The Billabong Pro surfing contest concluded with a bang on Wednesday with American surfer Bobby Martinez edging out Taj Burrow in an exciting final. The audience saw the two battle it out on three to five feet waves at Teahupoo.
Martinez’s win propelled him in the top 10 in the ASP World Tour rankings, zooming from number 19 to number 7 after the title win. It’s definitely a great achievement for someone who hails from Santa Barbara, California and just in the tour for only three years.
The ASP World Tour rankings revealed the continuing dominance of the Australians in surfing. Still holding the top three spots are Joel Parkinson (1st), Taj Burrow (2nd) and Mick Fanning (3rd). In a way, the win by Martinez was a stunning upset to higher seeded players.
The scores given by the judges to the two finalists were close, with Martinez getting 18.46 to Burrow’s 16.10. The American’s victory was secured after achieving a 9.73 score in one of the rounds.
The new champion said after the contest that the win was an emotional and lucky one. He stated that he was lucky enough to find a perfect wave to do his thing and that the specially designed swimwear gave him the extra smootness.
Competitors will troop to Brazil next month for the Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro surfing competition.
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