John John Florence knocked in round two of Hurley Pro, Lowers

Words by Damien Fahrenfort While the waves are pumping the surfing wasn’t mind-blowing for some reason. Lowers has been weird and the surfing hasn’t been as exciting as I’d expected. It probs has something to do with the direction of the surf and size but it’s been a little dismal to be honest. Maybe it’s still early days in the event but the girls also had some of the best waves I’ve ever seen at Lowers yesterday, that sucked. I assume it’s going to get more exciting as the event goes on. Ian Crane got Robbed and Filipe got pushed through.  That was some brutal shit right there. Filipe did two cutties and a standard air and got the score. Do I think Filipe’s first score should have been higher? Yes, but to give his last wave a higher score than his first is straight robbery. The judges play this strange game where if they mess up a score earlier on in the heat they quickly over compensate on the latter score, then throw their arms up and go, ‘well if you’re judging the heat over two scores we probably got it right.’ Tonight San Clemente burns. I like that Gabs ain’t using the lefts.  Saving the big airs and hail marys for later on in the event. He knows how to save the best for last and getting busy on the rights is a good thing. Gabs has been looking razor sharp and it would be fair to say he’s the best looking goofyfooter at the moment. The world champ could really turn his year around with a win here, as long as he doesn’t come up against Freddy P in the next round… WTF, JJF. And the surf world cries for a brief moment. This is all that’s wrong with surfing, when you have the best surfer in the world losing to one of the lowest rated on tour. This doesn’t happen in any other sport unless it’s the top new junior coming through the ranks and might be what makes surfing so unpredictably but it really does suck for the fans. I’m stoked for Micro because he’s such lovely gent but for JJF to lose to Micro at Lowers, that is some sorry shit. The waves were pretty crap but there’s no excuse to lose that heat. JJF didn’t seem very interested on the waves he got. I bet so much money on him to win that heat. Fuck. Wilko coming through in the end. How incredibly does this gent surf? He is so underrated and once that backhand gets going it might be better than Occy’s. I know, blasphemy, but the gent has a sorta flow combined with above the lip surfing that is truly unique. As long has he hits the first section right the rest of the wave is poetry. It’s so good to see Joel tearing.  He surfed amazingly yesterday but couldn’t finish the job. Today though, he surfed like he was a young grom in an old Billabong movie. Loose and like a snake, cutting through the waves like the world champ he is. Joel’s speed matches the speed of the wave perfectly and if he continues to surf like this he will be hard to beat even though he doesn’t take to the air as frequently as everyone else. Hurley Pro Round 2 Results:Heat 1: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 16.50 def. Ian Crane (USA) 16.43Heat 2: Josh Kerr (AUS) 13.50 def. Hiroto Ohhara (JPN) 12.77Heat 3: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17.50 def. Tomas Hermes (BRA) 9.60Heat 4: Nat Young (USA) 16.60 def. Artiz Aranburu (ESP) 13.66Heat 5: Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 16.73 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 12.60Heat 6: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.27 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 10.00Heat 7: Glenn Hall (IRL) 13.64 def. John John Florence (HAW) 9.90Heat 8: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 15.60 def. Ricardo Christie (NZL) 14.83Heat 9: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.74 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.73Heat 10: Miguel Pupo (BRA) 17.20 def. Jadson Andre (BRA) 14.43 Upcoming Hurley Pro Round 2 Match-Ups:Heat 11: Sebastian Zietz (HAW) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)Heat 12: Keanu Asing (HAW) vs. Adam Melling (AUS) Swatch Women’s Pro Round 1 Results:Heat 1: Lakey Peterson (USA) 17.20, Malia Manuel (HAW) 16.83, Alessa Quizon (HAW) 15.33Heat 2: Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW) 15.00, Dimity Stoyle (AUS) 13.90, Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 13.60Heat 3: Courtney Conlogue (USA) 17.34, Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 11.67, Bethany Hamilton (HAW) 7.17Heat 4: Carissa Moore (HAW) 18.36, Silvana Lima (BRA) 12.96, Caroline Marks (USA) 11.77Heat 5: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS) 14.67, Coco Ho (HAW) 14.60, Sage Erickson (USA) 14.36Heat 6: Johanne Defay (FRA) 14.34, Tyler Wright (AUS) 13.67, Laura Enever (AUS) 11.50 Swatch Women’s Pro Round 2 Results:Heat 1: Alessa Quizon (HAW) 14.73 def. Silvana Lima (BRA) 13.87Heat 2: Dimity Stoyle (AUS) 16.10 def. Coco Ho (HAW) 15.34Heat 3: Bianca Buitendag (ZAF) 16.10 def. Bethany Hamilton (HAW) 13.13Heat 4: Tyler Wright (AUS) 12.67 def. Caroline Marks (USA) 7.57Heat 5: Sage Erickson (USA) 17.36 def. Malia Manuel (HAW) 15.10Heat 6: Nikki Van Dijk (AUS) 16.16 def. Laura Enever (AUS) 6.93 Swatch Women’s Pro Round 3 Match-Ups:Heat 1: Bianca Buitendag (ZAF), Lakey Peterson (USA), Sage Erickson (USA)Heat 2: Courtney Conlogue (USA), Tatiana Weston-Webb (HAW), Nikki Van Dijk (AUS)Heat 3: Carissa Moore (HAW), Tyler Wright (AUS), Alessa Quizon (HAW)Heat 4: Sally Fitzgibbons (AUS), Johanne Defay (FRA), Dimity Stoyle (AUS)