Slater looked solid on his pin tail while taking out Tanner Gudauskas. Though only a few solid waves came through during their late day match up, Slater made the most of his opportunities, surfing clean and fast.
In clean and very contestable conditions, the Billabong Pro moved through the grueling Round Three and part of Round Four Wednesday, where survival means a solid result versus a decent one. The business end of the event will wrap on Thursday, when thewinner is likely to be crowned if conditions hold.
Taj wasn't the only big gun to fall. Bobby Martinez was finally grounded after flying high through Australia. Martinez lost in the first heat of the day to Aussie Luke Munro. Joel Parkinson has yet to find his stroke this year. He had a tough time getting anything going today and lost to Tahiti's Michel Bourez in Round Four. And Damien Hobgood's struggles continued as he was steamrolled by rookie Jadson Andre of Brazil.
Rookie Owen Wright finally got some momentum going in his match up against the powerful Bede Durbidge. Wright was doing his release thing at every opportunity, electing the faster, dumpier, against-the-grain lefthanders that offered up some big targets.
There were inspiring performances Wednesday in the clean beachbreak conditions. Mike Fanning, Joel Parkinson and Dane Reynolds all looked sharp. And Taylor Knox put on a beautiful carving performance while cutting down his friend Tiago Pires of Portugal by way of the long rights. "I knew I had to lift my game. He's a tough draw, and not just a great surfer but a great guy."
Jordy Smith absolutely annihilated Aussie Ben Dunn, in what was arguably the best performances of the day. Jordy iced the performance with a huge backside air reverse on his last wave. Smith is breaking out this year. He's currently sitting in the third place position, and seems to be getting more comfortable in his skin at each stop.
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