{"id":25903,"date":"2011-10-12T06:48:21","date_gmt":"2011-10-12T13:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=25903"},"modified":"2011-10-12T07:55:40","modified_gmt":"2011-10-12T14:55:40","slug":"gabriel-medina-the-kid-wins-quik-pro-france-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=25903","title":{"rendered":"Gabriel Medina: The Kid Wins Quik Pro France"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20111012-064151.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It took a while for the fog to clear at La Graviere this morning, but when it did it became obvious that October 12, 2011 wouldn’t be a typical final day at the Quiksilver Pro France<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Old man of the sea Taylor Knox<\/strong> won the first quarter final over Michel Bourez<\/strong>, Kelly Slater<\/strong> lost to 17-year-old “young Brazilian” Gabriel Medina<\/strong> and the day was set for a shakeup.<\/p>\n

By the time Julian Wilson<\/strong> met Medina in the final it was anyone’s game.<\/p>\n

Opening their final clash with a strong 7.83 for a full-rotation forehand aerial, Medina was put on the back foot by an in-form Wilson until the dying moments, when the young Brazilian blasted several high-risk maneuvers on a lengthy lefthander to secure a 9.17 and regain the lead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ignoring the fact that Madina interfered with Wilson (in our opinion, the judges did not agree) and then went on to get a very high score for a good wave, the kids did bust in and steal the show. Click here to watch the final heat<\/a><\/strong> or follow the jump for the official word from the ASP.LA GRAVIERE, Hossegor\/France (Wednesday, October 12, 2011) \u2013 Gabriel Medina (BRA), 17, newcomer to the elite ASP Top 34 after September\u2019s rotation, has secured his inaugural ASP World Title victory today, taking out the Quiksilver Pro France over Julian Wilson (AUS), 22, in high-performance three-to-four foot (1 metre) waves at La Graviere.<\/p>\n

Stop No. 8 of 11 on the 2011 ASP World Title season, the Quiksilver Pro France culminated today in exciting fashion as the next generation of ASP World Title contenders announced their intentions on the world stage.<\/p>\n

Medina, in only second event as an ASP Top 34 member, cut a swathe through the world\u2019s best surfers, securing three of the top five highest single-wave scores of the event en route to his emotional win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the best feeling ever,\u201d Medina said. \u201cI beat some great guys on the way to Final and I\u2019m very stoked now. I want to thank all my friends and family and god for their support. It has been an amazing week for me. Just two years ago, I was here competing in the King of the Groms and I won that event and now I\u2019m here in the main event and I\u2019ve won it. It doesn\u2019t seem real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Opening their final clash with a strong 7.83 for a full-rotation forehand aerial, Medina was put on the back foot by an in-form Wilson until the dying moments, when the young Brazilian blasted several high-risk maneuvers on a lengthy lefthander to secure a 9.17 and regain the lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe start of the heat was slow and it was going high tide so it was a challenge,\u201d Medina said. \u201cIt was a fun heat. It was a hard hat as well. Julian (Wilson) is an incredible surfer and I know he wanted to win very badly. I knew I needed a big score on that final wave and I had to throw everything I had to get it. I\u2019m very happy right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson built momentum throughout the final day of competition, dispatching of the tour\u2019s heavy hitters and posting some impressive scores. The young Australian\u2019s Runner-Up finish today marks a career best and is indicative of his recent run of improvements amongst the world\u2019s elite (5th and the 3rd previously).<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything feels good and I\u2019m very happy to be here on the podium,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cIt\u2019s been a great event for me and congrats to Gabriel (Medina) for his incredible run here in France. I have so many amazing memories of watching this event as a kid, seeing Andy (Irons) and Kelly (Slater) go for it and to be in it now is a very special feeling. I\u2019m hoping to improve in the coming events and looking forward to Portugal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taylor Knox (USA), 40, posted his best result of the year today, finishing Equal 3rd and bolting from 32 to 21 on the ASP World Title rankings. Knox, who was in searing fashion throughout the event, eventually fell to the high-flying antics of Medina in the Semifinals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the best events I\u2019ve had for a while but yeah I definitely ran into \u2018Medina Airlines\u2019 there in the Semifinals,\u201d Knox said. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge result for me and I felt like my surfing was really coming together. I have some really good boards right now and I\u2019m hoping to keep the momentum up. We\u2019re looking at maybe getting some big barrels in Portugal next week so that will be exciting and we have a lot of interesting events to finish the year with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordy Smith (ZAF), 23, back in his first event since injury in Tahiti, exhibited an impressive return to form throughout the event, but was unable to overcome Wilson in their Semifinal clash.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really happy with a 3rd and it\u2019s a good result for me,\u201d Smith said. \u201cTo be honest, I\u2019m just happy to be back in the water. It feels great to be back and I just couldn\u2019t get into the right waves until the end of that Semifinal there. Julian (Wilson) got off to a good start and he\u2019s been ripping so I hope he posts a win here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelly Slater (USA), 39, reigning 10-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 1, was ousted in today\u2019s Quarterfinals by an on-fire Medina. The iconic Floridian looked out of sorts in the shifting morning conditions as the young Brazilian dominated on both his forehand and backhand.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot much of a performance by me,\u201d Slater said. \u201cI guess he surfed well, I didn\u2019t really see much as I was just floating out the back. Unfortunately, I was out of synch the whole time and didn\u2019t really have a chance to battle it out with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the dust settled in the south of France, it has been determined that the 2011 ASP World Title cannot be decided at the next event in Portugal and will go to at least San Francisco.<\/p>\n

Highlights from the Quiksilver Pro France will be available via http:\/\/www.quiksilverlive.com<\/p>\n

The next stop on the 2011 ASP World Title season will be the Rip Curl Pro Portugal from October 15 \u2013 24, 2011.<\/p>\n

For additional information log on to www.aspworldtour.com<\/p>\n

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE FINAL RESULTS:
\n1 \u2013 Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17.00
\n2 \u2013 Julian Wilson (AUS) 16.10<\/p>\n

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
\nSF 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 19.57 def. Taylor Knox (USA) 7.00
\nSF 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 18.50 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 12.55<\/p>\n

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
\nQF 1: Taylor Knox (USA) 15.17 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.50
\nQF 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 16.66 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 8.60
\nQF 3: Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.26 def. Alejo Muniz (BRA) 13.77
\nQF 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) 13.00 def. Taj Burrow (AUS) 3.54<\/p>\n

ASP WORLD TITLE TOP 5 (After Completion of Quiksilver Pro France):
\n1. Kelly Slater (USA) 50,150 pts
\n2. Owen Wright (AUS) 43,900 pts
\n3. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 35,900 pts
\n4. Taj Burrow (AUS) 34,450 pts
\n5. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 34,000 pts
\nVisit the Press Room on www.aspworldtour.com for news, images, transcribed athlete interviews and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It took a while for the fog to clear at La Graviere this morning, but when it did it became obvious that October 12, 2011 wouldn’t be a typical final day at the Quiksilver Pro France. Old man of the sea Taylor Knox won the first quarter final over Michel Bourez, Kelly Slater lost to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25903"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25903"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25908,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25903\/revisions\/25908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}