If it were the finals of the Mr Price Pro today, Greg Emslie would be a national hero. Not only was he the only South African to advance to the round of 24 of the men�s competition but Emslie obliterated his competition.
Posting the highest single wave score of the day with a near perfect 9.17 (out of a possible ten points), Emslie also went onto to post the highest heat score of the entire contest with a 17.67 out of 20.00.
Outsmarting his competitors, Emslie sat wide where he had watched many barrels run empty in the early morning. �I saw some good waves coming through, deep, good barrels. I wasn�t sure if they were makable but thought I�d test the waters,� explained Emslie.
�My first one was pretty nice and then I sat a bit deeper. My next one turned out to be �sick� and I got a nine. I�m really stoked it worked out for me.�
Emslie advanced ahead of Nathan Webster (AUS) who finished well behind the South African in second.
Australian Taj Burrow was another surfer to light up North Beach in an all WCT heat which also included former Mr Price Pro winner Taylor Knox (USA), Marcelo Nunes ((BRA) and Lee Winkler (AUS). Each of the four surfers played yo-yo for first and second spot.
But the heat win was arguably between Burrow and Knox, both of whom demonstrated an enormous repertoire of performance surfing to take first and second respectively.
The Iron�s brothers Andy and Bruce (HAW) took comfortable wins, not looking to exert themselves too early in the competition.
South African�s suffered a day of disappointment with Durbanites David Weare and Travis Logie eliminated in the early morning after which schoolboy surf star Jordy Smith (DBN, ZAF) and Warwick Wright (DBN, ZAF) fell to Australian Adam Robertson and Jihad Khodr (BRA).
Demonstrating exceptional speed and technical ability, Khodr, who has cleaned up every heat since his first at this event, posted few but prevalent scores on the score board.
In the women�s event, the South African girls showed no signs of slowing down with four advancing into the next round (round of 12).
Tamarys De Marroussem rose to the challenge of arguable the most difficult of the day�s heats.
Faced with the likes of Roxy surf star Caroline Sarran (FRA), world number six Melanie Redman- Carr (AUS), and former Mr Price Pro winner Jacqueline Silva (BRA), the South African held on until the finals minutes, before posting an excellent scoring 8.0 to advance behind heat winner Carr.
�It was really stiff out there,� said De Marroussem. �At first I battled to find a running wave and even when I moved up to second I knew that with such class acts surfers in my heat, I wasn�t safe. So when I got that 8, I was blown away, I must be honest.�
Teenager Tammy-Lee Smith was another South African to outwardly declare her competitive ability. Punctuating the surf with a well balanced repertoire of maneuvers, Smith advanced behind heat winner Melanie Bartels who added a taste of Hawaiian flavour to our local waters.
Other South African women to advance were Roseanne Hodge, who advanced in second behind heat winner Suelen Naraisa (BRA), and Heather Clark who advanced behind Jessi Miley-Dyer (AUS).
Saturday will see the women�s round of 12 (heats 1-4) kick off at 08h00 followed by the women�s quaterfinals, the men�s round of 24, the women�s semi finals; the Pro Junior girls finals and finally the women�s final � starting at 15h15. Both the men�s and women�s finals will be aired live on SABC 1 on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10, July respectively.
The Mr Price Pro/ East Coast Radio music concerts continue tonight (Saturday) with eight live bands rocking the Durban beach front.
The Mr Price Pro is a six star rated World Qualifying Series event with R1 Million rand in prize money. Over 250 of the worlds elite surfing professionals are competing at North Beach, in the greatest surfing and beach festival on the African continent.
The Mr Price Pro is the anchor event of the ten day Vodacom Beach Africa Festival.
For latest heat scores, heat updates, interviews and profiles check out www.mrpricepro.com
Bruce Irons Age: 26 From: Kauai, Hawaii
Greg Emslie Age: 28 From: East London, South Africa
