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With turns like this throughout the event, we have to ask how Jordy Smith did not win?
Ok, I am a South African and Jordy is my mate. This however is not what prompts my feelings on the results on the final day at Bells. I have sat and watched the Semi Final between Jordy and Adriano about ten times and I cannot see how Jordy lost that heat? Compare their two first scoring waves and it is clear that Adriano is over scored. He had a section of wave he had to half turn and hit a wobble and did less aggressive turns than Jordy, its that simple, yet he got a score in the 9's. Now take a look at Jordy's last wave, needing over a 9, he gets an 8.8 and I reckon the entire contest site, surfers and all the viewers were calling him getting the score. Now, I dont blame Adriano for this, in fact I think he ripped the whole contest, but the ASP judges need a good wake up klap! Either that or Jordy needs to start going up the stairs and throwing his weight around a little - maybe get some advice from Sunny Garcia...
Anyway, that is my rant. All in all the contest was absolutely amazing. Cooking waves throughout the rounds, including an old fashioned 8ft day at Bells, you could not ask for much more really. Early losses for Kelly Slater and Joel Parkinson opened the door for the rest of the field and allowed Adriano, Jordy and Taj to play catchup in the rankings. Stand out for the event must be tour rookie, Nat young, who absolutely caned every wave he got all the way to the final. I thought he had it for a while there. Jordy was looking his sublime and powerful best and must be thinking World Tour run this year.
Anyway, congrats Adriano! (Please dont rape the trophy again, a little decorum goes a long way!)
Next up Brazil, with probable shitty waves and the focus back on the air game. All in all, it looks to be a cracker year on the World Tour...
Dale Staples representing for the North Shore Saffas and making 9th!
Pipeline was not at its utmost best, but there were waves and the focus shifted from the lefts to the Backdoor Rights. The lone Saffa, Dale Staples charged hard and ended up making the Semi Finals and a well deserved 9th place. Josh Kerr and Chris Ward were on a hard charge and pushing the limits with super late drops and "backdoor" tubes. But after all was said and done, it was defending champion and North Shore royalty, John John Florence who managed to defend his Pipe Pro title and take the glorious Spartan War Helm Trophy home, which happens to be right there...
I don't think you could ask for a better final day in professional surfing. Kelly versus Joel Parkinson and Jon Jon Florence versus Dane Reynolds, followed by a Dane and Kelly final. Some big names were also beaten early, meaning the world title race is now wide open! Joel has moved to number 1 with his 3rd place finish in France and Kelly slots in at number 2. This means poor Mick fanning has slipped to 3rd, followed by John John and Taj Burrows.it is super tight between the top 3 and you can believe that Portugal is going to be a huge fight for points.
Hats off to Dane Reynolds making the final as a wildcard. The guy ripped France and Kelly was the only guy ever looking like beating him. Kelly is a machine! With his 51st win on tour, he puts himself right back in the hunt for world title number 12 and solidifying his place as the greatest athlete of all time.
QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 17.26
2 – Dane Reynolds (USA) 14.00
QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
SF 1: Dane Reynolds (USA) 15.70 def. John John Florence (HAW) 15.60
SF 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 12.27 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 10.93
CURRENT ASP WCT TOP 5 (After Quiksilver Pro France):
1. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 46,200 pts
2. Kelly Slater (USA) 45,450 pts
3. Mick Fanning (AUS) 43,000
4. John John Florence (HAW) 39,150 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 31,900 pts
Fanning just got better and better as the contest progressed. (Photo: ASP)
After we had to wait for a full week between Round 2 and 3, thanks to no surf in Tahiti, the contest fired on the last 2 days of the waiting period. Mick Fanning charged hard to beat his good friend, Joel Parkinson, in the final and solidified his Number 1 spot on the 2012 ASP rankings. Joel did well to make it past John John Florence in the semi finals, as the kid from Hawaii was charging hard. John John will be stoked as his 3rd place puts him into 3rd on the World Tour Rankings. Joel now sits in 2nd place behind Mick and Kelly Slater, after being knocked out in Round 2 by Ricardo Santos, the wildcard, is in 4th place with Taj Burrows in 5th. Ricardo beat Kelly, Jordy Smith and Taj Burrows on his way to the Quarters and won the Andy Irons Award in the process. It was a solid performace from Mick though for the win and he will be seriously looking at a 3rd World Title now.
TEAHUPO’O, Taiarapu/Tahiti (Monday, August 27, 2012) – Mick Fanning (AUS), 31, has claimed the 2012 Billabong Pro Tahiti over compatriot and Gold Coast stablemate Joel Parkinson (AUS), 31, in classic four-to-six foot (1 – 1.5 metre) waves at Teahupo’o.
Event No. 5 of 10 on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, the Billabong Pro Tahiti culminated in dynamic fashion today, with swell pulsing for the all-Australian Final.
Fanning was put on the ropes early in the Final bout with Parkinson collecting a 9.50 and an 8.87 on his opening two rides. However, former event runner-up fought back mid-heat with an impressive 9.37 before backing it up with a nail-biting 9.50 to take the lead and hold it as the buzzer ran out. With today’s win, Fanning has become the first Australian since Mark Occhilupo (AUS), 46, in 1999 to claim the Billabong Pro Tahiti title and has further cemented himself into the frontrunner spot on the 2012 ASP WCT rankings.
“It’s a 35 minute Final so I knew the waves were going to come,” Fanning said. “I just had to be patient. It’s Teahupo’o so it goes on and off. You can get two 10s in two minutes so I knew I just needed to keep my composure throughout the Final. Joel (Parkinson) is such an incredible surfer and he’s gotten so good out here. He raced out to an early lead and I knew I needed to focus on my own game plan. I got that good score about mid-heat and then was able to sell him when he had priority on one that didn’t pan out for him. The second wave was the one and it’s an incredible feeling to come back and get the win. I’m stoked.”
Today’s win marks the 15th elite victory of Fanning’s career, and the second of this season (after a win at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in April). The two-time ASP World Champion is now firmly in the frontrunner spot on the ASP WCT ratings heading into the back half of the season.
“Teahupo’o is one of the spots that I’ve worked hard on throughout my career to improve at,” Fanning said. “I made a Final out here before, but to come away with the win is great for my confidence and I’m in a good position heading into the next half of the year. Early days though and there are a lot of guys right up there. It’s still anyone’s game at this point.”
Throughout the event, Parkinson consistently established himself as one of the preeminent backhand tube-riders on the planet. Despite an early lead in the Final, Parkinson priority decision in the dying moments opened the door for Fanning to pounce.
“I held the lead in a 35-minute Final until the four minute mark,” Parkinson said. “It’s frustrating to lose that way, but you cannot fault Mick (Fanning). He’s been a true champion through the event and has proven that he’s one to watch out at Teahupo’o for sure.”
Parkinson currently sits at No. 2 on the ASP WCT rankings at the halfway mark on the 2012 season.
“It’s the second Final of the year for me and another good result,” Parkinson said. “I feel like I’m strong at all the remaining events on tour and I’ll shake this one off and start focusing on Trestles.”
John John Florence (HAW), 19, competing in his first-ever Billabong Pro Tahiti, led the rookie charge at this year’s installment, confidently cruising into the Semifinals where he matched up with Parkinson. Despite locking in an impressive 9.67 out of a possible 10 for an impressive backhand tube, Florence was unable to find a solid backup score and finished the event with an Equal 3rd.
“I’m stoked to have made the Semifinals,” Florence said. “I would have loved to make the Finals and it’s not the funnest way to lose without a lot of waves in the heat, but it’s still a good result for me. Thanks to all the Tahitians for letting us come here and surf their wave for the week. It’s a beautiful place and I always love coming here.”
Florence moves from 5th to 3rd on the current ASP WCT rankings.
Owen Wright (AUS), 22, last year’s event runner-up, looked poised for another Final’s berth today, posting an 18.96 to eliminate compatriot Julian Wilson (AUS), 23, and an 18.90 to oust former champ C.J. Hobgood (USA), 33, en route to his Semifinal match against Fanning. The young Australian continued his forehand dominance at Teahupo’o, netting an 18.10 in the process, but was unable to overtake the current ASP WCT frontrunner.
“The waves were so perfect today that you can’t really be to disappointed in a loss,” Wright said. “I felt like I was surfing well all day and I put up a couple of 9s in my heat against Mick (Fanning) so there’s not too much to be upset about. Congrats to Mick on the win though. He’s been super impressive all event with his backhand tube-riding and hopefully I get the opportunity to return the favor at the next stop at Trestles.”
Wright’s Equal 3rd finish today moves the young goofy-footer from 9th to 7th on the current ASP WCT rankings.
Ricardo dos Santos (AUS), two time Trials winner and wildcard into the Billabong Pro Tahiti, was awarded the Andy Irons Forever Award for his inspirational performance at Teahupo’o this year. Despite bowing out in the Quarterfinals this morning to Fanning, Dos Santos was very emotional upon being awarded the prestigious honor.
“Andy (Irons) was…is my hero,” Dos Santos said. “This Award means just as much, if not more than, winning the event for me. He is my inspiration and he is the reason I surf. He is the reason I surf Teahupo’o. To be awarded this by the Irons’ family is the biggest honor. Thank you.”
Highlights from the Billabong Pro Tahiti will be available via http://www.billabongpro.com
The Billabong Pro, Tahiti is made possible with the valued support of international partners Air Tahiti Nui, Sony, Xperia Sony Smartphone and Red Bull, along with our friends at Nixon, VonZipper, Mana and Hyundai.
The next stop on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour will be the Hurley Pro at Trestles from September 16 – 22, 2012.
For more information, log onto www.ASPWorldTour.com
BILLABONG PRO TAHITI FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 18.87
2 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.37
BILLABONG PRO TAHITI SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) 18.93 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 18.10
QF 2: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 17.14 def. John John Florence (HAW) 15.17
BILLABONG PRO
CURRENT ASP WCT TOP 5 (After Billabong Pro Tahiti)
1. Mick Fanning (AUS) 34,750 pts
2. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 31,700 pts
3. John John Florence (HAW) 27,450 pts
4. Kelly Slater (USA) 25,450 pts
5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 24,950 pts
Girls & FMX Bikes are always a great combo! (Photo: Ultimate X/Pierre Marqua)
Now that the dust has settled and we have all recovered from the heat wave that was last Saturday, I can finally put to paper my thoughts on the 2012 Ultimate X. I dont need to get that verbose or even write a whole soliloquy - bottom line is, Ultimate X 2012 was bloody marvelous!
The event has grown every year, but this year saw a massive jump. A large part of this had to do with the new Skate and Bmx park. The levels of riding in the park were simply mind blowing. The best skating and Bmx I have seen in a very long time. (Dont believe me, just take a gander at the video below!) Many of the local riders were a little intimidated by the course, due to the fact that we dont have a park this size in the Cape. This needs to change in order to up the level of riding. Guys like, Greg Illingworth (Bmx Winner), showed that they have been riding overseas in massive parks, with their flow through the course and utilizing different lines on every run.
Big Park meant big tricks! (Photo: Ultimate X/Pierre Marqua)
Instead of having a huge bunch of riders in the FMX, the organizers chose to keep the field tight and had the two best guys in Southern Africa. This was a great decision. Nick de Wit and Alistair Sayers put on an amazing Fmx display that had the crowd eating out of the palm of their hands. Multiple backflips, huge extensions and the showmanship only guys who have performed on the World Stage could bring to the event. Ultimate X brought the best and we were all stoked to see it!
The Huge crowd loved the Fmx. (Photo: Ultimate X/Pierre Marqua)
The Wake boys put on a show, but the Jetski is a problem. The wake slows things down and not having a high extended rope certainly limited the size of airs off of the kicker. Rumor has it that their is going to be a cable system for next year. We can but hope, it would be epic.
There were no huge problems on the day. We witnessed amazing riding and all in all the event was an incredible success. I am really looking forward to seeing what they come up with for next year. Ultimate X in Jozi? (Who knows what could happen...)
Talk about close to the action! (Photo: Ultimate X/Pierre Marqua)
Kelly dominated Trestles and is well on track for another Title. (Photo: ASP)
King Slater, that should be his official name change! After he missed Jbay a lot of people were writing him off and claiming his time was done - I might have thought it. He came back to win Teahupoo, nearly took the NY Pro from Owen and absolutely killed Trestles this week to win the Hurley Pro. Firmly back at number 1, World Title 11 on track. Lets not forget Owen Wright though. The kid has made 3 finals in a row with Kelly and won one of them. Owen was ripping all week at trestles, but just did not have the legs to pip Kelly at his favorite contest wave in the world. So now the tour moves across the Atlantic to Europe for the Quik Pro France - a contest Kelly has been know to win! Lets hope Jordy is back from injury and able to climb back into the title race. Right now Owen is Kelly's only competition.
ASP Press Release:
LOWER TRESTLES, California/USA (Wednesday, September 21, 2011) – Kelly Slater (USA), 39, has won his fifth Hurley Pro at Trestles title, defeating Owen Wright (AUS), 21, in a hard-fought Final that saw the iconic Floridian overtake the young Australian in a last-minute exchange with a final score of 17.50 to 16.74.
Slater and Wright’s third consecutive Final bout marks a first in ASP history, as no two competitors have faced off in three successive ASP Dream Tour Finals – a noteworthy statistic in sparking this new rivalry in the battle for the ASP World Title.
Slater roared to life on the Final day, unloading the highest heat-total of competition, 18.40 out of 20 in the Semifinals, and maintained his lethal form throughout the day’s entirety with a consistent display of new-school airs and patented carves to clinch his unprecedented 48th elite ASP World Tour victory and third of the season.
“Owen (Wright) is tough and he’s been surfing great,” Slater said. “There really are no weak points to his surfing and he’s going to be a standout in every spot. A lot of the guys tried to get him this week and I got lucky in that last exchange. I was taking the first wave of the set under his priority and once I got priority I wanted to wait. It almost looked like there wasn’t a wave after Owen’s. It’s been fun surfing against Owen and surfing Lowers. It’s been a great week and thanks everyone for the crazy support, it’s been wonderful.”
Wright, current No. 2 on the ASP World Title rankings, has continued to build momentum throughout his sophomore year amongst the ASP Top 34 and dispatched of a rampaging Mick Fanning (AUS), 30, and rookie prodigy Julian Wilson (AUS), 22, en route to his rematch against Slater, but was unable to solidify the victory over the veteran in the Final.
“I’ve been enjoying the rivalry,” Wright said. “We’ve had some great heats and the last three finals have been great. I’m glad the sets came through at the end. It was a bit of a dud final but I’m glad that last exchange came though at the end. It made it exciting.”
Julian Wilson (AUS), 22, was a standout throughout the Hurley Pro at Trestles, earning the highest single-wave score of 9.80 as well as the second-highest heat-total of 18.23 in his Quarterfinals win over Joel Parkinson (AUS), 30, and consistently unloaded some of the most progressive maneuvers of the contest.
“I had a bit of fire after yesterday, not against Joel (Parkinson), but just to show that I could beat him,” Wilson said after his Quarterfinal win. “I’ve dreamed about surfing against Joel and Mick (Fanning) my whole life and yesterday gave me a lot of confidence to go against him today.”
The young Australian got off to a slow start in his Semifinals matchup versus Owen Wright after an interference and was unable to rebound, finishing equal 3rd overall. Wilson now sits at No. 11 on the ASP World Title Rankings.
Heitor Alves (BRA), 29, who finished equal 5th in New York, continued his giant killing spree at the Hurley Pro Trestles, defeating ASP World Title campaigners Taj Burrow (AUS), 33, and Adriano de Souza (BRA), 24, before falling to Slater in the Semifinals to earn his career best result of an equal 3rd place finish.
“Thanks God for everything in my life,” Alves said. “This is a good result for me. Adriano is a good surfer, he rips this wave and surfs very well. This is a great event for me and I enjoy this wave.”
Alves’ performance moves him from No. 20 to 14 on the ASP World Title Rankings.
The next stop on the 2011 ASP World Title season will be the Quiksilver Pro France from October 4 – 13, 2011.
Highlights from the Hurley Pro at Trestles are available via http://www.hurley.com/hurleypro
For additional ASP information log on to www.aspworldtour.com
HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES FINAL RESULT:
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 17.50
2 – Owen Wright (AUS) 16.74
HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
SF 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.40 def. Heitor Alves (BRA) 16.57
SF 2: Owen Wright (AUS) 14.74 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 10.04
HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES QUARTERFINALS RESULTS:
QF 1: Heitor Alves (BRA) 12.77 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 12.50
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.60 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 11.07
QF 3: Owen Wright (AUS) 15.67 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 15.67
QF 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) 18.23 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 14.93
HURLEY PRO AT TRESTLES ROUND 5 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Heitor Alves (BRA) 12.74 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 9.80
Heat 2: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.27 def. Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.97
Heat 3: Mick Fanning (AUS) 18.23 def. Damien Hobgood (USA) 10.27
Heat 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) 15.67 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 12.37
CURRENT ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 10 (After Hurley Pro at Trestles)
1 – Kelly Slater (USA) 44,950 pts.
2 – Owen Wright (AUS) 39,900
3 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 35,400
4 – Adriano de Souza (BRA)31950
5 – Josh Kerr (AUS)30,800
6 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 29,250
7 – Mick Fanning (AUS)28,200
8 – Jordy Smith (ZAF)27,500
9 – Jeremy Flores (FRA)23,700
10 – Michel Bourez (PYF) 22,250
The Rio event is done and we find ourselves with a new man atop the ASP ratings. Adriano De Souza won the Bong Pro Rio and in the process moved to the top of the ratings. One wonders how well that success sits with him though after a week of woeful judging and huge repercussions for the title fight. Kelly Slater bowed out in in Round 3 heat, though I feel he was simply beaten for once. Bobby surfed well to beat him, but some might say he was over scored. Others will point to the fact that this normally happens for Kelly. Next up in the title chase was Jordy Smith up against Josh Kerr. The judging had been rewarding 3 turns or more and even good tube rides and excellent airs had been getting lower scores, till this heat. Suddenly Kerr beats Jordy with a single air score. Mick Fanning was up later in the third round and he exited to a Brazilian with very close scores. Take a look at the 3 heats and make up your own mind.
Ok, so the Title Race is now wide open and we entered the Quarter Finals. Step up Da Souza versus Owen Wright. Adriano started the heat well with a massive floater and I do mean massive. Where I disagree, is that he scored a 8.3 for this. In a contest where multiple maneuver waves had been scoring way higher on average. The heat progresses and Owen fights back. Towards the end of the heat, Owen needs a 7.6 for the win. He paddles into a great looking wave, smacks a big first turn, does a second good turn and then finishes off with a highly difficult and pretty big Slob Air. We wait for the scores and he gets a 6.6. In another heat it could have been an 8. Take a look, then see the excuses from the ASP below.
The Asp responded:
Now, Adriano’s final wave was a lot bigger than what was shown online as the camera missed the bottom half of the wave – this makes any subsequent analysis of the heat nearly impossible when utilizing only the Heats on Demand version. When De Souza lands you can see the size of the whitewash behind him and the amount of distance that he covered during the floater, how critical the section was and how difficult it would have been to land would not have been entirely visible on the webcast, and is not representation in the Heats on Demand.
The part of the sandbar that De Souza executed the maneuver was waist-deep, hence the critical section. The waves on the final day were two-to-three-maneuver waves. The surfers could take the smaller ones that would run a bit further, but were a lot softer and easier waves to ride, or they could take the set waves which were a lot shorter but also a lot harder to ride
(I will get back to the size of the waves in a moment, when we get to the final.)
Owen’s rides in the Quarterfinal heat were on the smaller waves that offered more room but less punch. During the final day, many single-turn waves received scores that would not normally be that high, but as the waves only allowed for two-to-three turns, we had adjusted the scale. It’s important to note that there is nothing in the criteria that says surfers must complete multiple turns. We’re in the business of surfers going big and that’s what we’ve been seeing in the last 18 months.
The vision also fails to truly reflect the speed of the waves. The set waves flew down the bank while the smaller ones ran off a lot slower. The camera angle often failed to truly reflect the surfing being done at the time, as well as the depth of the wave, where the surfer took the wave in relation to the bank and how critical the sections are.
Our job as the judging panel is to score the surfers that are pushing the criteria to the limit. Both of Owen’s airs were good maneuvers (they are also the bread and butter for nearly every surfer on tour these), but executed on the easy sections of the waves. Where as Adriano’s floater was done on such a critical part of the wave. I would probably add that if Owen’s first turns on both scoring waves were bigger or more critical, then both waves would have been scored higher.
I pose the question, would you, as a fan of top-level surfing, prefer the surfers to do a good turn on a small easy wave or a good turn on a wave that is going flat-out with a heaving, unforgiving closeout section?
It was absolutely a close heat, but we have close heats every day as we are dealing with the best surfers in the world.
Thank you ASP Judging Panel. Then why in the final did Taj Burrows not only catch bigger waves, do bigger turns,only to come in second? Check the heat out.
My bottom line is that the judging has to be consistent. In this contest is was not. It is going to have a major influence on the WCT Title Race and if I were one or two of the surfers, I would be pissed! It has become a scene that the ASP have had to answer to, because of how important this may turn out to be. They have even tried to back their response with a lame attempt at discrediting the Video of the Owen/Adrianno heat by saying - Full disclosure: the ASP International Media Department is looking into improving the current Heats on Demand (HOD) product that the events currently provide. The current Heats on Demand product consistently mis-tags waves with incorrect scores, fails to show completed rides and to provide an accurate representation of what is actually occurring during the event. We appreciate the feedback from our fans and are looking into remedying the issue as soon as possible. Lets hope the ASP Judges sort out their criteria and consistency before Jbay, or we might have a farce on our hands! What are your thoughts? Leave a comment and let me know.
