Latest news with #WSLMargaretRiverPro
The South African
26-05-2025
- Sport
- The South African
Jordy Smith: South Africa's big BRU is no. 1 in the world
When Jordy Smith paddles out to surf his semi-final heat tomorrow morning in Margaret River, Western Australia, he'll be wearing the Championship Tour's coveted yellow jersey. The South African won a tense quarter final in the dying minutes today to claim the number one spot on tour. Better still, the WSL Margaret River Pro is the last of three contests that make up the 'Aussie Treble.' And South Africa's big bru is the best-placed surfer to take away the grand prize for the Australian leg of the tour, which just so happens to be a brand-new GWM Tank SUV! The large walls of Margaret River, Western Australia, provide the perfect canvas for Jordy Smith's power surfing. Image: Beatriz Ryder/World Surf League The 37-year old is having a stellar Championship Tour in 2025. He already took an emotional victory in El Salvador, and the tour veteran knows better than anyone that consistent points scoring across all events is the key to success. In fact, Jordy Smith has not been ranked no. 1 in the world since 2017. And the closest he came to a world title was way back in 2010 and 2016, both times finishing runner up … First to surfing GOAT Kelly Slater, and John John Florence, in 2010 and 2016 respectively. Most of Jordy Smith's closest competitors for the no. 1 spot fell out early in Western Australia. Image: Screen grab from WSL Moreover, Jordy Smith is now the most experienced surfer on tour. And he's putting in the sort of measured, yet commanding, performances only someone with nearly 20-years on tour can. This shone through in tricky conditions in his quarter final where he cut his hand on the shallow WA reef. And overlapping swell directions made picking the best waves an art form. In the early hours of tomorrow morning (SA time), Jordy Smith will meet Crosby Colapinto for a shot at his second final appearance in 2025. Be sure to catch the action live on WSL's YouTube channel. All South African surf fans can't wait to see the big bru wearing the yellow jersey. Better still, here's hoping he can hold onto yellow for the J-Bay Open taking place in July. Jordy Smith defeated fellow South African Matt McGillivray in the final of El Salvador Pro back in April. Image: File Better still, the remainder of 2025 WSL Championship Tour sees four stops that suit the big regular footer's style. Before the WSL Finals in Fiji, which sees the top five competitors on the rankings battle it out in winner-takes-all heats: June 9-17 – Trestles Pro (USA) June 21-29 – Vivo Rio Pro (Brazil) July 11-20 – J-Bay Open (SA) August 7-16 – Tahiti Pro (Tahiti) August 27-September 4 – WSL Finals Fiji (Fiji) Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
West Australian
20-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Margaret River's Jack Robinson makes an early exit from his home World Surf League event
Jack Robinson's hopes of winning a third Margaret River Pro in four years came unstuck on a day of carnage for the championship tour's top seeds at Main Break. Robinson, the 2022 and 2024 champion at his home event, was wiped-out on Tuesday in the final heat of the day by world No.32 Imaikalani deVault of Hawaii. His early exit was one of several upsets in pumping 8-10ft conditions, as five of the top-seven were eliminated in the round-of-32. Current world No.1 Italo Ferreira of Brazil was also taken out by local qualifier Jacob Willcox, while No.2 Yago Dora of Brazil, No.5 Ethan Ewing of Australia and No.6 Filipe Toldo of Brazil were all surprise losers. It leaves No.3 Jody Smith of South Africa and No.4 Kanoa Igarashi of Japan as the highest-seeded men remaining in the seventh and final World Surf League stop before the mid-season cut. Robinson made a few uncharacteristic errors in his match-up with deVault, getting caught too deep in the barrel on a couple of occasions and getting caught on the lip and wiping out when taking an important wave inside the final six minutes. He scored a 6.00 wave with just over two minutes remaining under second priority to reduce the number he needed to advance but ultimately ran out of time, falling with a two-wave 11.33 total to deVault's 14.33. Needing to win the event to make the cut and stay on tour, deVault said he'd approached the heat against local favourite Robinson with nothing to lose. 'He's the guy to beat here, I feel like everybody knows that,' deVault said. 'My game plan was I had to get the best waves to beat him and he obviously knows the line-up so well so I was kind of just following him and he actually let me know on my good wave because it did kind of look like it was going to taper off but luckily it kept giving me the sections.' Earlier, Australian wild-card Mikey McDonagh took out Dora to reach the round-of-16 at CT level for the first time. But fellow Aussies Ewing, George Pittar, Winter Vincent, Liam O'Brien, Joel Vaughan were eliminated. Pittar and O'Brien and another Australian Ryan Callinan, who went out in the elimination round, are among those to have already missed the cut. The next call is at 7.15am on Wednesday with round-of-16 action. Watch the WSL Margaret River Pro live and free on 7PLUS MEN'S ROUND-OF-32 RESULTS HEAT 1: Mikey McDonough AUS 12.77 (6.60, 6.17) def. Yago Dora BRA 11.30 (7.67, 3.63) HEAT 2 : Griffin Colapinto USA 10.97 (6.50, 4.47) def. Cole Houshmand USA 9.70 (5.13, 4.77) HEAT 3: Leonardo Fioravanti ITA 17.13 (9.00, 8.13) def. Ian Gentil HAW 13.60 (7.00, 6.60) HEAT 4: Miguel Pupo BRA 15.27 (8.00, 7.27) def. George Pittar AUS 11.83 (7.00, 4.83) HEAT 5: Kanoa Igarashi JPN 13.16 (7.33, 5.83) def. Winter Vincent AUS 7.93 (4.10, 3.83) HEAT 6: Connor O'Leary JPN 14.37 (8.50, 5.87) def. Liam O'Brien AUS 13.33 (7.83, 5.50) HEAT 7: Jake Marshall USA 12.76 (6.43, 6.33) def. Samuel Pupo BRA 10.10 (5.43, 4.67) HEAT 8: Barron Mamiya HAW 13.54 (6.87, 6.67) def. Ian Gouveia BRA 13.06 (6.73, 6.33) HEAT 9: Jacob Willcox AUS 15.00 (8.33, 6.67) def. Italo Ferriera BRA 12.87 (6.87, 6.00) HEAT 10: Joao Chianca BRA 13.93 (8.73, 5.20) def. Matthew McGillivray RSA 10.87 (6.00, 4.87) HEAT 11: Jackson Bunch HAW 9.17 (4.63, 4.50) def. Filipe Toledo BRA 7.56 (3.83, 3.73) HEAT 12: Crosby Colapinto USA 16.00 (8.83, 7.17) def. Ethan Ewing AUS 14.33 (8.00, 6.33) HEAT 13: Jordy Smith RSA 12.50 (6.67, 5.83) def. Edgard Groggia BRA 8.53 (4.60, 3.93) HEAT 14: Marco Mignot FRA 13.67 (7.17, 6.50) def. Joel Vaughan AUS 12.80 (6.80, 6.00) HEAT 15: Alan Cleland MEX 13.40 (6.90, 6.50) def. Rio Waida IDN 10.50 (5.50, 5.00) HEAT 16: Imaikalani deVault HAW 14.33 (8.00, 6.33) def. Jack Robinson AUS 11.33 (6.00, 5.33)
West Australian
18-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Margaret River Pro put on hold as World Surf League organisers await bigger swell on Tuesday
Competition has been put on hold at the Margaret River Pro for two days as organisers await the arrival of big swell and more favourable winds mid-week. The championship tour event started Saturday when the 10-day window for competition opened with both men's and women's opening rounds completed in 4-6ft conditions at Main Break. But with smaller conditions on offer Sunday, and the prospect of 6-8ft swell on Tuesday and Wednesday, World Surf League officials opted to wait to resume. The next call will be made at 7am on Tuesday. 'After we had a good look at the conditions, we decided to call the event off for the day,' WSL deputy commissioner Renato Hickel said. 'The swell is declining and the Cape Naturaliste buoy had declined since 4.30 am this morning, and there is not much energy on the swell, really weak waves, 2-3ft max. 'With the swell on offer for the remainder of the waiting period, we decided to wait for the next swell, which looks like it's going to be this coming Tuesday. 'Potentially a really big powerful swell with the chance for running heats at The Box, so fingers crossed.' The prospect of heats running at The Box, a slab wave a few hundred metres north of Main Break that offers deep barrels with the right conditions, will please local favourite Jack Robinson, who called for organisers to take advantage of the iconic break ahead of this year's event. 'I think it's calling for it, and I think it's about time we ran there,' Robinson said on Friday. 'Everyone wants to see it and I think it would be great to watch.' When competition does resume, veteran Aussie Sally Fitzgibbons will face a must-win elimination round heat to keep her hopes of avoiding the mid-season cut alive. The 12-time winner on tour and three-time world title runner-up needs a deep run in Margaret River to have any hope of staying on tour but was relegated to the elimination round after a heartbreaking loss in the dying seconds of her opening round heat on Saturday. She will face recent Gold Coast Pro winner Bettylou Sakura Johnson and teenage local qualifier Willow Hardy in the elimination round. On the men's side, qualifier Jacob Willcox will be hoping for a better heat in his home conditions after struggling to find the right waves in his opening round loss. The crowd favourite will face fellow Aussie Ryan Callinan and Barron Mamiya of Hawaii for the chance to advance to the round-of-32. Watch the WSL Margaret River Pro live and free on 7PLUS WOMEN'S ELIMINATION ROUND Heat 1: Bettylou Sakura Johnson HAW v Sally Fitzgibbons AUS v Willow Hardy AUS Heat 2: Erin Brooks CAN v Lakey Peterson USA v Nadia Erostarbe BAK MEN'S ELIMINATION ROUND Heat 1: Ryan Callinan AUS v Barron Mamiya HAW v Jacob Willcox AUS Heat 2: Seth Moniz HAW v Imaikalani deVault HAW v Winter Vincent AUS Heat 3: Alejo Muniz BRA v IAN Gentil HAW v Mikey McDonagh AUS Heat 4: Deivid Silva BRA v Crosby Colapinto USA v Edgard Groggia BRA
Perth Now
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Perth Now
Margaret River Pro put on hold as organisers await swell
Competition has been put on hold at the Margaret River Pro for two days as organisers await the arrival of big swell and more favourable winds mid-week. The championship tour event started Saturday when the 10-day window for competition opened with both men's and women's opening rounds completed in 4-6ft conditions at Main Break. But with smaller conditions on offer Sunday, and the prospect of 6-8ft swell on Tuesday and Wednesday, World Surf League officials opted to wait to resume. The next call will be made at 7am on Tuesday. 'After we had a good look at the conditions, we decided to call the event off for the day,' WSL deputy commissioner Renato Hickel said. 'The swell is declining and the Cape Naturaliste buoy had declined since 4.30 am this morning, and there is not much energy on the swell, really weak waves, 2-3ft max. 'With the swell on offer for the remainder of the waiting period, we decided to wait for the next swell, which looks like it's going to be this coming Tuesday. 'Potentially a really big powerful swell with the chance for running heats at The Box, so fingers crossed.' The prospect of heats running at The Box, a slab wave a few hundred metres north of Main Break that offers deep barrels with the right conditions, will please local favourite Jack Robinson, who called for organisers to take advantage of the iconic break ahead of this year's event. 'I think it's calling for it, and I think it's about time we ran there,' Robinson said on Friday. 'Everyone wants to see it and I think it would be great to watch.' When competition does resume, veteran Aussie Sally Fitzgibbons will face a must-win elimination round heat to keep her hopes of avoiding the mid-season cut alive. The 12-time winner on tour and three-time world title runner-up needs a deep run in Margaret River to have any hope of staying on tour but was relegated to the elimination round after a heartbreaking loss in the dying seconds of her opening round heat on Saturday. She will face recent Gold Coast Pro winner Bettylou Sakura Johnson and teenage local qualifier Willow Hardy in the elimination round. On the men's side, qualifier Jacob Willcox will be hoping for a better heat in his home conditions after struggling to find the right waves in his opening round loss. The crowd favourite will face fellow Aussie Ryan Callinan and Barron Mamiya of Hawaii for the chance to advance to the round-of-32. Watch the WSL Margaret River Pro live and free on 7PLUS WOMEN'S ELIMINATION ROUND Heat 1: Bettylou Sakura Johnson HAW v Sally Fitzgibbons AUS v Willow Hardy AUS Heat 2: Erin Brooks CAN v Lakey Peterson USA v Nadia Erostarbe BAK MEN'S ELIMINATION ROUND Heat 1: Ryan Callinan AUS v Barron Mamiya HAW v Jacob Willcox AUS Heat 2: Seth Moniz HAW v Imaikalani deVault HAW v Winter Vincent AUS Heat 3: Alejo Muniz BRA v IAN Gentil HAW v Mikey McDonagh AUS Heat 4: Deivid Silva BRA v Crosby Colapinto USA v Edgard Groggia BRA
