smith is widely regarded by astute observers as South Africa 's best hope
for a world title since 1977, when Shaun Tomson became the only man from that
country to ever don the elite crown. Smith overcame
rolling mountains of whitewater that moved in from the horizon and bludgeoned
unfortunately positioned surfers throughout the day's finals. His duckdiving and
ability to emerge from the foam gave him a distinct advantage. Many
surfers contesting today's heats became victims of the most intense hold downs
yet seen on the Australian leg of the 2007 professional tour. Rhys
Bombaci from Kiama on the New South Wales (NSW) south coast and France's Tim Boal
and were the other finalists and took third and fourth positions respectively. The
predicted southerly that blew along the NSW coast last night generated a storm
swell that greeted early morning arrivals with two to three metre waves that were
predominantly right handers. Releasing its ferocious
blow not long after dark last night, the storm blew the contest site apart and
only quick action by the onsite crew ensured minimal damage to temporary structures
erected for the contest. Less than 12 hours earlier,
the ocean had resembled an inland lake and had forced organisers to abandon the
heats scheduled for the Hot Tuna Pro on Saturday. Event
Director Peter Hunt from Surfing NSW said the variety of conditions experienced
during the contest provided a real test of a surfer's versatility. "Surfers
at this level of ability much prefer big stormy waves like those we had today
rather than the ankle tappers that caused us to delay proceedings yesterday afternoon "The
Hot Tuna Central Coast Pro has been highlighted by consistent surf, great weather
and fantastic surfing," Mr Hunt said.
"The local
businesses and local people have been terrific with their support of the event
and we will immediately start working with our partners to be back here again
in 2008."
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