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Burrow captures Billabong Pro

Australian Taj Burrow claimed victory in South Africa's R2.1-million Billabong Pro on Saturday, beating eight-time world champion Kelly Slater with an outstanding display of high performance surfing in glassy one-to-1.3 metre waves at the legendary Supertubes in Jeffreys Bay.

After a slow start to the final, where both surfers fell on their opening waves, Burrow took the lead at the halfway point of the 40-minute final, racing down the line while stringing together a series of his trademark vertical manoeuvres to earn the heat-high score of 8.50 points.

Following that up with an 8.00, Burrow tallied 16.50 to leave the uncharacteristically out of sorts Slater needing to replace both his scores for victory. The American, who admitted to being tired after his semi-final, fell on his first four rides and was never in contention.

World Tour ratings
The victory moved Burrow into second place on the Foster's ASP World Tour ratings, behind compatriot Mick Fanning, and earned him $30 000. Hawaii's Andy Irons retained third place while Slater moved up from sixth to fourth.

"It's a great feeling and I'm stoked to be finally taking the win here at J-Bay, one of my favourite places on the tour," Burrow said. "I've had Kelly combo'ed before and nearly lost, so I wasn't claiming anything until the final siren."

Burrow was on fire throughout the event and particularly on the final day where he posted scores of nine points or more in every heat before the final. He reached the title decider by defeating Fanning in a replay of last year's final, after coming from behind to overtake J-Bay standout Joel Parkinson in their quarterfinal encounter.

Squeaked into semis
Slater squeaked through his semifinal match-up to gain revenge over Dean Morrison, who had ousted him from the last World Tour event in Chile at the end of last month. Needing 7.01, Morrison came oh so close, being awarded a frustrating awarded 6.93 as the heat wound down.

Slater had earlier left young Brazilian Adriano de Souza needing a combination of scores in the quarters, and recorded a convincing victory over Australian Luke Stedman in their round four clash.

The American ace also took the Nixon "Winner Takes All" (WTA) award for the highest heat total of the event, earning himself a unique custom-built Nixon watch encrusted with black diamonds, valued at approximately $10 000.

High score
The three-time Billabong Pro J-Bay champ compiled a heat total of 19.23 points out of a possible 20 in the quarterfinal against de Souza, posting two near-perfect scores of 9.70 and 9.53 to overtake Taj Burrow's 18.33 round two effort that included a perfect 10-point score.

World Tour rookie Josh Kerr of Australia pocketed $2 000 for the Best Kustomised Manoeuvre when his outrageous rail grab, carving a 360 under the falling lip of the two-metre waves in round one was adjudged to be the most innovative manoeuvre at any time during the Billabong Pro.

South Africa's last hope in the event, Travis Logie from Durban, could not match the smooth power of Australia's Danny Wills in round four, and was eliminated in equal-ninth place overall with 600 points and $6 000.

BILLABONG PRO JEFFREYS BAY

Final Day Results

Final