Happenings
Owen Wright wins Fiji Pro final against Julian Wilson with perfect 20 at Cloudbreak
Owen Wright has capped off a stunning Fiji Pro by scoring a perfect 20 in an emphatic win over fellow Australian Julian Wilson in a lop-sided final.
In powerful six-to-eight-foot barrelling left-handers at Cloudbreak, Wright logged two perfect 10s from the five World Surf League judges late in the decider on Tuesday to claim his second career championship tour title.
On Monday in round five, the goofy-footer from Culbarra Beach on the New South Wales south coast became just the fifth surfer to score a perfect 20 in his win over Adam Melling.
His final heroics means he became the first surfer to complete two perfect 20s at the same event and joins Kelly Slater and Joel Parkinson in recording the feat twice.
Sunshine Coast's Wilson was all at sea, posting scores of 3.17 and 4.67 in a disappointing end to a day when he pipped Brazil's Italo Ferreira in the quarter-finals and West Australian Taj Burrow in the semis.
Wright's only other win on the top-tier championship tour was at the Quiksilver Pro New York in 2011.
"That's a dream come true right there," said an ecstatic Wright, who leaps from sixth to third in the season standings after five of 11 events.
"To win here, I haven't won a contest for a long time, man it feels good.
"I've been doing a lot of work behind the scenes and watching the top guys closely.
"Gabby Medina (reigning world champion and defending Fiji Pro champion) is a huge inspiration to me.
"I've done two trips to Tahiti already this year, I think that's where the barrel-riding's come from."
The big barrels took their toll on the final day of competition, most notably Australia's Kai Otton.
He was left bloodied and battered in his quarter-final loss to Frenchman Jeremy Flores in a nasty wipeout.
Otton cut up his hands and knees and hurt his back after a thick barrel closed out on him as he searched for a big score to overtake the Frenchman late in their duel.
He was forced to pull out but later, with his knees bandaged up, said he hoped to be given the all-clear by the doctor.
Wright then went on to defeat Flores 16.93 to 16.57 in the semis after earlier accounting for a below-par Joel Parkinson 16.60 to 12.84 in the quarter-finals.