The world No.2 pulled off a stunning move that gave him the best score of the day at the latest World Surf League event.
Gunther Henry Kitzler,56,was surfing with two friends at a renowned hotspot off East Java when he was swept away.
The Australian veteran has won a record fourth World Surfing Games title. But a convoluted qualifying process means surfers from Germany,Israel and China will take on Teahupo’o instead.
It was an all-Australian affair at Sunset Beach,with Molly Picklum and Jack Robinson taking out the women’s and men’s title on Thursday.
“We hear a lot about the infrastructure and heritage that will be left by the Olympic Games,but we already have an ancestral heritage.”
In the past 24 days,three of surfing’s biggest names and most successful competitors have stepped back from what looks to be a glamorous life travelling the globe.
Australian prodigy Molly Picklum rode one of the best waves seen from a woman at Pipeline,the terrifying Hawaiian break at which girls couldn’t compete just four years ago.
Molly Picklum scored a perfect 10 for this ride in the semi-finals of the Pipeline Pro in Hawaii
Heavy,two-metre Pipeline surf has delivered some spectacular rides in Hawaii. But Brazil’s reigning world champion is under fire for once again not performing when the swell is at its most challenging.
The “Jaws effect” seems to be abating,but it still fuels the fears of non-beachgoers.
Three-metre waves are predicted for this year’s Pipeline Pro. The merciless Hawaiian wave has already shattered bones,knocked a world No.4 unconscious and left one pro unable to feel his legs.