The 60th edition of the Ripcurl Bells Pro kicked off today at the event’s alternative right-hander Winkipop. The men this morning were first out in the line-up, which featured clean conditions and two to three-foot runners.
One of the match-ups we were looking forward to most was between Jack Robinson, Kelly Slater and trials winner Xavier Huxtable. A spectrum of surfers in different stages of their careers went into battle to avoid the dreaded elimination round. Jack Robbo made it clear he is worthy of wearing the yellow jersey and looked on another level. A punchy air-to-turn combo won him the heat. This time last year, we didn’t put Jack on the pedestal as a standout in small wave conditions. It couldn’t be different this year. And that unexpected Ric Flair “Woo” in his post-heat interview explains how Robbo’s feeling, on top of the world.
The real battle in this heat was for second place, with 51-year-old Kelly Slater and 20-year-old Xavier Huxtable both doing their best to avoid the elimination round. This wasn’t the first time Xavier had matched up with Kelly, 31 years his senior. Slater got the one-up in the opening round of Bells back in 2019. It was looking like the same story with a minute left on the clock until Huxtable went on a snap crusade. The trials winner put on a clutch performance on his final ride with four consecutive turns giving him a narrow nod over the GOAT.
Huxtable is also a talented cricketer and footballer who lines up for the AFL team in Lorne. There won’t be any footy this weekend for Xavier, who’s focus is taking on the world’s best surfers. Getting the edge over Kelly today will give the local shredder, who finished 13th on the Australian regional series, a big boost of confidence going into his 2023 season.
The GOAT looked human, with a few errors costing him the heat. Let us not forget, Kelly’s 51-years-old. Slater’s got his hands full in the elimination round against Connor O’Leary and Carlos Munoz.
Ripcurl got their money’s worth today with their team-riders Owen Wright, Jacko Baker, Gabriel Medina, and wildcards Dylan Moffat and Morgan Cibilic all progressing to the round of 32. Big O was looking lethal, his backhand blitz slickly overwhelming Filipe Toledo and Ian Gentil.
The ride of the day on the men’s side was John John’s 8.44 in the final heat of the opening round. John John looked scary good with his hack attack and precise rail game on point. Florence also scored the highest heat total of the day with a 16.26 as he defeated Morgan Cibilic and Barron Mamiya.
