{"id":32617,"date":"2012-10-05T08:02:08","date_gmt":"2012-10-05T15:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=32617"},"modified":"2012-10-05T08:04:43","modified_gmt":"2012-10-05T15:04:43","slug":"kelly-works-magic-in-quik-pro-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=32617","title":{"rendered":"Kelly Works Magic In Quik Pro France"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Slater<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a Quiksilver<\/a><\/strong> dream final at the Quiksilver Pro France 2012<\/a><\/strong>. The master versus the prodigal son with Kelly Slater<\/strong> facing off against event wildcard Dane Reynolds<\/strong> in surf that allowed them both to shine. Slater landed his first win in France in 20 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has literally been 20 years,\u201d Slater said. \u201cI had my first win here 20 years ago and that\u2019s pretty crazy. Obviously when you go out there you want to win the heat, but I would have been really stoked if Dane (Reynolds) pulled a 10 out of his hat at the end of the heat, it would have been pretty rad.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Though he didn’t win, Reynolds had fun and that all that he seems to care about.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a lot of fun out there,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cI just really like these waves and I wasn\u2019t really worried about competing or winning the heat. I always put a lot of pressure on myself, maybe not on winning but to surf well. I\u2019ve liked every day of this event. Yesterday was intense and challenging and the day before was the same. Today was just perfect and fun. Today was a playground, you can\u2019t ask for any better than that.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This win (his third of the season) puts Kelly Slater firmly in second place in the World Rankings behind Joel Parkinson<\/strong>. And already the world tour numbers man is figuring out his chances.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start working the numbers a little bit, I got that 500 pointer and a 13th, two bad results, already,\u201d Slater said. \u201cParko (Joel Parkinson) is sitting on a 9th and a 5th. If I couldn\u2019t get past Parko today, it would have put a lot of pressure on me, but this has now put the pressure back on Mick<\/strong> (Fanning) because Parko, John John <\/strong>(Florence) and I did well here at this event.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For those who didn’t want to stay up until 2 AM PDT to watch the finals, the entire event is online. Watch it here<\/a><\/strong> or follow the jump for the official word from the ASP.LA GRAVIERE, Hossegor\/France (Friday, October 5, 2012) – Kelly Slater (USA), 40, reigning 11-time ASP World Champion, claimed his 51st elite tour victory today, besting celebrated wildcard Dane Reynolds (USA), 27, in a hard-fought Final to take out the Quiksilver Pro France.<\/p>\n

Event No. 7 of 10 on the 2012 ASP WCT, the Quiksilver Pro France culminated in dramatic fashion this morning with the primary venue of La Graviere serving up clean three-to-five foot (1 \u2013 1.5 metro) barrels for a star-studded Final Four.<\/p>\n

With conditions slowing, Slater wasted little time in the Final, collecting a 7.93 and a 9.33 in the opening 10 minutes for impressive tube rides on his forehand. While Reynolds would battle back with his own barrels and aerial attempts, it would not prove enough in the end allowing Slater to collect his first French victory in two decades.
\n\u201cIt has literally been 20 years,\u201d Slater said. \u201cI had my first win here 20 years ago and that\u2019s pretty crazy. Obviously when you go out there you want to win the heat, but I would have been really stoked if Dane (Reynolds) pulled a 10 out of his hat at the end of the heat, it would have been pretty rad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today marks Slater\u2019s third win of the 2012 season (Fiji, Trestles, France) and vaults him up to 2nd on the ASP WCT rankings, well within striking distance of ASP World Title No. 12 with three events remaining this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you start working the numbers a little bit, I got that 500 pointer and a 13th, two bad results, already,\u201d Slater said. \u201cParko (Joel Parkinson) is sitting on a 9th and a 5th. If I couldn\u2019t get past Parko today, it would have put a lot of pressure on me, but this has now put the pressure back on Mick (Fanning) because Parko, John John (Florence) and I did well here at this event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reynolds was a standout from the opening round of the Quiksilver Pro France, consistently posting high scores and wowing the masses with his tube-riding prowess. Unfortunately for Reynolds, conditions did not cooperate in the Final against Slater.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a lot of fun out there,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cI just really like these waves and I wasn\u2019t really worried about competing or winning the heat. I always put a lot of pressure on myself, maybe not on winning but to surf well. I\u2019ve liked every day of this event. Yesterday was intense and challenging and the day before was the same. Today was just perfect and fun. Today was a playground, you can\u2019t ask for any better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

No longer a full-time competitor on the ASP World Championship Tour, Reynolds is still regarded as one of the best surfers in the world and his performance at the 2012 Quiksilver Pro France once again validated his reputation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was on tour full time, I would do maybe 20 events every year,\u201d Reynolds said. \u201cThis year I\u2019m planning on doing 10, and focusing on some other stuff. I\u2019m still competing nearly full time, but I\u2019m just not in a World Title race or anything like that. I feel like when you\u2019re surfing contest full time, you\u2019re constantly trying to refine your surfing act whereas I\u2019ve been trying to focus on exploring new ways of surfing or new lines this year. I think I\u2019m surfing the best I ever have and to come to France and surf with John John (Florence) in perfect 6 foot waves is really the best thing ever. It has been a great event.\u201d<\/p>\n

John John Florence (HAW), 19, completing his first full year on the elite ASP WCT, further solidified his position as 4th in the world today despite falling to Reynolds in the Semifinals.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I would have wanted to make the Final,\u201d Florence said. \u201cIt went into a very close heat and I would rather lose by 3 points points away than to lose with a 0.1 difference \u2013 it feels like I was a cutback away but I\u2019m very happy with making the Semifinals. The waves have been all-time every single day, just crazy shore break barrels and it\u2019s been a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Currently sitting at ASP WCT No. 4, the young Hawaiian is well within the hunt for the 2012 ASP World Title heading into the upcoming Rip Curl Pro Portugal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t wait for Portugal,\u201d Florence said. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty similar to this, maybe a little bit more organized and I can\u2019t wait to get some waves. Today\u2019s result is a keeper for sure, but I think I\u2019m pretty far away in the title race. We\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

With today\u2019s Equal 3rd place finish, Joel Parkinson (AUS), 31, moves into the frontrunner position on the 2012 ASP WCT ratings, but the Australian has foregone celebrating in favor of focusing on the road ahead in Portugal.
\n\u201cI can\u2019t wait for Portugal,\u2019 Parkinson said. \u201cIt would be nice to get a win over there as the race is shaping up to come down to the end. Hopefully, if the waves are anything like this, it will be another amazing event.\u201d
\nThe next stop on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour will be the Rip Curl Pro Portugal from October 10 \u2013 21, 2012.<\/p>\n

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com
\nQUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE FINAL RESULTS:
\n1 \u2013 Kelly Slater (USA) 17.26
\n2 \u2013 Dane Reynolds (USA) 14.00
\nQUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE SEMIFINALS RESULTS:
\nSF 1: Dane Reynolds (USA) 15.70 def. John John Florence (HAW) 15.60
\nSF 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 12.27 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 10.93<\/p>\n

CURRENT ASP WCT TOP 5 (After Quiksilver Pro France):
\n1. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 46,200 pts
\n2. Kelly Slater (USA) 45,450 pts
\n3. Mick Fanning (AUS) 43,000
\n4. John John Florence (HAW) 39,150 pts
\n5. Taj Burrow (AUS) 31,900 pts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was a Quiksilver dream final at the Quiksilver Pro France 2012. The master versus the prodigal son with Kelly Slater facing off against event wildcard Dane Reynolds in surf that allowed them both to shine. Slater landed his first win in France in 20 years. \u201cIt has literally been 20 years,\u201d Slater said. \u201cI […]<\/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\/32617"}],"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=32617"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32617\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32620,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32617\/revisions\/32620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}