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Surfing great Slater breaks foot at J-Bay

Kelly Slater has been forced to withdraw from the J-Bay Open in South Africa after breaking his foot in two places.

Filipe Toledo
Filipe Toledo received a saloon passage to the next round with Kelly Slater's withdrawal. (AAP)

Surfing great Kelly Slater says the pain of breaking his foot in two places was akin to giving birth or being smashed with a hammer.

The 11-time world champion will miss six weeks of the tour after being injured while warming-up for the J-Bay Open in South Africa on Monday.

The American said he will require surgery after his board smashed into his foot while surfing Jeffreys Bay.

"Kinda like smashing my foot with a big hammer as hard as I can. Sorta feels like I'm giving birth out of my foot right now!" said Slater, who posted the x-ray on his Instagram feed, showing the shattered bones.

Slater's withdrawal from the World Surf League event on Monday has given third-round opponent Filipe Toledo of Brazil a saloon passage through to the next round.

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Toledo himself threw down the gauntlet to the field in the second round, nailing a wave to score 9.63 which featured a series of cutbacks and a late tube ride in 0.9-1.5m surf.

He put opponent Kanoa Igarashi away with a perfect 10 that included a long tube ride into a couple of big turns and a pose on the wave exit.

Australia's Julian Wilson was also a second-round winner, defeating compatriot Josh Kerr and moving into the third round along with Owen Wright.

Wright beat fellow Australian Ethan Ewing and was relieved to get through.

"It feels nice to get going and get that round two out of the way," Wright said.

"It was a scrappy heat but it played out to my advantage. I felt like it was going to be a slow one so I knew I needed to get going. When you don't get the best wave of the heat it's tough to come back."

The duo join a plethora of Australians in the third round, with defending champion Mick Fanning to take on Brazilian surfer Caio Ibell.

World No.1 Australian Matt Wilkinson will face Jack Freestone in an all-Australian heat.

AUSSIES IN ACTION AT J-BAY IN THE THIRD ROUND

* Heat 2 Gabriel Medina (BRA) v Bede Durbridge (AUS)

* Heat 3 Owen Wright (AUS) v Ezekial Lau (HAW)

* Heat 4 Connor O'Leary (AUS) v Frederico Morais (PRT)

* Heat 5 Mick Fanning (AUS) v Caio Ibelli (BRA)

* Heat 9 Julian Wilson (AUS) v Jeremy Flores (FRA)

* Heat 10 Joel Parkinson (AUS) v Conner Coffin (USA)

* Heat 12 Matt Wilkinson (AUS) v Jack Freestone (AUS)


3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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