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World title added to his list of victories
by Rachel Uriarte
24/10/2006:// Last night (SA time) Jordy Smith added another world title to his already incredible and lengthy list of victories, this time at the 21st ISA World Surfing Games in Huntington Beach, CA, USA.
In a fairytale victory that will go down in surfing folklore, Jordy added the2006 ISA men’s open title to his U16 ISA world title in 2003 and the silver medal he won in the U18 division at the ISA world junior champs in Brazil in May.
The 18 year-old Durbanite was relegated to the do-or-die repecharge rounds on his first day of competition in California but fought his way past a stream of world renowned surfing stars including 2001 world champ CJ Hobgood, his twin brother Damien and fellow WCT campaigners Chris Ward and Tom Whitaker, to reach the Grand Final after 10 grueling rounds of competition, the first to do this since 1992.
And in the final he simply blew his three opponents – all over 30 and with years of WCT experience – right out of contention. Blasting two trademark aerials on his third ride for a 6.93 and then performing three vertical lip smashes in the most critical sections on his backhand later in the heat for an 8.5, he left Luke Stedman (Aus), Pat O’Connell (USA) and Armando Daltro (Brazil) combo’d and unable to overtake him even with a perfect 10 point ride.
“I’d like to thank my mom and dad who are watching at home for all their support,” he started when interviewed on the live web cast after the final, “I’m really happy that I could do this for South Africa, my sponsors, all my friends and for myself,” he added humbly, appearing almost overwhelmed by the feat he had achieved.
Well done Jordy, it’s a great result for you, your family, Billabong and South Africa!
Jordy is now off to Hawaii to compete in a four star and two six star WQS events, and will be home at the beginning of December!
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