Mick Fanning Eliminated from Rip Curl Pro in Portugal

Today marked the finest and most exciting surfing of Event 8 at the Rip Curl Pro in Portgual.

The swell was unlink the barrels we’re used to at Supertubos, but offered up solid and consistent two to three foot peaks at Belgas for some amazing and well fought out heats.

It was an unlucky day for the Australians, and those trying to stop Kelly Slater from making it 10 World Titles, after both Mick Fanning and Taj Burrows being eliminated in Round 3 of competition.

Travis Logie was the cause of the upset of the event this afternoon, eliminating reigning ASP World Champion Mick Fanning from competition with a last minute barrage of backhands on the Belgas righthanders and taking the heat 16.04 to 15.93 for the best two waves.

“I can’t believe it,” Logie said. “Halfway through that heat, I was comboed and couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. Then I got two good rights and surfed them for all I was worth. The scores didn’t come through for a while because there were a lot of waves close together. Then it came out that I had taken the lead and Mick (Fanning) got that good one right at the end. He just missed out and I’m so stoked.”

Check out the highlights of the heat below

This wasn’t the first ASP World Title hopeful Logie has managed to beat in this event. In Round 2 he saw off Dane Reynolds nearly doubling his score with an impressive 16.06 to 8.50. After being one of the bottom surfers affected by the new rule change in the ASP Travis will be looking for a good result to go towards his re-qualification campaign.

“It’s a crucial event for me for sure,” Logie said. “I’ve had so many close calls this year that haven’t gone my way and I really need to put some results on the board if I want to make the cutoff after Pipe. After these last two heats, I have a lot of confidence and hopefully things keep going my way.”

The second upset to Taj Burrow came through a fellow Australian Rookie, Matt Wilkinson.

“I had a little free surf this morning and had a few fun ones,” Wilkinson said. “My board felt really good and I was just excited to surf a heat and see what the outcome was. That was the third heat I’ve had Taj (Burrow) this year and he’s got me twice before. It feels good to get him back. The forecast doesn’t look excellent for the remainder of the period and I feel like if we continue to surf in beachies, I can compete with the best of them.”

Check out the heat highlights below

We talked about how the elimination of Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow, and Dane Reynolds has made one mans job a lot easier, and that man is Kelly Slater. Slater still holds the current ASP World No.1 ranking but will still have Jordy Smith trying to rally some good scores in Heat 4 of Round 5 tomorrow.

Slater beat fellow countryman Gabe King this afternoon and looks almost certain to chalk up his 10th ASP World Title if he continues in this form.

“You can’t really have a plan out there. You have to be active and catch a lot of waves. I was just trying to figure it out while I was out there. I have to win some heats and surf the same way. I need to be aggressive and go for big scores, but you also have to be smart and pick your waves.”

Check out Kellys waves from his Round 3 win.

The best score for the Rip Curl Pro in Portugal goes to Owen Wright after he scored a perfect 10.

“I had actually creased my board on the wave previous and I was really just coming in to change boards,” Wright said. “I was really just going for broke and the section presented itself. I actually got more height than I thought I would and rotated out of it clean. I was pretty psyched when I heard the score.”

(go to 1m33s on the video)

“I have great memories from this event last year,” Wright said. “I have some bad memories too, but I feel like I’ve put those behind me and I’m moving forward. That was a great heat for me and hopefully I can move forward.”

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL MEN’S ROUND 3 RESULTS:


• Heat 1: Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 14.67 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 14.50
• Heat 2: Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.00 def. Daniel Ross (AUS) 7.56
• Heat 3: Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.17 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 10.40
• Heat 4: Damien Hobgood (USA) 10.90 def. Tom Whitaker (AUS) 10.24

• Heat 5: Chris Davidson (AUS) 12.60 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 10.67
• Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) 13.17 def. Gabe Kling (USA) 11.60

• Heat 7: Travis Logie (ZAF) 16.04 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.93
• Heat 8: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 10.60 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 8.50
• Heat 9: Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 13.77 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 8.70
• Heat 10: Owen Wright (AUS) 17.50 def. Kai Otton (AUS) 12.80
• Heat 11: Jadson Andre (BRA) 13.83 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 13.67
• Heat 12: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.17 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 11.26

RIP CURL PRO PORTUGAL MEN’S ROUND 4 MATCH-UPS:

Don’t forget that you can watch all these heats through the Rip Curl Pro Portugal Live Stream.

• Heat 1: Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Michel Bourez (PYF), Adrian Buchan (AUS)
• Heat 2: Damien Hobgood (USA), Chris Davidson (AUS), Kelly Slater (USA)
• Heat 3: Travis Logie (ZAF), Jeremy Flores (FRA), Patrick Gudauskas (USA)

• Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS), Jadson Andre (BRA), Jordy Smith (ZAF)

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