The 2017 Outerknown Fiji Pro will forever be remembered as the event chock full of upsets. If you recall, prior to the action resuming on Tuesday (and it’s been a long wait) both Gabriel Medina and Owen Wright were among those eliminated in the round three heats that ran days ago. By its conclusion, though, six of the top 10 on the Jeep Leaderboard (including John John, Jordy, and Adriano) had been eliminated – and with Caio Ibelli out due to injury, Filipe Toledo suspended from the event, that left eight of the top 10 out by round three. And beyond the top 10, Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater both made early exits – dispelling any thoughts that Kelly would get any favorable treatment with Outerknown as a title sponsor.
Throughout the day, Cloudbreak didn’t look much like Cloudbreak, with mostly lumpy crumbly waves on offer. But that’s not to undermine the achievements of numerous dark horses taking out big names.
The first of the day began with Michel Bourez who took out Mick Fanning, not totally surprising as Michel’s been wont to eliminate some big names. But in the context of all the other early eliminations, worth mentioning.
Next, and probably the biggest upset of the day, was rookie Leonardo Fioravanti taking out world no. 1 John John Florence. Fioravanti managed to get two 8.5s, and Florence proved unable to answer back.
After that, top seeds and favorites fell like dominoes. Jordy Smith was eliminated by Joan Duru in the next heat, then Kelly Slater by Connor O’Leary, two heats later Bede Durbidge took out Kolohe Andino, and two heats after that Stu Kennedy took out Adriano de Souza – an absolute blood bath.
Said the WSL of Kelly’s heat, “For the second time in the same event, Slater looked lost at his beloved Cloudbreak. The heat was a low-scoring grinder, with Kelly needing less than a 5 to turn the heat in the end…yet he couldn’t find it.”
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
