Cloudbreak delivered exactly what the reef is known for on the first competition day of the Fiji Surf Pro: powerful Pacific waves with eight to twelve foot high faces (about 3 metres) that rolled over the reef with raw energy. The biggest sets reached almost mast height. 20 knots of wind loaded each wave with extra power, while several swells ran into the break and reading the water became one of the most important factors. The day also marked a milestone for the tour: for the first time, FBC Sports broadcast the competition live on Fijian free-to-air TV for more than two hours, potentially reaching 1.7 million viewers in the South Pacific.
Men's qualification with close decisions
The first Challenger round of the men showed how open the field is. Logan Haggerstrom from Australia opened his Fiji performance with 11.24 points and secured the heat win. He was closely followed by Finn Mellon from Ireland with 11.03 points - both fought a wave-by-wave duel and skied close to the reef to catch the best sections. Michael Westra from Australia scored 8.07 points, while Malte Øgelund from Denmark was left behind with 3.27 points. Duncan Osborn dominated the second heat of the first round, impressing with powerful carving and building up a lead that nobody could catch up on - his final score was 9.23 points. Jony Price from Ireland tried risky goiters, but was unable to land the manoeuvres cleanly and remained on 6.94 points. Peter Puhl from Australia found his rhythm in the middle of the heat and overtook Price with 8.37 points, Jason Juretic completed the field with 4.97 points.
The second qualification round brought the most outstanding individual performance of the day in the men's event: Michael Westra was completely transformed compared to his first appearance. He attacked the biggest sets of the afternoon and strung together critical turns in the most powerful sections of the wave. With 13.47 points, he achieved the highest heat total of the first day and made a clear statement to the rest of the field. Jony Price again showed signs of brilliance, scoring 7.87 points, but this heat clearly belonged to Westra. With a performance like this, he will pose a serious threat to the competition in the coming rounds.
Seman dominates first women's final
The women's victory at the Fiji Surf Pro is played out in best-of-three mode. Jane Seman from Australia made it unmistakably clear in the first final what her ambitions were. She caught a solid, clearly more than mast-high set wave early on and went straight into the pocket, where she stayed in the most critical section of the wave for the entire ride. From then on she steadily improved - finding bigger waves, riding deeper and showing a natural dominance. With 16.70 points, she scored the highest heat total of the entire day - no one was better in the men's competition either! Behind her, Sarah Kenyon and Maria Andrés fought a close battle for second place. Kenyon surfed with a fluid style, but couldn't find the waves she needed for higher scores. Andrés had more luck - a powerful combination of top turn and bottom turn on well-chosen waves earned her the points she needed. She secured second place with 11.94 points, Kenyon followed in third place with 11.23 points. With two finals still to go, everything remains open in the title fight.
Today the seeded riders and favourites in the men's race will also come into play - and the waves are set to get even bigger!
All results, heats and livestream at worldwindsurftour.com
