The ASP World Title Race resumed this morning on the opening day of the Quiksilver Pro France, with the world’s best surfers taking on clean 3-4Ft A-frames at the back-up location of Seignosse Le Penon.
Event No.8 of 10 on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour, the Quiksilver Pro France showcases professional surfing’s heroes in some of the best beachbreaks on the planet. With only two more events left this year, both World Title contenders and surfers outside the Top22 consider the Quiksilver Pro France with the utmost importance.
Quiksilver surfer Kelly Slater (USA) 41, eleven-time ASP World Champion, had his back against the ropes in his Round 1 encounter with Adam Melling (AUS) and Dane Reynolds (USA) and failed to find excellent scoring opportunities for most of the 30-minute exchange. With only seconds on the clock, Slater found a cleaner, longer left with more verticality and dismantled every section of the wave to earn a near-perfect 9.23 out of a possible 10.
“Jeez it was a slow one, in all the rotation Adam had priority,” Slater stated. “There only was one good wave on the sets and he kept picking them. That last one I got was actually a little funny cause he could have caught the wave, but there was kind of a flatness and a wedge in between him and I and he would have been behind the foamball where I was taking off. I couldn’t believe it when I saw him stop paddling, I looked down the line and it had such a clean face, it was fun !”
Jeremy Flores (FRA) 25, pleased the massive French crowds assembled on the water’s edge this afternoon, when he won his first heat collecting a two-wave total of 16.23. Suffering from an ankle injury sustained only a few days ago, Flores battled the pain and selected the best opportunities out in the lineup taking full advantage of his extensive local knowledge.
“It’s pretty painful but the heat is only 30 minute so I could deal with the pain for half an hour I guess,” Flores said. “Now It looks like there won’t be any swell for a little while so this is great for me, I can have some time off and try to heal quicker. I seriously wasn’t expecting to surf like that, it’s funny what the brain is capable of, like dealing with this pain. I’m really happy and feel realy lucky.”
Taj Burrow (AUS) 35, current World No.4 was the first surfer to exploit the Northern end of the competition area and chase the long running lefthanders. Burrows then applied his usual powerful backhand on the clean faces to net three scores in the excellent range and logically advance into the third round.
“There’s lots of waves out there, I even had a left to myself which is pretty awesome,” Burrow said. “I was very happy with that, I got to catch a couple fun lefts and do some backhand turns. The other boys were on the right and they got some good scores too, Marc got an 8 and Bede got an 8.9 which was the best wave of the heat, so it ended up being pretty close but I was pretty happy to win.”
The biggest surprise today came at the hands of up-and-coming Moroccan Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 20, who relegated current World No.3 Jordy Smith (ZAF) to the second round of competition. Boukhiam, a former invitee at the Quiksilver Pro France who eliminated Joel Parkinson in the second round in 2011 made great use of his replacement spot in the event again and will look to lock-in another strong heat in the third round.
“I’m super happy I had a lot of fun !” Boukhiam commented. “I had a last-minute call from Micky Picon who told me I had a spot in the event, so I came here on the first plane from Bali. I was against some of the best surfers in the world, but no pressure. I’m just going to try and keep going like this, I’ve been looking up to those guys since I’m super young and now that I’m getting older I want to try and beat them !”
Event organizers and surfers will reconvene tomorrow morning at 7:30am local time to re-assess conditions. Up first when competition recommences will be C.J Hobgood (USA) against Alejo Muniz (BRA).
QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 1 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Kieren Perrow (AUS) 15.27 pts, Travis Logie (ZAF) 13.00 pts, Josh Kerr (AUS) 9.43 pts
Heat 2: Frederick Pattachia (HAW) 14.77 pts, Joel Parkinson ( AUS) 12.80 pts, Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 9.83 pts
Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) 16.80 pts, Bede Durbidge (AUS)15.17 pts, Marc Lacomare (FRA) 13.60 pts
Heat 4 : Ramzi Boukhiam (MAR) 13.67 pts, Jordy Smith (ZAF) 13.50 pts, Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 7.50 pts
Heat 5 : Kelly Slater (USA) 16.76 pts, Adam Melling (AUS) 15.40 pts, Dane Reynolds (USA) 8.50 pts
Heat 6 : Kolohe Andino (USA) 17.40 pts, Mick Fanning (AUS) 13.86 pts, Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 13.67 pts
Heat 7 : Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.23 pts, Gabreil Medina (BRA) 15.07 pts, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 10.10 pts
Heat 8 : Filipe Toledo (BRA) 17.67 pts, Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.16 pts, Alejo Muniz (BRA) 11.70 pts
Heat 9 : Patrick Gudauskas (USA) 16.17 pts, C.J Hobgood (USA) 15.33 pts, Sebastien Zietz (HAW) 15.26 pts
Heat 10 : Miguel Pupo (BRA) 15.34 pts, John John Florence (HAW) 13.47 pts, Michel Bourez (PYF) 11.43 pts
Heat 11 : Jérémy Florès (FRA) 16.23 pts, Nat Young (USA) 12.20 pts, Damien Hobgood (USA) 12.13 pts
Heat 12 : Adien Buchan (AUS) 15.90 pts, Kai Otton (AUS) 13.67 pts, Brett Simpson (USA) 12.06 pts
QUIkSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 2 RESULTS:
Heat 1 : Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.43 pts, Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 8.00 pts
Heat 2 : Jordy Smith (ZAF) 18.90 pts, Dane Reynolds (USA) 12.00 pts
Heat 3 : Joel Parkinson ( AUS) 16.50 pts, Marc Lacomare (FRA) 15.90 pts
Heat 4 : Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 15.50 pts, Josh Kerr (AUS)14.47 pts
Heat 5 : Adriano de Souza (BRA) 17.66 pts, Yadin Nicol (AUS) 15.06 pts
