2015 Billabong Pro Tahiti - Day 3 Wrap
Round 3 of the Billabong Pro Tahiti started with smaller, cleaner waves than yesterday offering plenty of opportunities for high scoring rides.
Gabs is back in form. Photo WSL / Steve Robertson
Filipe Toledo called on his great backside barrel technique to score an 8.80 for his final wave and pick up the win over Brett Simspon. Kai Otton got busy at the beginning to beat Bede Durbidge 13.13 to 12.00.
My event favourite Owen Wright is still the one to beat this year: Owen managed a great win over Hawaiian Dusty Payne with a relatively high scoring heat: 18.23 vs 15.70. Italo Ferreira also got busy early in the heat and his tactics paid off, beating Jadson Andre.
The superheat lived up to the superhype superindeed. The WSL's two poster boys Gabriel Medina and John John Florence battled it out blow for blow with both surfers throwing away 9.07's. Gabs claimed a well earned win with a perfect display of deep frontside tube riding, threading tricky and tight barrels, with his best wave earning him a 9.73. Check the video below.
Well, I did call it yesterday: “the two wildcards left, Bruno Santos and Aritz Aranburu, are going to give world number one and two, Mick and Adriano, a few nightmares tonight meeting them in Round 3 tomorrow”. Those haunting predictions came true with the World #1 and #2 now out of the contest.
Adriano de Souza was convincingly beaten by the countryman Bruno Santos showing that his time at Chopes is going to cause even more restless nights for title contenders. Mick Fanning's loss was equally as convincing but his lack of scoring waves also played a part. Aritz Aranburu came out firing, posted two good scores and controlled the heat into victory. The dropping conditions also came into play for Heat 8 with Wiggolly Dantas following Aritz's lead by showing patience, and controlling the heat for a win over Matt Wilkinson.
There are four more heats to go in round three: Josh Kerr ($1.95) vs Adrian Buchan ($1.83) – Kelly Slater ($1.25) vs Sebastian Zietz ($3.85) – Jeremy Flores ($2.20) vs Joel Parkinson ($1.65) – Julian Wilson ($1.71) vs C.J Hobgood ($2.10). It'll very very hard to split them but I'm going Ace, Slats, Flores and Jules.
Today we learnt that every surfer has some part of their game they need to work on. For Filipe it's been suggested he's weakest in big backside barrels. However the reality of regularly surfing big lefts this year hasn't been so. Filipe has shown that the other areas of his surfing are well tuned and at the top of the field. So much so, that the current #4 could easily make a serious dash for the title if he can hold his nerve for the rest of the event.
We also learnt that sometimes the hype is actually underestimated - especially when such skilled surfers like John John and Gabs go head to head. John John would have beaten any other surfer today (even Owen in my opinion) but Gab's is now back in the game and he's surging at the right time too. Mick and Wilko's loss was somewhat souring given the slow conditions throughout the last two heats of the day.
But this certainly wasn't due to a poor call by the Commissioner. Kieran Perrow's hoping to continue Round 3 early tomorrow and he'll need to, as there's still a lot of surfing left and the bigger swell forecast for the later part of the waiting period in a long way from certain. If he can get through Rounds 3 and 4 tomorrow, they'll be able to pick one epic day to finish the Finals.
Like a punt? Swellnet doesn't encourage it, but if you’re like Danny and want to wager some coin on the tour, the 2015 Billabong Pro Tahiti Punters Club is brought to you by William Hill.
Comments
So the grubby hands of William Hill have made their way to Swellnet articles with odds included. I like a bet often but don't like seeing it advertised in this fashion.
Shame...Shame....Shame.
Totally agree, there is already "The Punters Club" for this. No need to put it bloody everywhere
This is the Punters Club section. We do one article before the event starts, and then a daily wrap up.
Alright, it is not obvious though, it just seems like the general daily update/news. I don't mean to drag on about this but I just generally hate the way sports betting has made its way in to all sports news as it is just part of every sport. I personally think its wrong and a really bad message for the youth out there. Just my opinion
All good, Anto - we appreciate all feedback (good or bad) and certainly take everything on board. To that end: we're planning some design modifications to the website in the future, and when we do we'll try to label sections better (although it's a lot harder than it sounds).
As for advertising - if everyone signed up for Swellnet Pro, I'd be happy to look at the option of having a completely ad-free website. But until then, these kinds of content features will remain sponsored in some way shape or form.
So, you "like a bet often", but don't want to see the odds? In which kind of 'fashion' would this type of advertising be OK?
Fair crack of the whip mate - this is about as subtle as it gets. Our demographic is typically older - especially those who get to the bottom of these article where the odds are placed - so we're all adults who can make informed decisions. We’re not ramming odds down your throat. We’ve just giving you an option if you like a flutter.
If I want to bet I know where to go.
"We" are not all adults that visit this website, there is no age limit.
Advertising on the side I can stomach, but to include odds in an article is a bit rich.
Fair suck of the sav Ben, no one said you were ramming it down our throats....yet.
In what "fashion" should odds be advertised.....in a William Hill ad.
Like I said, if I want the odds I know where to go and find them.
We're a media business that - just like everyone else - relies on advertsing and sponsorship to pay the bills. So, advertising is a part of our business model. William Hill came on board to support these articles, which otherwise we wouldn't be able to run. We'd like to be able to return to the position where we can send writers to many WSL events around the globe (like we did for three or four years running), but it's prohibitively expensive.
Yes, I know that not just adults visit Swellnet. However we have some pretty good analytics and insights, all of which show us that the majority demographic who read these Punters Club articles are well over the age of 18 (in fact our most popular demo is 24-35 males). The kids simply aren't interested in long form pieces (which is a great shame, but that's a topic for another day) - they'll mainly watch the videos and 15 second highlights on Instagram.
Thanks Ben. Appreciate your time and need for advertising to supply a great service.
Does Danny Hayes work for William Hill ?
Nah, he doesn't. Neither does Harro, who wrote a few of our Punters Club articles earlier in the year.
I simply must wade in here, swellnet is awesome IMO and is much better than the "other" well known site IMHO but lets face it you both run endless junk food ads on your webcams and as a free service I can tolerate that, in the (bad) old days they used to actually advertise cigarettes in TRACKS magazine which I'm sure people today would think a horrifying thought, it wasn't right then and its certainly not right today, now as someone that worked in the gaming industry at one point I can tell you a company such as William Hill is 100% purposely targeting your young male audience with the intent of "grooming" them, William Hill are a horrible foreign owned company quite frankly and I wouldn't go anywhere near them, if you were going to use a betting service why wouldn't you use a company such as Betfair which at least will not close peoples accounts and limit their betting for no reason which William Hill is renowned for. Unfortunately linking to such an unsavoury service as William Hill and even with a rather mild public service warning as a minimum it is seriously lacking in responsibility on Swellnets part IMHO, for those who don't know BTW William Hill bought out Tom Waterhouse and are continuing full speed with the questionable practices of the "in your face" advertising that Tom Waterhouse so famously was known and hated for.
You seriously think we should issue a "public service warning" before we show this content, because the sponsors are a "horrible foreign owned company"? Jeez mate, that kind of broad brush might just apply to almost every company that provides you with regular goods and services.
By chance, you didn't work for Betfair, did ya?
No I did not work at Betfair LOL, I have though worked in the casino industry and I left because I didn't like what I saw I also have high level experience with poker sites and was at one time an online bookmaker for a short period so I tell you this with much authority as an industry insider, even today I operate a members only Melbourne Cup betting service, obviously I wont promote it here as that would be wholly inappropriate!
So basically you are promoting the regurgitated and much worse version of what Tom Waterhouse was notorious for doing, that's the facts mate.
William Hill offered MONEY BACK a few events ago - How good is that - Is it Money back again this event?
Mate there is no such thing as "MONEY BACK" in the long run, you either lose your money or if your a proven winner they close your account as you are not the type of (mug) customer they want.
Nah, I don't think so.
So, how was that heat of Gabs and JJF, eh?
that was truly awesome perfect "little" barrels. It's good to see Medina competing well. Pretty sad to loose JJF though, specially if it's going to be bigger towards the end of the comp
what were the odds on Gab's today?
Funnily enough, I actually looked at the odds of that heat only yesterday (I'm not a betting guy, but was curious what such a high profile heat would be).
Turns out Gabs was $2.45 against JJF. Can't remember what JJF was but I recall it being somewhere around $1.80.
I'm sure swellnet users can do due diligence themselves anyway, read the William Hill Wikipedia page and make up your own mind......enough said on the matter.
People love to moan about petty shit on forums.
Haha Bushido....we all keyboard punters eh.
Maxe there's way too many online betting agencies surely there must be some consolidation, a few surely will go broke or merge as per Waterhouse..... BTW at what level of winnings do they close your William Hill account? Surfing odds all done by a former pro surfer and they just copied by the other betting agencies. So it doesn't really matter who you bet with though.
One thing I noticed with the surfing is when its junky great for underdog, and often the odds are blown out. Like today when Blue shirts winning half of the heats. Had you just gone for lower rated surfer every heat you would be well ahead.
Gamble responsibly haha only but not too good otherwise they shut you down
I was a bit busy today so missed that Gabby and John John heat live but just watched it now from start to finish. Real close obviously but I'm still not sure that I agree with the judges on Gabbys last score and the commentators did'nt seem to totally be convinced either. It was up there for sure but did his claim swing it for him? How amazing was that wave that Gabby got where he did an air revo and 3 more big turns at choose of all places for a 6 something?
I thought a 9.73 was a little much on its own but it was the best surfed wave of the heat (IMO) and deserved to be biger than JJF's 9.57. One judge even gave that wave of Gabe's a 10!
I personally hate gambling on any level even horse racing.
I regard gambling as destructive as drugs and alcoholism.
To put it on surfing just disgusts me at the highest level.
And I have come to the conclusion that Brazilians are the
worse losers and the loudest winners in surfing. Just plainly
unbearable period.
Come on any other nation just to beat them. Hopefully Owen.
Or Slater
The heat was more exciting if you watched it live. It was very engrossing with changes of lead. I am a JJF fan and was hoping he would win. But Medina deservedly won and was appropriately scored I thought.
One of JJF's mistakes was to keep riding the wave into a non point scoring area. As a surfer, I liked it. For winning heats, it was the wrong move.
Medina took the wave behind, pulled off after the tube and regained priority a few times in the heat. It made a difference.
Brazilians are definitely different culturally from us and the Americans. Personally I couldn't give a shit how someone celebrates or behaves. At least they're displaying some emotion most of the Aussies and Yanks have the personalities of a toilet seat.
Medina, Wiggoly, Italo and the rest are good to watch surf as well.
A lot of people taking the moral high ground against gambling on here. No one is forcing anyone to gamble, Jesus what happened to freedom of choice?
It's not like the government hasn't regulated the industry enough. I have to open accounts from overseas and exchange my currency just to make a live in play bet because it's banned in this country.
It's unfortunate that uneducated people get addicted and ruin their lives with gambling but you can't save everyone and they would find something else anyway to sabotage their lives.
What about the rest of us that want to use their intelligence to decide what to risk on the basis of implied probability to try and beat the corporates at their own game?
Can't I press the link and see what William hill are offering as a consumer?
Pull your head in Bushido and stop trolling.
Highly educated people are prone to addiction as well, it's a mental problem. Have you got any first hand experience with people with gambling problems or seen the repercussions of this issue you describe as petty ?
They, like the tobacco and alcohol industry, should be tightly regulated.
It's a crooked industry that breeds organised crime.
Don't bother with a reply Bushido either.
Bruno Santos has such a good tube style.
Let's it happen.
Fanning be spewing after the ocean didn't offer any opportunities for him. Forecast looks grim for Chopes with shocking winds. I'm on Toledo for the win at Chopes. Paying $34
Evo I don't touch drugs for the same reason you mention. But each to their own. Bushido sums it up nicely. From Indo I can get live in play which will make a big difference if it gets regulatory approval in Oz. Hey at the end of the day it's a bit of fun, especially when you are watching with friends and you are both backing different surfers. Had some classic AFL matches few beers with mates and money riding. Adds to the theatre when you backing a team. But don't chase your losses.
Bruno Santos' last wave was incredible! Would of given it a 10.
Wow, and while writing that Medina probably gets a 10!