South Africa’s Jordy Smith retains his ranking of no.1 in the world after grinding out another solid Quarter-Final result in Brazil. Better still, in less than two weeks’ time, the big bru will be surfing in front of his adoring home fans in the coveted yellow jersey, at his favourite wave on earth – J-Bay!
The current no.1 in the world didn’t have things his own way this weekend in Saquarema, Brazil, coming up against fired-up opposition and tricky surf conditions. It’s fair to say, after assuming the ranking of no.1 in the world in Western Australia, that Smith would have a big yellow target on his back. And so it proved at the home of Brazilian surfing in Rio …
JORDY SMITH RETAINS NO.1 IN THE WORLD
While Smith couldn’t move past the Quarter Finals, a series of favourable results meant the big South African keeps no.1 in the world for J-Bay. Many surf fans anticipated he’d struggle in the shifty Brazilian beach break in front of a hugely partisan home crowd. So, for Smith to retain no.1 in the world is actually a superb outcome.
A hard-fought win in the Round of 16 against Hawaiian Seth Moniz set up a quarter-final rematch with Griffin Colapinto. Smith defeated the Californian in the final at Margaret River to become no.1 in the world. Understandably, the 26-year old came out firing against the tour veteran. Taking to the air repeatedly in a slow heat, it was evident that Smith’s signature brand of power surfing wouldn’t prevail this time around.
FORTUITOUS RESULTS
However, a remarkable run of results in the other heats saw Smith retain his position of no.1 in the world. Odds-on Brazilian favourites, Yago Dora (2) and Italo Ferreira (4), were also ousted in the Quarter Finals. And the next-best-placed surfer to climb the rankings, Australia’s Ethan Ewing (5) fell out at the Semi-Final stage.
Nevertheless, the unpredictable result in Rio has closed-up the WSL world surf rankings. An event victory is worth 10 000 points:
| RANK | SURFER | POINTS |
| 1. | Jordy Smith (RSA) | 44 195 |
| 2. | Yago Dora (BRA) | 43 630 |
| 3. | Kanoa Igarashi (JPN) | 39 710 |
| 4. | Italo Ferreira (BRA) | 39 355 |
| 5. | Ethan Ewing (AUS) | 37 140 |
TIME FOR J-BAY
Smith has won twice at his home break of J-Bay. And he’s one of the few surfers to have ever scored a ‘perfect 10’ (watch the wave in slow-motion above). So, even if you’re not a big surf fan, be sure to catch South Africa’s Jordy Smith in action for long-awaited return of J-Bay in just 10 days’ time. From there, the tour has just one last stop in Tahiti, before the Finals in Fiji.
- July 11-20 – J-Bay Open (RSA)
- August 7-16 – Tahiti Pro (TAH)
- August 27-September 4 – WSL Finals Fiji (FIJ)
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