I hate to say I told you so but I did. Watch out for Owen Wright, the dark horse, I said. Well the time to collect my winnings is now. If I was a betting man. Which I am not.
Owen Wright made history last night by not only winning the Fiji Pro 2015 in solid Cloudbreak but by scoring two perfect 20 out of 20 point heats. This has never before been achieved in professional surfing. The big Australian goofy footer really is back and at the top of his game.
I was going to talk about Jeremy Flores being on form and Julian Wilson finding his feet, dominating, but really I think the hour belongs to Owen.
Here is the 20 point final.
After being injured for a long time with a serious back injury, Owen has been creeping under the radar slowly back to form. The form I am referring to is wearing the yellow jersey and giving Kelly Slater a run for the world title back in 2011. Yes it is the same guy, he is back! Congrats Owen Wright and well done for not being injured.
How does the leader board look now? After the shenanigans at Fiji, Owen has boosted himself to the lofty position of 3rd and well within striking distance of the number 1 spot. Julian Wilson sits at number 5 after his stellar performance that pushed him to the final at Cloudbreak.
Meanwhile in a not-so-happy planet not too far away sitS an unhappy Kelly Slater (currently 11th) and defending world champion Gabriel Medina (currently 20th).
Lets see what a very stoked Owen had to say about the final.
This really has been a crazy year so far, I get the feeling that anyone could win any event, and that’s really what its all about. This is what will make me tune in and watch, no one wants to see the same old (yawwwwwwn) top five take it out. Saying that, and I can't believe I am, you still can't count out Kelly. Or maybe you can.
Tune in to see what happens next at J-Bay on the 8th July. Who knows Taj might even win one.
After 10 bliss.