Jacob Willcox and Yago Dora exchanged heated words during their round 2 heat at the Margaret River Pro. Photos: WSL//Screenshot
Two judges thought Jacob Willcox interfered with Yago Dora during their round 2 matchup at the WSL’s Margaret River Pro. However, three judges didn’t think the paddle feud met the definition of interference. The majority ruled. The heat went on.
Even though Willcox didn’t get the interference he thought he deserved, Dora still managed to squeak through the heat with his score of 13.67, besting Willcox’s 12.93. But that didn’t keep Dora from expressing his bewilderment.
The incident occurred with 23:51 remaining. Dora, with priority, turned to catch a wave. Willcox was sitting right under him and got in his way. Dora didn’t catch the wave, and both surfers began an extended exchange of words, water splashing, and animated gestures. Dora clearly thought it was interference. Willcox, it appears, thought Dora was trying to bait him into it.
Dora continued to direct negative body language toward the judges’ tower for the next 15 minutes. Here’s what he had to say about it during this post-heat interview:
“I wasn’t expecting he was going to be exactly in the line I was going for the wave,” Dora said. “Then I braked. Maybe I should have forced it a bit more because they didn’t call it. It was really hard to reset because I had more than 10 points already at that moment, and he should have gotten an interference, so the heat was pretty much over. Then he got a wave and actually turned the heat. The announcers kept announcing the heat normally without even talking about the situation. It was really confusing, honestly.”
“He also saw it was a clear interference because as soon as the situation happened, he started giving me shit in the water,” Dora continued. “I was trying to explain to him, ‘I didn’t force anything. I was still analyzing if I wanted that wave or not, and you are right in my way.’ That’s competition. The nerves are really high. Jacob is a great surfer. That situation doesn’t delete all the respect that I have for him. Hopefully, we can talk about it in the future and really see through it.”
Rumor has it they indeed talked about it later, and it didn’t go over well, as security had to be called to a scuffle in the parking lot.
The WSL’s condensed replays of the heat curiously don’t include the paddle incident, but if you can see it at the 13:00 mark of the full replay. Or you can watch it on Instagram here.
Last week, Jack Robinson was tagged with a controversial priority interference against Brazil’s Samuel Pupo, leading to a second round elimination from the opening Championship Tour (CT) event of the season at Bells Beach.
The judges’ decision not to call an interference on Willcox comes after a study revealed that home country surfers have an advantage at CT events when there is a home country judge on the panel. Well, Jacob Willcox, the local wildcard, had not one, but two Australians judging his heat. Which, of course, could just be a coincidence. You make the call.
