by Greg
8. December 2010 08:25
Raoni Monteiro won the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing, a six star prime event held at Sunset Beach Hawaii. Monteiro is only the second Brazilian Surfer ever to win at Sunset beach and in Hawaii, the last being Fabio Gouveia 20 years ago in 1991! Monteiro is one of my favorite Brazilian surfers and has a real Go-For-It attitude as he surfs every wave as hard as he can. This type of surfing is what won him the O’Neill World Cup of Surfing and although the waves were fairly small and high up on the Sunset Point it is still a massive feat to win in Hawaii. Raoni’s win means that he now moves to number 29 on the One World Ratings and has an excellent chance of Qualifying for next years dream tour. Runner up was Australian hotshot, Julian Wilson who made is second final in Hawaii in a row. Julian is now on the cusp of re-qualifying and will be hoping results pan out in his favor in order to make the 2011 dream tour. 3rd place went to Hawaiian Granger Larson and 4th to Australian Josh Kerr who moved into 30th position and could well Qualify too.
The highest South African finisher in the event was World Number 2 Jordy Smith who finished 13th in the small testing conditions.
Wednesday 8 December see’s the Start of the Billabong Pro Pipeline Masters “IN MEMORY OF ANDY IRONS”. This is the most exciting event of the year as the surf pounds the Reef right close to the beach at Pipeline giving the audience a true spectacle. South African Jordy Smith will be looking for a victory in this event to show his ability in Hawaiian waters as well as showing that he means business and wants to be the World Number 1 on next years dream tour.
With many Qualifying possibilities on the cards, South Africa’s Travis Logie is in search for a Solid Result at Pipe. Travis needs at least a 9th place finish to Qualify. With a few other surfers in a similar position to Travis, I would say that a 5th is more realistic for Travis to Qualify and would probably guarantee him a spot on next years dream tour!
Good Luck Travis and Jordy, South Africa is watching and cheering you on from the opposite side of the world!
Greg Emslie