Jordy Smith Wins At Jbay
Jordy Smith
Jordy Smith
Jordy Smith was crowned the Billabong Pro J-Bay 2010 champion at Jeffreys Bay, convincingly defeating Adam Melling from Australia in the final to become the first South African surfer to win an ASP World Tour event since the legendary Shaun Tomson back in the mid-eighties and cementing the 22 year-old Durbanite’s position at the top of the ASP World Title Race Rankings.
Smith stamped his authority on the final from the outset, locking in excellent scores of 8.90 and 9.03 in the first five minutes to leave his opponent in a combination situation and needing to improve on both his scores throughout the 35 minute match-up.
“This is the best day of my life,” a beaming Smith said on the podium. “The crowd on the beach has been supporting me the last few days and hearing the cheers and the vuvuzelas just get me fired up to perform. It feels like they’re pushing me along. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
“I knew the swell was dying and I had to take advantage of every wave that came through,” Smith said of the final.
“Adam (Melling) is such a dangerous surfer. He’s been in form all day and I knew that if he got the waves, he would get the scores. I went out there knowing I had to open up strong.”
Smith defeated Nate Yeomans (USA), Owen Wright (AUS) and Adriano De Souza (BRA) before facing his biggest test in the semi-final against Bede Durbidge (AUS).
The experienced Australian seemingly had a berth in the final sewn up with the swell dropping and less than three minutes remaining. However, urged to catch a hip- high wave by his advisers on the dunes, Smith raced down the line and punted a high-risk ’Superman’ aerial that he landed successfully and performed a couple more moves before the ride ended.
In a classic never-say-die effort before the scores for the ride were even in, Smith then paddled into what was to be the last wave of the heat which opened up and allowed him to execute a series of progressive manoeuvres.
Needing 7.41 to advance, his score of 7.93 resulted in rapturous applause and a cacophony of vuvuzelas and cheering from the packed partisan crowd basking in the mid-winter sunshine.
Rated a lowly 41st on the World Title Race rankings heading into Jeffreys Bay, the 2010 ASP Dream Tour rookie who had not won a single heat in the first three events of the year powered his way through five rounds of competition, including defeating compatriot and 2007 Billabong Pro J-Bay winner Taj Burrow in the semi-finals.
His runner-up finish sees the Australian bumped up to ASP World No. 19, well inside the safety zone for the dreaded mid-year reduction in the field from 45 to 32.
Burrow consistently wowed audiences with his performance from Round 1 onwards, collecting the event’s highest heat total of 18.87 out of 20 in yesterday’s Round 4 to win the Nixon WTA award of a US $10 000 custom built Nixon timepiece. Despite today’s semifinal loss at the hands of Melling, Burrow moves up to the ASP World No. 2 ranking heading into Tahiti.
Sean Holmes’ rampaging run through the event was finally ended by Durbidge in the quarterfinals. The 32 year-old wildcard from Cape Town, who eliminated former ASP World Champions Kelly Slater (USA) and Andy Irons (HAW) yesterday, came within half a point of upsetting Durbidge too, but came up short in the small wind affected waves early Sunday morning.
Courtesy of Timeslive
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What Will Become Of World Cup Stadiums?
No white elephant: Soccer City lights up beautifully as night falls
As the World Cup nears its conclusion, concerns over stadiums becoming white elephants have been raised again – with rugby posed as a possible solution.
South Africa must persuade its top rugby teams to use the new World Cup stadiums if the impressive infrastructure is to remain sustainable, top local officials have said. But while the world-champion Springboks are set to play archrivals the All Blacks at Soccer City next month, other rugby sides are reluctant to move from their homes to the new stadiums, indicating tough prospects ahead for the future upkeep of the new venues.
“I think that clearly there will have to be good balance of both football and rugby together to ensure proper use of the stadiums,” said Danny Jordaan, the chief organiser of South Africa’s hosting of the World Cup. “The premier soccer league also needs to relook at the profile of its teams and make them more attractive to all sectors of the population,” he said.
Six new venues were built for the month-long World Cup, including a complete overhaul of Soccer City. Four other venues were renovated, three of them traditional rugby stadiums. The South African Rugby Union are to announce this week they will host the 21 August Test against New Zealand at Soccer City, the first time a rugby match will be played at the stadium, which hosts the World Cup final.
“It is going to be easier for some cities than for others to make their stadiums work, but there must be engagement with all stakeholders,” Jordaan told reporters.
Private operators have been appointed to run the stadiums in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Johannesburg after the World Cup, while tenders for stadium management companies to handle the stadiums in Durban and Polokwane are due out soon.
“There are a lot of opportunities that could be exploited by stadium operators,” said Ndavhe Ramakuela, who heads the 2010 office of the Polokwane municipality. “Football clubs are keen, for example, to come and use our stadium on a regular basis.”
WHITE ELEPHANT
But Polokwane does not have its own local team, the nearest based in Pretoria some two hours drive away. Nor does it have a rugby franchise, although the Super 14 champions Blue Bulls, usually based at Pretoria’s Loftus Versfeld, have hosted minor matches in Polokwane in the past. It raises fears incidental use will not be enough to avoid the stadium becoming a ‘white elephant’.
Nelspruit is another city with neither a football nor rugby team and the future of its new stadium is uncertain. Municipal officials previously said they would continue to run the Mbombela Stadium, and would seek to expand it into a multi-sports arena.
In Cape Town, the Stormers have already rejected enticements to move from Newlands, the city’s rugby home for more than a century, to the Green Point Stadium, now being run by a joint venture company, half-owned by Stade de France.
Durban’s Sharks are set to continue playing at King’s Park, the 55,000-seater stadium right next door to the new Moses Mabhida Stadium.
In both cases the rugby unions own, or have long-term leases, on their stadiums and are not willing to risk becoming tenants.
But Cape Town and Durban’s top soccer sides have committed to playing in the new venues when the local season starts next month, albeit at a favorable rental.
“The strategy for all these new stadiums needs to be cleverly thought out if they are to be sustainable,” consultant George Stainton explained. “You also don’t want to lose their iconic appeal.”
“A lot of work now has to be done in this area,” added Jordaan.
(REUTERS)
World Cup Intruder Looking For The Loo
Prince William, David Beckham and Prince Harry in South Africa.
Pavlos Joseph told the Sunday Mirror he accidentally stumbled across the England players in Cape Town’s Green Point stadium.
The incident took place following the team’s 0-0 draw with Algeria on Friday.
Mr Joseph said he told David Beckham England fans had spent “a lot of money” to travel to South Africa and that the team’s performance was “a disgrace”.
Mr Joseph, a 32-year-old mortgage advisor from south-east London, said he had been waiting outside the stadium for his two cousins and their father, after the game.
After half an hour he decided to find a toilet, and said he was pointed in the direction of the players’ tunnel by a steward. While wandering about the tunnel, he said, he suddenly found himself in the England dressing room.
I said ‘My name’s Pavlos and I’m just looking for a toilet’
Pavlos Joseph
He said: “David Beckham was directly in front of me. I noticed him in his grey suit. I wanted to make the most of this opportunity to tell him how frustrated us, his fans, are.
“I said to him ‘David, we’ve spent a lot of money coming out here. That was a disgrace and what are you going to do about it?’
“He looked at me in surprise and stunned. He didn’t know what to say.
“As he was about to say ‘Who are you?’ one of the Fifa officials came towards me and asked me that question. All the players were looking at each other and looking at myself.
“I said ‘My name’s Pavlos and I’m just looking for a toilet.’”
‘No guards’
Mr Joseph said the Fifa official took him to the nearest toilet, which was in the main building of the ground in the public area, and that the two later exchanged business cards.
“I said to him ‘That atmosphere in the dressing room was shocking’. And he said to me ‘You should have been in there at half-time,’ Mr Joseph added.
“No security guards at any point… had questioned me, stopped me or even attempted to arrest me.”
David Beckham had earlier said the fan he spoke to “didn’t comment on the performance, he walked in, said hello”.
The former England captain, who is with the squad despite missing the tournament through injury, said: “The actual fan literally just walked in very casually and just said something to me and then walked out – there was no scuffle, there was no aggression at all.”
Courtesy of BBC Sport
Styling On The Streets Of Cape Town: Images
The Red Bull Street Style World Final 2010 at the Grand Parade in Cape Town.
Not so good with team sports but still know how some cool ball “tricks”?
Well then freestyling football just might be for you.
Freestyling football involves balancing and doing tricks or “tricking” with one or more soccer balls. It has also become a competitive sport with Red Bull holding the Street Style World Cup final in Cape Town.
Sixty finalists from all over the world competed over three days.
Here is your first lesson along with some great pictures from the Red Bull Street Style World Cup final.
Reigning World Champion Sean Garnier of France shows off his speed.
Christian "Rocky" Mayorga of Colombia.
Christian "Rocky" Mayorga of Colombia strikes a pose as his opponent looks on
Kamal "Kamalio" Ranchod of South Africa in action.
Arthur Mansilla of Brazil.
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