{"id":30958,"date":"2012-06-11T10:45:18","date_gmt":"2012-06-11T17:45:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=30958"},"modified":"2012-06-11T10:47:39","modified_gmt":"2012-06-11T17:47:39","slug":"kelly-slater-schools-medina-at-volcom-fiji-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=30958","title":{"rendered":"Kelly Slater Schools Medina At Volcom Fiji Pro"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2012Fijiproborgjetski740\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a battle of wisdom vs. youth in the finals of the Volcom Fiji Pro<\/a><\/strong> as 40-year-old Kelly Slater<\/strong> faced off against 19-year-old Gabriel Medina<\/strong> in perfect four-to-six foot Cloudbreak. Slater did the usual–he got in early with an 8.33 and a 9.83 and knocked Medina back on his feet and made the Brazilian fight for it. But there just wasn’t time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about time I got him,\u201d Slater said. \u201cHe had my number in the back half of last year and he\u2019ll probably go on to beat everyone for the next 20 years. He can do it all and I think he proved that to a lot of people this week at Restaurants and out here at Cloudbreak.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With this win Slater moves into second place in the ASP World Rankings behind Mick Fanning and appears to be well on his way to number 12. Follow the jump for the official word.CLOUDBREAK, Tavarua\/Fiji (Monday, June 11, 2012) \u2013 Kelly Slater (USA), 40, reigning 11-time ASP World Champion, claimed his 49th elite tour victory today, taking out the Volcom Fiji Pro over Gabriel Medina (BRA), 19, in pumping four-to-six foot (1.5 \u2013 2 metro) surf at Cloudbreak.<\/p>\n

Event No. 4 of 10 on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, the Volcom Fiji Pro culminated in exciting fashion today, with Slater and Medina each pushing the limits of high-performance surfing at the famed, oceanic left-hander.<\/p>\n

Slater wasted no time in the Final against his young opponent, grabbing an 8.33 and a 9.83 in the opening half of the bout to put Medina on the ropes. The Brazilian, however, would not back down, claiming an 8.60 to put himself back in the hunt. Slater limited his scoreline to his two opening rides, and it proved enough for the Floridian to scalp the win as well as his first man-on-man victory over Medina.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about time I got him,\u201d Slater said. \u201cHe had my number in the back half of last year and he\u2019ll probably go on to beat everyone for the next 20 years. He can do it all and I think he proved that to a lot of people this week at Restaurants and out here at Cloudbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n

Slater sent his first shots across the bow today during the Semifinals when the phenomenal natural-footer posted his second Perfect 10 of the event for a series of deep tube rides and critical turns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s probably the best I could surf out here,\u201d Slater said. \u201cThe barrel and the turn sections just lined up for me and I was able to do what I did. That was a perfect canvas for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

After an absence at the previous event in Rio de Janeiro, Slater\u2019s win in Fiji bolts him up from 8th to 2nd on the ASP World Championship Tour ratings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think everyone who competes on tour is here to win,\u201d Slater said. \u201cIf you\u2019re winning events, then you\u2019re winning world titles. At this point in my career, I\u2019m probably more focused on surfing well though. The waves just pumped today. Some guys win, some guys lose, but everyone is happy if the waves are good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Medina\u2019s Runner-Up finish at the Volcom Fiji Pro rockets the young goofy-footer from 29th to 13th on the elite ASP World Championship Tour ratings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty happy with my result,\u201d Medina said. \u201cThe waves here have been so good all week and it has been a great trip. I haven\u2019t had the best season in terms of results but I\u2019m very happy to make the Final and congrats to Kelly (Slater) \u2013 he was surfing amazing all event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mick Fanning (AUS), 30, two-time ASP World Champion, has taken over the ASP WCT ratings\u2019 lead with his Equal 3rd place finish at the Volcom Fiji Pro. A standout performer throughout the event, even having a crack at Cloudbreak during Friday\u2019s mega swell, Fanning was unable to find a rhythm in this morning\u2019s Semifinal bout with Medina.<\/p>\n

\u201cFound myself on the wrong side of the rhythm this morning,\u201d Fanning said. \u201cIt\u2019s a bummer, but those heats happen. The ratings\u2019 lead is great, but it\u2019s so early in the season that it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean anything at this point. That said, I\u2019m feeling good and feel like I\u2019m surfing well so I\u2019m pumped.\u201d<\/p>\n

C.J. Hobgood (USA), 32, who along with his brother Damien are both hugely respected for their prowess in Fijian waters, went on a tear in his Quarterfinal bout against Adriano de Souza (BRA), 25, this morning, scoring a 9.97 in the dying moments to advance through to the Quarterfinals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a blessing that wave came and it did,\u201d Hobgood said. \u201cI knew Adriano (de Souza) was going to post huge scores and he did. I wasn\u2019t on my game at first. I should have sat up top and Adriano had me on the ropes. He\u2019s been surfing so well this year and I don\u2019t think he\u2019s had a worse event than the Semis. That wave came and I just put my head down. That feeling when they read out the score, it just feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hobgood\u2019s momentum, however, would run out in the Semifinals against eventual winner Slater. His Equal 3rd place finish moves him from 15th to 12th on the ASP World Championship Tour ratings.<\/p>\n

Highlights from the Volcom Fiji Pro will be available at www.volcom.com\/fijipro<\/p>\n

The next stop on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour will be the Billabong Pro Teahupoo from August 16 \u2013 27, 2012.<\/p>\n

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com<\/p>\n

VOLCOM FIJI PRO FINAL RESULTS:
\n1 \u2013 Kelly Slater (USA) 18.16
\n2 \u2013 Gabriel Medina (BRA) 10.87<\/p>\n

VOLCOM FIJI PRO SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
\nSF 1: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 13.93 def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 6.57
\nSF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) 19.50 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 13.50<\/p>\n

VOLCOM FIJI PRO REMAINING QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
\nQF 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 18.57 def. Julian Wilson (AUS) 7.76
\nQF 4: C.J. Hobgood (USA) 16.14 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 15.76<\/p>\n

CURRENT ASP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR TOP 5 (After Volcom Fiji Pro):
\n1. Mick Fanning (AUS) 24,750 pts
\n2. Kelly Slater (USA) 23,700 pts
\n3. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 23,700 pts
\n4. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 22,400 pts
\n5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 20,950 pts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a battle of wisdom vs. youth in the finals of the Volcom Fiji Pro as 40-year-old Kelly Slater faced off against 19-year-old Gabriel Medina in perfect four-to-six foot Cloudbreak. Slater did the usual–he got in early with an 8.33 and a 9.83 and knocked Medina back on his feet and made the Brazilian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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\/30958"}],"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=30958"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30963,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30958\/revisions\/30963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}