Chopes, It May Not Be Epic, But At Least It Barrels

Day two is a wrap, and elimination is dish best-served with Poisson Cru and a cold Hinano. 

The first heat of the day stared Mr Matty Wilko who was able to keep his Jeep Leader hopes alive while John John Florence and Gabriel Medina continue to nip at his heels. He defeated local wildcard Hira Teriinatoofa; you can read the details with this nifty hyperlink.

In other news, Adriano de Souza lost to Alex Ribeiro, in the heat that if you happened to miss, don’t sweat it. 11 waves were caught, and the result was 6.23 to 5.70. ADS said he’d been sick for a few days and took a straight shot home to Brazil after to recover. His last two waves, he wasn’t even able to make it to his feet.

Keanu Asing managed to defeat Michel Bourez in a heat that just came down to turns. Another one that we’ll save you some time and say don’t even bother with the heat analyser. It was a bore.

Julian Wilson took out rookie Ryan Callinan. With two good scores for a 13.84 heat total. He drove his waves onto the dry reef and spent more time on dancing around the razors than most men would find enjoyable. Despite Ryan putting up an 8.17, he wasn’t able to find a backup score. He lost by a meager .34.

Well, when the conditions were forecasted small, it was Filly Toledo’s chance to redeem his Chopes goose egg. Jadson Andre sent Mr Toledo back to Brazil in yet another slow and low scoring heat. Filipe didn’t fail to hide his emotion at the end of the heat, kicking out of his final wave and punching his board mid-air… Which honestly was slightly impressive.

After Dusty Payne failed to catch a wave in round one, he quickly brought back the surfing we’ve come to expect of the Hawaiian. In a hard fought battle with rookie Conner Coffin. Conner found an eight point ride with a tightly tucked backhand tunnel, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Dusty’s two tight barrels for a total of 14.27.

Dear Jack Freestone continues to have less than favourable results his rookie year. Joel Parko came out with china-silk style and smoked Jack who was only able to bring his heat total to 2.03.

Heading into tomorrow, there’s still a few days of decent swell left before the forecast goes dim. The mind numbing tube fest we expect and hope to come out of Chopes won’t be present this contest, but that doesn’t mean there still won’t a few solid openings and a beautiful exhibition of threading.

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Matt Wilkinson 14.17 def. Hira Teriinatoofa 13.50
Heat 2: Alex Ribeiro 6.23 def. Adriano de Souza 5.70
Heat 3: Keanu Asing 9.67 def. Michel Bourez 8.57
Heat 4: Julian Wilson 13.84 def. Ryan Callinan 13.50
Heat 5: Matt Banting 10.93 def. Caio Ibelli 8.33
Heat 6: Jadson Andre 10.43 def. Filipe Toledo 6.63
Heat 7: Alejo Muniz 11.17 def. Wiggolly Dantas 6.23
Heat 8: Joel Parkinson 14.00 def. Jack Freestone 2.03
Heat 9: Josh Kerr 12.17 def. Stuart Kennedy 11.00
Heat 10: Nat Young 11.40 def. Davey Cathels 10.10
Heat 11: Dusty Payne 14.27 def. Conner Coffin 13.74
Heat 12: Kanoa Igarashi 14.34 def. Miguel Pupo 12.33

BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Italo Ferreira vs. Keanu Asing 
Heat 2: Kolohe Andino vs. Adam Melling 
Heat 3: Jordy Smith vs. Matt Banting 
Heat 4: Adrian Buchan vs. Alejo Muniz
Heat 5: Nat Young vs. Kelly Slater 
Heat 6: Matt Wilkinson vs. Bruno Santos
Heat 7: John John Florence vs. Alex Ribeiro 
Heat 8: Josh Kerr vs. Dusty Payne 
Heat 9: Sebastian Zietz vs. Jadson Andre 
Heat 10: Julian Wilson vs. Jeremy Flores 
Heat 11: Joel Parkinson vs. Kanoa Igarashi 
Heat 12: Gabriel Medina vs. Kai Otton