![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/florenceWT17-450x300.jpg\")
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Yesterday (Monday, December 18, 2017) 2John Florence<\/strong> claimed his second surfing World Championship title by finishing second in the Billabong Pipe Masters<\/strong> behind France’s Jeremy Flores<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been my dream to win here at home,\u201d Florence said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a nervous build up to this event and I just don\u2019t know what to say, I\u2019m shaking. So many people have been here for me this year and it\u2019s been awesome. It\u2019s been an awesome year and I\u2019m just so stoked.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Yes, it has. And we’re stoked as well. Congrats, John John. For all the official details, please follow the jump.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n BANZAI PIPELINE, Oahu, Hawaii\/USA (Monday, December 18, 2017) – John John Florence (HAW) clinched the 2017 World Surf League (WSL) Title today at the Billabong Pipe Masters, making him the first male surfer since the late Andy Irons (HAW) to successfully defend a maiden world title (Irons was \u201902, \u201903). Mark Richards (AUS), Tom Carroll (AUS) and Tom Curren (USA) are the only other male surfers to have achieved this feat.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been my dream to win here at home,\u201d Florence said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a nervous build up to this event and I just don\u2019t know what to say, I\u2019m shaking. So many people have been here for me this year and it\u2019s been awesome. It\u2019s been an awesome year and I\u2019m just so stoked.\u201d<\/p>\n Florence\u2019s season started out with strong results during the Australian leg, including his first event win of the year in Margaret River. After two 13th place finishes in Rio and Fiji, Florence steadily improved his results through the remainder of the season. With a 5th place in both Jeffreys Bay and Tahiti, followed by Semifinal berths at Trestles and in France, Florence reclaimed the Jeep Leader Jersey from closest rival Jordy Smith (ZAF).<\/p>\n Caption: Newly crowned World Champion John John Florence (HAW) claims a runner-up finish at the Billabong Pipe Masters. Challengers Smith, Owen Wright (AUS), Matt Wilkinson (AUS), Filipe Toledo (BRA) and Adriano de Souza (BRA) all suffered early eliminations in Portugal, falling out of reach of the title. Going into the Billabong Pipe Masters, only four surfers remained in contention to clinch the title, but contenders Gabriel Medina (BRA), Julian Wilson (AUS), and Smith weren\u2019t able to deliver the results needed to block Florence at his home break in Hawaii. Florence\u2019s victory was sealed after Medina was eliminated today in the Quarterfinals at the hands of eventual event winner Jeremy Flores (FRA).<\/p>\n “I think I learned a lot about myself this year competing with all the pressure, especially coming from last year\u2019s win,\u201d Florence continued. \u201cIt\u2019s been a hard year and I\u2019ve had some ups and some downs, but mostly I had a lot of fun. I think that’s what came out of last year and I really, really wanted to enjoy every moment of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Universally-regarded as one of the best all-around surfers, Florence has diligently worked at improving since qualifying for the elite WSL Championship Tour (CT) in 2011. A seven-year competitor on the CT, the surfer form Hawaii claimed his maiden title in 2016 with an early-season clinch in Portugal, having previously finished in the Top 5 twice before (4th in 2012 and 3rd in 2014). With this second title, the surfing world is eyeing the beginning of a new dynasty in high-performance surfing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been scary being that close in points to someone like Gabriel (Medina) who\u2019s such a great surfer out here and a fierce competitor,\u201d said Florence. \u201cHis comeback in Europe was amazing, he won two events in a row and then was right there in the title race. Surfing with him out here has been nerve racking but it would have been cool if we had a final for the title.<\/p>\n \u201cI couldn’t have done it without my guys traveling with me and I have to thank my mom for all this because she took me and my brothers traveling when we were young and really just got us to love the ocean and I think that’s what we\u2019re all in this for – the love of surfing – so thank you, mom, I wouldn’t be here without you.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to cementing his status as the best surfer on the planet, Florence spends his free time and celebrity working toward ocean health initiatives and environmental causes.<\/p>\n FLORENCE 2017 WSL CT RESULTS – FLORENCE CAREER WSL CT FINISHES: Jeremy Flores (FRA) claimed his second Billabong Pipe Masters victory today after defeating Florence in an exciting Final. Flores, the 2010 Pipe Master, took out Kanoa Igarashi (USA) and Gabriel Medina (BRA) en route to the Final against the new WSL Champion. Flores rounds out the year at 15th place on the Jeep Leaderboard to solidify his place on the 2018 CT thanks to today\u2019s victory, his best result of the season and his first CT win since Tahiti in 2015.<\/p>\n “Winning the Pipe Masters against John John Florence like that in perfect Backdoor in the last seconds, that\u2019s the best way to win,\u201d Flores said. \u201cI couldn’t think of any better way to win this Pipe Master. I’m so, so stoked and there\u2019s a lot of emotions. Congrats to everyone. Congrats to John John (Florence) and Gabriel (Medina), these guys are next level. My goal was to win this event but this is crazy, I’m so happy.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be honest, I don’t like to be that guy that\u2019s deciding titles – it should be a showdown between John and Gabriel, these guys work so hard,\u201d Flores continued. \u201cThat’s why honestly when I beat Gabriel I felt bad. It\u2019s been an emotional day and yesterday was stressful. I had to make one heat to re qualify pretty much and I made it with a 4 and a 2. I just wanted to have fun today and I did and the waves showed up. Through all the ups and downs I have so much good support and this is for everyone so thank you. I won this title for France and it doesn’t happen very much!\u201d<\/p>\n Caption: Jeremy Flores (FRA) claims his second Billabong Pipe Masters after stealing the win from the newly-crown WSL Champion John John Florence (HAW). After a slow start to the Final, it was Florence that found the first score of significance with just over twenty minutes remaining with a long barrel that was rewarded with an 8.93. Flores answered with a 7.90 but a relaxed looking world champ was right behind him with a clean tube ride of his own for 7.23 and a solid heat lead. Flores was left searching for an 8.27 in order to claim his second Pipe Masters, but with limited opportunities the clock ran down. In the final seconds the Frenchman found an opportunity and the crowd waited anxiously for the result. The score came in and Flores stole the win from Florence, turning the heat with a thrilling buzzer-beater barrel.<\/p>\n \u201cI almost got a Pipe Masters but I\u2019m super stoked for Jeremy Flores,\u201d Florence said. \u201cThat last wave was insane and this whole event has been amazing.”<\/p>\n Florence previously dispatched world title contender Julian Wilson (AUS) (who finished out the year in third place) in the Quarterfinals and then, following news of his title clinching, the new WSL Champion went on to face Ian Gouveia (BRA) in the Semifinals before taking on Flores in the Final.<\/p>\n Gouveia built his scoreline in the Semifinal clash with two mid-range rides while Florence had only small scores. With one minute remaining Florence found the exit from a barrel and then landed an air rotation to steal the win with an 8.73. Gouveia answered seconds later but couldn\u2019t complete the ride and was eliminated in third place.<\/p>\n Kanoa Igarashi (USA) faced eventual winner Flores in the second Semifinal. Igarashi kept busy through the opening half of his heat to hold the top spot but the Frenchman stayed patient and found the wave of the heat for an excellent 9.37. Flores backed it up with a smaller inside wave to move into first position, eliminating Igarashi who takes home a second consecutive Semifinal berth and moves to 17th place on the Jeep Leaderboard.<\/p>\n World title contender Gabriel Medina (BRA) finishes the year in second place on the Jeep Leaderboard with a 5th place finish at the Billabong Pipe Masters after being defeated by Flores in the Quarterfinals.<\/p>\n Medina\u2019s season started out well with a third place finish at the season opener in Australia but a series of less than stellar results saw him slide down the rankings. A third place in South Africa, followed by a runner-up result in Tahiti and then back-to-back wins in Europe saw the young Brazilian rocket up the Jeep Leaderboard and into the world title race. The 23- year-old from Maresias, Sao Paulo became Brazil\u2019s first WSL Champion when he clinched the title in 2014. Medina has been in the World Title race every year since his maiden World Title victory in 2014 (No. 3 on the Jeep Leaderboard in 2015 and 2016).<\/p>\n \u201c2017 was a great year,\u201d said Medina. \u201cI had an injury at the beginning of the year which wasn\u2019t great but I tried to do my best. I had some bad results but I also had some great results. I\u2019m so tired right now because I put everything in the water. I just tried to never give up because there\u2019s always a chance no matter what\u2019s going on. That was a long year and it\u2019s hard to deal with all the ups and downs so it was stressful. That\u2019s all part of the game, you just have to do your best. My goal here was the final but I\u2019m stoked everyone got to watch and I\u2019m coming back for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n 11-time WSL Champion Kelly Slater (USA) was dispatched by Medina in Round 4 Heat 3. The Brazilian went all out in the battle against the American with two excellent-range scores, an 8.90 and a near-perfect 9.07. Slater charged into numerous tubes but was not able to escape a majority of his attempts. Stuck needing two new scores to overcome the 2014 WSL Champion, Slater was not able to answer and is eliminated in Equal 9th place.<\/p>\n Caption: Griffin Colapinto (USA) becomes the first Californian to win the coveted Vans Triple Crown of Surfing and the result also sees him secure his place amongst the world’s best surfers on the Championship Tour in 2018. Freshly qualified for the 2018 CT, Griffin Colapinto (USA), 19, added to his thriving season by taking the 35th Annual Vans Triple Crown of Surfing honor today and became the first Californian to ever win the coveted surfing series.<\/p>\n “I’m feeling incredible right now and it\u2019s the best feeling ever,\u201d said Colapinto. \u201cI was just looking at the names that have won the Triple Crown, just all the names on there are insane and to win after John John (Florence) won last year is amazing. It’s been a really fun day watching the contest and to see all the action. John, congratulations on winning the World Title, I’m so stoked for you. And Jeremy winning the Pipe Masters, two times now, that’s insane. Just really excited for next year and for Snapper and I think there will be a lot of energy there and to have my name on a jersey will be special. Thanks so much!”<\/p>\n Colapinto captured a runner up finish at the first Vans Triple Crown jewel, the Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa Ali\u2018i Beach Park, then went on to final at the second event, the Vans World Cup at Sunset Beach, for a commanding lead on the series. After Italo Ferreira (BRA) went down to Igarashi in the Quarterfinals the young American secured his victory.<\/p>\n WSL Jeep Leaderboard Top 5 (after Billabong Pipe Masters): Billabong Pipe Masters Final Results: Billabong Pipe Masters Semifinal Results: Billabong Pipe Masters Quarterfinal Results: Billabong Pipe Masters Round 5 Results: Billabong Pipe Masters Round 4 Results: The world’s best surfers will return in 2018 with the kick-off event on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia in March.<\/p>\n For highlights from the Billabong Pipe Masters check out WorldSurfLeague.com.<\/p>\n The rights to the images attached or accessed by link within this email are granted by the Association of Surfing Professionals LLC (“World Surf League”) for editorial use only. No commercial rights are granted to the Images in any way. The Images are provided on an “as is” basis and no warranty is provided for use of a particular purpose. Rights to individuals within the Images are not provided. The copyright is owned by World Surf League. Sale or license of the Images is prohibited. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.<\/p>\n The rights to the audio\/visual content attached or accessed by link within this email (“Footage”) are granted by the Association of Surfing Professionals LLC (“World Surf League”) to you (the email recipient) and any entity you forward the same to pursuant to the terms and conditions below (\u201cFootage License\u201d): By opening or accessing the Footage, you accept the terms of this Footage License. The rights to the Footage (or any part of it) are royalty-free and granted for editorial use or news service use only and this Footage License will expire one (1) week from the date the event subject to this Footage License concludes. No rights for commercial use or modification of the Footage are granted in any way, including any association made with a commercial brand or message. Where the Footage is used in any way online, a link to www.worldsurfleague.com must exist where the Footage is visible. The Footage is provided, and must be used on an “as is” basis and no warranty is provided for it\u2019s use by you. Rights to individuals or brands (except WSL) within the Footage are not granted. World Surf League owns all rights, including copyright to the Footage. ALL RIGHTS NOT SPECIFICALLY PROVIDED ABOVE ARE RESERVED BY WORLD SURF LEAGUE.<\/p>\n About the World Surf League The WSL has been championing the world’s best surfing since 1976, running in excess of 180 global events across the Men’s and Women’s Championship Tours, the Big Wave Tour, Qualifying Series, Junior and Longboard Championships, as well as the WSL Big Wave Awards. The League possesses a deep appreciation for the sport’s rich heritage while promoting progression, innovation and performance at the highest levels, and in doing so crowns the undisputed world champions in Men\u2019s, Women\u2019s across all divisions within the tour.<\/p>\n Showcasing the world’s best surfing on its digital platform at WorldSurfLeague.com as well as the free WSL app, the WSL has a passionate global fan base with millions tuning in to see world-class athletes like Tyler Wright, John John Florence, Paige Alms, Grant Baker, Phil Rajzman, Tory Gilkerson, Mick Fanning, Stephanie Gilmore, Kelly Slater, Carissa Moore, Gabriel Medina, Courtney Conlogue and more battle on the most unpredictable and dynamic field of play of any sport in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yesterday (Monday, December 18, 2017) 2John Florence claimed his second surfing World Championship title by finishing second in the Billabong Pipe Masters behind France’s Jeremy Flores. \u201cIt\u2019s been my dream to win here at home,\u201d Florence said. \u201cThere\u2019s been a nervous build up to this event and I just don\u2019t know what to say, I\u2019m […]<\/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\/52257"}],"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=52257"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52272,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52257\/revisions\/52272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=52257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=52257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.boardistan.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=52257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nCredit: \u00a9 WSL \/ Cestari<\/p>\n
\nQuiksilver Pro Gold Coast: 3rd
\nDrug Aware Margaret River Pro: WINNER
\nRip Curl Pro Bells Beach: 3rd
\nOi Rio Pro: 13th
\nOK Fiji Pro: 13th
\nCorona Open J-Bay: 5th
\nBillabong Pro Tahiti: 5th
\nHurley Pro at Trestles: 3rd
\nQuiksilver Pro France: 3rd
\nMeo Rip Curl Pro Portugal: 5th
\nBillabong Pipe Masters: 2nd<\/p>\n
\n2011: 34th
\n2012: 4th
\n2013: 10th
\n2014: 3rd
\n2015: 14th
\n2016: WSL CHAMPION
\n2017: WSL CHAMPION<\/p>\n
\nCredit: \u00a9 WSL \/ Poullenot<\/p>\n
\nCredit: \u00a9 WSL \/ Cestari<\/p>\n
\n1 – John John Florence (HAW) 59,600 pts
\n2 – Gabriel Medina (BRA) 53,700 pts
\n3 – Julian Wilson (AUS) 48,650 pts
\n4 – Jordy Smith (ZAF) 47,600 pts
\n5 – Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 40,700 pts<\/p>\n
\n1 – Jeremy Flores (FRA) 16.23
\n2 – John John Florence (HAW) 16.16<\/p>\n
\nSF 1: John John Florence (HAW) 12.56 def. Ian Gouveia (BRA) 12.33
\nSF 2: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.20 def. Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 11.33<\/p>\n
\nQF 1: Ian Gouveia (BRA) 9.70 vs. Joel Parkinson (AUS) 8.40
\nQF 2: John John Florence (HAW) 17.60 vs. Julian Wilson (AUS) 2.64
\nQF 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.76 def. Gabriel Medina (BRA) 6.04
\nQF 4: Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 9.57 def. Italo Ferreira (BRA) 8.67<\/p>\n
\nHeat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 15.23 def. Conner Coffin (USA) 9.43
\nHeat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) 12.50 def. Caio Ibelli (BRA) 7.90
\nHeat 3: Gabriel Medina (BRA) 17.97 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 9.16
\nHeat 4: Italo Ferreira (BRA) 6.34 def. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 0.90<\/p>\n
\nHeat 1: Ian Gouveia (BRA) 11.73, Conner Coffin (USA) 1.23, Julian Wilson (AUS) 0.43
\nHeat 2: John John Florence (HAW) 13.17, Caio Ibelli (BRA) 12.87, Joel Parkinson (AUS) 4.53
\nHeat 3: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 15.37, Gabriel Medina (BRA) 12.10, Italo Ferreira (BRA) 7.57
\nHeat 4: Kanoa Igarashi (USA) 12.44, Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA) 4.60, Kelly Slater (USA) 4.44<\/p>\n
\nThe World Surf League (WSL), formerly the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP), is dedicated to celebrating the world\u2019s best surfing on the world\u2019s best waves through a variety of best-in-class audience platforms. The League, headquartered in Santa Monica, is a truly global sport with regional offices in Australasia, Africa, North America, South America, Hawaii, Japan and Europe.<\/p>\n