Jack Robinson falls just short of third World Surf League win for Championship Tour season at J-Bay

Margaret River’s Jack Robinson is snug in second spot on the Championship Tour after a painfully narrow loss to fellow Aussie Ethan Ewing at J-Bay in South Africa last Friday. Despite the final pip, the contest picked up Robinson’s stellar form in this year’s World Surf League contest bolstered by wins on home territory in Margaret River and at G-Land in Indonesia. With his air game as strong as usual, Robinson’s final two-wave total was 16.30 compared to Ewing’s 16.80. With one event left on the 10-stop Championship Tour, Ewing’s win has him well placed to finish in the top five and secure a spot in the season-ending finals at Lower Trestles in California. Robinson has already secured a spot, and last Friday’s final saw him fall just short of snaring his third tour win this year. Robinson’s surfboard broke during his semifinal against Kanoa Igarashi, and he was forced to run across the rocks to collect his spare board. The 24-year-old put the setback aside to produce a two-wave total of 15.80 to beat Igarashi (13.17). It was Ewing’s maiden WSL win, with the 23-year-old’s late mother, Helen Ewing, a former winner at Bells Beach in 1983. Tatiana Weston-Webb felled hopes of an all-Aussie podium finish at J-Bay, with the Brazilian goofy footer winning 17.50 to Tyler Wright’s 15.67.