A full 10 weeks after the last WCT event in Brazil, the Billabong Pro J-Bay certainly didn’t disappoint. With Parko unable to surf the event due to his sliced ankle and then Kelly Slater & Mick Fanning falling in earlier heats, it was left to South African home grown talent Jordy Smith to beat the rest and take his first WCT title, winning at home and on Nelson Mandela’s 92nd birthday no less.

Having waited so long to see the top guys surfing again it felt like 4 days of action just wasn’t enough, so we’re looking forward to Teahupoo in 5 weeks time! Enjoy the final day’s highlights, with the full ASP press release after the clip:

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Joel Parkinson’s world title hopes were pretty much extinguished last week after he suffered a horrific gash to his foot. Requiring over 30 stitches, Andy Irons described the injury, suffered in a wipeout at Snapper Rocks, as the “worst fin chop I’ve ever seen”.

Parko will be out of action for a good few weeks as the deep cut heals, forcing him to withdraw from the Billabong Pro J-Bay. According to Jim Kempton in Surfing The Manual: Advanced, coming back from a debilitating injury can be a long process, requiring both mental and physical strength:

Parko "Feels good to eat something I made...or look at it getting made" via twitter.com/joelparko

Dr Warren Kramer, long time healer of surf stars, says normal soft tissue injuries generally take about four to six weeks to heal with a good six to eight weeks of disciplined rehab on top of that. Kramer breaks the basic rehab process down with the acronym PRICE, which stands for protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation. Protecting the injury while it heals will help minimize further damage. Rest gives it the opportunity to heal. Icing and elevating will help keep the swelling down. Compression assists in maintaining stabilization. This basic recipe should work for the average sprain or strain. It’s when tendons are torn and ligaments frayed that the rehab process becomes complicated.

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It’s been quite a few weeks for sport in South Africa. While Bafana Bafana and the rest of South Africa put on a great show, eyes now turn to Jordy Smith and his No. 1 ASP ranking after his win at the Mr Price Ballito Pro.

Having won an event in front of his home crowd for the first time since he was fifteen, the twenty-two year old Smith is feeling confident about his chances heading into the Billabong Pro J-Bay. “Its great to be at number one but it’s a long road ahead,” Smith said. “I kinda look at it like boxing, there’s 12 rounds and we’ve only been through four so there’s plenty more to go and you have to hang tight.”

Some of the First Round match-ups are looking kind of tasty, especially Heat 2 with Jadson Andre & Andy Irons, Heat 8 with Kelly Slater up against fellow Floridian Damien Hobgood and Heat 12 with Pat & Tanner Gudauskas going up against each other. The local forecast is looking awesome and if the winds behave it could be a classic event. As a final tease, here’s Billabong’s latest webisode featuring JBay’s greatest moments.

Webisode 07 – JBay’s Greatest Moments from Billabong on Vimeo.

After taking 12 months off from the ASP Word Tour, former three-time ASP World Champion Andy Irons is looking forward to getting back to a wave that he loves. Having won at JBay back in 2004, here he provides his thoughts on the Billabong Pro J-Bay, the waves at Supertubes, visiting Jeffreys Bay and the pressure of the recently introduced One World Tour Rankings.