Although conditions may not have been optimal, the excitement was palpable as fans rolled through the gates on Easter Sunday at Bells Beach. With bellies full of chocolate eggs, they arrived on a sugar-high; Luke Thompson and Jordy Smith did their bit to keep the buzz going. It\u2019s the first time since 2018 (when Mikey Feb\u2019 joined Jordy) there has been two South African men on the CT. It\u2019s curious to think that way back in 2008 Jordy was a young, high-flying rookie on tour who carried the hopes of South African surfing on his shoulders. These days Jordy is more attuned to slugging lips than soaring beyond them, but he had one of his best years on tour in 2025, winning two events and looking like a serious title contender throughout the season. He\u2019s made it clear he wants to do twenty years straight on tour (2020 was cancelled) and only has to make it through this year and two more after to complete his goal. Meanwhile, Thompson is now the dynamic South African with a swag of tricks and youth on his side. He started well against his mentor on Easter Sunday, but experience proved to be a huge factor in the difficult conditions at Bells, and Jordy reeled him in with a pleasing mix of raw power and precision. Jordy\u2019s next opponent will be Barron Mamiya, who dusted compatriot Seth Moniz in Bells conditions that looked more like peaky D\u2019Bah than classic Bowl. Barron has historically started well on tour, but that was when it kicked off in Hawaii. It will be interesting to see if he can maintain his early season form on the slopier Bells faces that don\u2019t necessarily suit his approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fans were treated to an aerial showdown between Griffin Colapinto and the new darling of Australian surfing, Dane Henry. Dane made his intentions clear from the opening minute of the fixture, tossing a clean rotation into a blue-sky morning at Bells. The lofty eight-point ride forced Griffin to step-up. In bigger, classic conditions Griffin may have been able to rely on his rail attack, but when Dane backed up his eight with a sun-tickler straight air he turned it into a dogfight at altitude. The former, world title runner-up fired back after being put in a deep combination situation, landing rotations on consecutive waves. If there was an edge over Dane in his rides it was minimal, but perhaps Griff was a hint cleaner in his approach. The local crowd was torn; eager to see Dane triumph but equally impressed by the tenacious response of the American. A roar was heard every time Dane got to his feet, but applause followed at the end of the heat in recognition of both surfers\u2019 performances. Colapinto nudged out Dane by a mere 0.26 and later admitted that Dane had forced him to click into top gear. Griff advances to the Round of 16, where he will face fellow Californian Jake Marshall (a big improver in recent years), who won a close battle against Jo\u00e3o Chianca earlier in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n