Binnsie

Kerrzy's aerial assault that scored him a perfect 10. Pic ASP

Josh Kerr today claimed the Drug Aware Pro in jaw-dropping fashion. Up against local hero and red-hot favourite Taj Burrow, who entered the final at unbackable odds given his recent competitive streak, Kerrzy found himself needing a combination of 16.51 points as the five-minute buzzer went. Never throwing in the towel, Kerrzy looked to Burrow for inspiration; TB’s full throttle manoeuvres early in the heat gave him his lead and showed Josh what the judges were after. Knowing he had nothing to lose, and having stolen a number of last gasp wins this week, Kerr threw everything he could at a flurry of waves, coming unglued at breakneck speed on death-or-glory attempts.

With Taj paddling back out after another searing right, Kerrzy finally got the section he was after. He unleashed a monstrous straight air; a grabbed hanger five-foot out, in Burrow’s face. After landing perfectly in the transition Kerr drove seamlessly at the lip and launched a monstrous air reverse, riding out of the stunning combo clean and winking at Burrow on the shoulder. The wink said one thing: game on. The judges said another: perfect 10.

“If you don’t give that a 10 you may as well pack your bags and go home,” said head judge Pritamo Ahrent. “That’s what we’ve been waiting for this year, conditions like this and surfing like that, you just have to reward it.” Why the delay in the fifth judge dropping a 10 then? “Ah, we would have been vague-ing out in there, we were all talking about how good that wave was, and someone forgot to lock it in. Never in doubt.”


TB & Kerrzy, about to paint the town red. Pic ASP

As Taj said on stage minutes later, Kerrzy now had “the feeling”. With three minutes on the clock Teebs had the lead, Kerr the momentum. A set rolled through but with Taj looking to throw away an eight, he felt no need to take-off. “If Josh was gonna get it (the win), he was gonna get it,” sighed Burrow. And Kerrzy did just that on the back of another huge air, stomped to reverse over a vicious section. Burrow could do little but applaud. “It’s the best way to win but the worst way to lose,” he said on stage, “but Josh deserves it, that was amazing.”

Kerrzy shot the compliment straight back. “What about Taj Burrow, 2010 world champ or what?” he roared, and the big crowd went wild. It’s been a crazy week of surfing in Margarets, and as always it’s the versatile who’ve survived. From perfect conditions early through to monstrous waves yesterday and today’s ultra-rippable walls, it’s been guys like the finalists, and Yadin Nicol, Cory Lopez and CJ Hobgood who’ve shone.

The concert is back on tonight after a few years of Ben-Lee-bottling-induced timeout, and with the event presenter’s number one guy taking out the local hero in the final, you can be sure the sou-west will be rockin’ tonight.

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