{"id":45880,"date":"2014-04-13T08:37:29","date_gmt":"2014-04-13T15:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=45880"},"modified":"2014-04-13T09:38:47","modified_gmt":"2014-04-13T16:38:47","slug":"bourez-slips-in-drug-aware-pro-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/?p=45880","title":{"rendered":"Bourez Slips In Drug Aware Pro Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Some would say it was closer than the 15.90 to 12.44 score would suggest, however, the ASP judges saw Michel Bourez<\/strong> win the 2014 Drug Aware Margaret River Pro <\/strong>on Sunday, April 13, 2014.\u00a0And for the second year in a row, Josh Kerr<\/strong> ended up in the runner up position. As can be imagined, he was not happy about it.<\/p>\n

I just tried to relax going into the Final,\u201d said Josh Kerr. \u201cIt was a rough Heat but I wanted to put a show on for everyone. It hurt last year getting runner up and it hurts even more this year. I made a few errors at the start of the Heat by falling on the inside and I definitely didn\u2019t chose the right waves. The Heat came down to strategy and things didn\u2019t got my way. It\u2019s pretty annoying to make the Final and surf really badly. I\u2019m stoked with the result though, the West has been good to me and I enjoy being here. I\u2019m happy we have a WCT event here and it was great to surf at The Box. I\u2019m going to take the year event by event and I\u2019m excited to move on to the next one.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Congrats for Bourez for sticking out what seemed like a really, really long contest. He is The Spartan, after all. For the official word from the ASP including full results, follow the jump.<\/p>\n


\nVictory for Michel Bourez at Drug Aware Margaret River Pro<\/p>\n

Caption: Michel Bourez celebrates winning the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro
\nImage: ASP \/ Kirstin Scholtz<\/p>\n

Drug Aware Margaret River Pro
\nStop No. 2 on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour<\/p>\n

MARGARET RIVER, Western Australia (Sunday, April 13, 2014): A thrilling Finals day in Western Australia saw Michel Bourez (PYF) crowned winner of the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, the second stop on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour (WCT). The Tahitian powerhouse secured his first ever WCT win by defeating Josh Kerr (AUS) in an exciting Final on super Sunday. Bourez previously dispatched 11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) in the Semifinals and Nat Young (USA) in the Quarterfinals. The victory places Bourez at No. 4 in the ASP World Rankings.<\/p>\n

Both Bourez and Kerr took to the water in the Final searching for their first career ASP WCT wins. The bout got off to a slow start, but Bourez eventually lit up two consecutive waves scoring 6.33 and 7.57 with his patented forehand power. Kerr answered back, delivering a full fledged attack on the Main Break rights, but Bourez continued to build momentum, adding an 8.33 to his score line to secure victory at the Drug Aware Margaret River Pro. Kerr finishes as runner up for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such a good feeling to win, it\u2019s a dream come true. Making the Final here and surfing against such an amazing person (Josh Kerr) was wonderful,\u201d said Michel Bourez. \u201cIt was such a tough Heat out there because you don\u2019t know what to expect from Kerr. The Semifinal was like a Final. Surfing against Kelly Slater was a tough one so I had to really push my level up. That 9.37 I got came out of nowhere. Kelly\u2019s still the greatest surfer ever so to beat him was wonderful. It\u2019s a long year and there are still nine contests to go so I need to focus on the next one and relax. I can\u2019t wait for Bells (Beach) now, I have always liked that wave.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just tried to relax going into the Final,\u201d said Josh Kerr. \u201cIt was a rough Heat but I wanted to put a show on for everyone. It hurt last year getting runner up and it hurts even more this year. I made a few errors at the start of the Heat by falling on the inside and I definitely didn\u2019t chose the right waves. The Heat came down to strategy and things didn\u2019t got my way. It\u2019s pretty annoying to make the Final and surf really badly. I\u2019m stoked with the result though, the West has been good to me and I enjoy being here. I\u2019m happy we have a WCT event here and it was great to surf at The Box. I\u2019m going to take the year event by event and I\u2019m excited to move on to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n

11-time ASP World Champion Kelly Slater (USA) was defeated by event winner Bourez in the Semifinals. Slater dominated from the outset, blending a variety of impressive turns on a number of waves while Bourez struggled to find a rhythm. In the dying minutes however, the momentum changed and the Tahitian lit up a righthander with Herculean power for a 9.37, the day\u2019s highest single-wave score and the win. Slater leaves the event in equal third and sets his sights on the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach. Slater previously defeated Joel Parkinson in the Quarterfinals in what proved to be a battle of the juggernauts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made a big tactical error. I was so far in the lead at the start of the Heat and when a wave came and I had priority I took it against my instincts,\u201d said Kelly Slater. \u201cIt meant that when the better wave came Michel (Bourez) got it. I didn\u2019t underestimate Michel before the Heat because I know this is a wave that really suits his style.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am hoping to leave Australia after these first three events with three solid results,\u201d said Joel Parkinson. \u201cI really like Bells (Beach), it\u2019s one of my favorite events so hopefully I can do better than the Quarterfinals there. When the events are close together like this you just have to keep the momentum and intensity up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bede Durbidge (AUS) was defeated in an engaging seesaw battle against fellow Australian Josh Kerr and secured a third-place finish, his best result since 2011. Kerr took an early lead, logging a 5.50 and 8.83, for his signature forehand panache on the Main Break rights. Durbidge managed to fight his way back in to the heat compliments of his powerful approach, detonating a 7.07 and 7.80 of his own but it wasn\u2019t enough. With just minutes remaining on the clock, Kerr came back with a 6.67 and took the win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThird is a great, it\u2019s a best result I\u2019ve had in a couple of years,\u201d said Bede Durbidge. It\u2019s good just to get that momentum going and that fire going. It\u2019s only the beginning of the year so I\u2019m going to build on this at Bells. I was fired up after Snapper (Rocks). Getting that last place was the best thing that\u2019s ever happened. It made me fire up and I\u2019m looking forward to having a great year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next stop on the 2014 Samsung Galaxy ASP World Championship Tour will be the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach from April 16 – 27, 2014<\/p>\n

For more information, check out www.aspworldtour.com<\/p>\n

Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Final Results:
\nFinal: Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.90 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 12.44<\/p>\n

Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Semifinal Results:
\nSemifinal 1: Josh Kerr (AUS) 15.10 def. Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.87
\nSemifinal 2: Michel Bourez (PYF) 16.14 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 14.90<\/p>\n

Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Quarterfinal Results:
\nQuarterfinal 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 15.30 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 14.00
\nQuarterfinal 2: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 13.70 vs. Josh Kerr (AUS) 10.77
\nQuarterfinal 3: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.53 def. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.44
\nQuarterfinal 4: Michel Bourez (PYF) 13.00 def. Nat Young (USA) 9.76<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some would say it was closer than the 15.90 to 12.44 score would suggest, however, the ASP judges saw Michel Bourez win the 2014 Drug Aware Margaret River Pro on Sunday, April 13, 2014.\u00a0And for the second year in a row, Josh Kerr ended up in the runner up position. As can be imagined, he […]<\/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\/45880"}],"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=45880"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45882,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45880\/revisions\/45882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}