Taj Burrow and Matty Wilkinson, Portugal
Ahhh, sportsmanship ain’t dead. Matty Wilkinson and Taj Burrow have surfed against each other three times this year, and Taj’s come up trumps twice. But their most recent matching in Portugal proved fruitful for Wilko, racking up a two-wave total of 14.67 via a flurry of backside nose-to-sky turns on one wave, and a quickly […]
Ahhh, sportsmanship ain’t dead. Matty Wilkinson and Taj Burrow have surfed against each other three times this year, and Taj’s come up trumps twice. But their most recent matching in Portugal proved fruitful for Wilko, racking up a two-wave total of 14.67 via a flurry of backside nose-to-sky turns on one wave, and a quickly rotated frontside air reverse on another. In the dying moments, Taj needed a 9.6 – a daunting task – and nearly delivered, picking apart a right hander to nail a 9.00.
At this, the business end of the year, a loss like this can mean an extinguished world title hope. The fall to Wilko meant that Taj has, once again, felt his title hopes slip from his grasp – which makes this mid-wave handshake on the ride in all the more admirable. – Elliot Struck
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