Surfing-South African Smith eyes Cinderella finish in Fiji finale

FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Surfing - Men's Round 3 - Heat 1 - Teahupo'o, Tahiti, French Polynesia - July 29, 2024. Jordy Smith of South Africa rides a wave. Ed Sloane/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

(Reuters) -While Yago Dora and Molly Picklum head into the WSL finals in Fiji as top seeds and favourites for their first world titles, plenty of surf fans will be rooting for Jordy Smith as he bids for a fairytale championship after 18 years on tour.

The powerful regular-footer from Durban was touted as surfing's next big thing as a teenager and joined the world tour as a 19-year-old in 2008, finishing second in 2010 and 2016.