Jeremy Flores : photo Masuel/ASPEurope.com
RIP CURL PRO SURF & MUSIC FESTIVAL
Rip Curl Super Series WQS Event
Plage Nord Estagnots, Hossegor, France
21 - 28 August 2006
Live Coverage | Results/Photos/Videos etc | Video Premiere: Mick Myself & Eugene
JEREMY FLORES CONFIRMS HIS SPOT ON THE 2007 FOSTER'S ASP WORLD TOUR
BY DEFEATING MICK FANNING AT THE RIP CURL PRO SUPER SERIES IN FRANCE TODAY
(Version Francais au dessous)
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 26 August, 2006 : - - Major moves in the ratings at the Rip Curl Pro in Hossegor/Seignose today. Jeremy Flores, Ricky Basnet, Michael Campbell and Roydon Bryson all pass the 9000 mark to be guaranteed a start in next years WCT. Victor Ribas and Dayyan Neve hit high 8900's to virtually cement their spots also. Josh Kerr, Ben Dunn and Kai Otton are still in the evnt with a chance to move up near the 9000 mark. The cutoff is still looking at being around 8500 but who knows.
Teenage sensation Jeremy Flores (FRA) has cemented his position on next year's Foster's ASP Men's World Tour and extended his lead on this year's ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS) by defeating current world number 8 Mick Fanning (AUS) in dramatic fashion this afternoon at the Rip Curl Pro Super Series in Seignosse, France.
Consistent 3-6ft surf rolled through Plage Nord Estagnots (roughly 2km north of Hossegor) all day today as competition at the Rip Curl Pro Super Series moved through Rounds 4 and 5, setting up for an exciting finals day tomorrow.
The story of the day was heat 2 of Round 5, which saw 18-year-old Flores matched up against 25-year-old Fanning in the first 'one-on-one' meeting the surfers have had since Flores' thrilling last minute win at the 2005 Quiksilver Pro WCT held in Seignosse last September.
In that match up the then 17-year-old waited until the very last second of the 30-minute heat before catching a massive right breaking wave that allowed him to score a long barrel ride. The youngster came out of the barrel with his hands in the air and was awarded an 8.4 score and victory over Fanning.
Mick Fanning : photo Masurel/ASPEurope.com
Although the conditions were a little different this time around, the enthusiastic crowd on the beach were treated to a remarkably similar finish.
In somewhat of an inconsistent heat for waves, Fanning held the lead for more than half of the heat after locking in a 7.50 with his fifth scoring wave. Using priority he caught what appeared to be the final wave of the heat and surfed it right through to the shore. Unfortunately for the 2005 world number 3 while he was beginning to make his way up the beach to the contest site with under 30 seconds remaining Flores paddled into a solid last wave.
The siren sounded shortly after Flores got to his feet and he continued to work his magic all the way through to the Seignosse shoreline. Both surfers waited nervously for the final scores to be announced, but it was the Reunion Island-born Flores that raced up the beach with a smile after his score of 7.07 snuck him past Fanning into first and won the heat by 0.07 points. Flores' final two-wave combined core of 13.24 points was just enough to elimate Fanning on 13.17.
"I can't believe it - it's amazing to win in a way like that, especially over a surfer like Mick Fanning," said Flores straight after his spectacular victory. "I feel so lucky, because Mick had caught the good waves that were running all the way down the beach. I was lucky at the end when that wave came through and I am glad I did enough to get the score."
"I have been watching the good surfers and learning from how they use priority and stay patient. I was lucky today, but I have been learning what to do in those situations." Flores will continue to compete the WQS until the end of the year, but saw the pressure blown away when it was confirmed today that he will definitely qualify for next year's Foster's ASP Men's World Tour.
Ben Dunn : photo Masurel/ASPEurope.com
"My position on the WCT is confirmed for next year now, so there is no pressure now," continued Flores. "I just want to enjoy this event now, because to make it to the quarter-finals here in Hossegor - a place that I have spent almost half my life - is amazing and I'm going to enjoy it for sure."
The Rip Curl Pro Super Series is the first World Qualifying Series event Fanning has surfed this season, but the Australian was still very disappointed to be knocked-out in such a spectacular way. "I just wanted to get him back for last year, but you know, these things happen," said Fanning. "He's on the 'CT next year though, so I'll get another couple of chances for sure."
"The WCT is a whole different ball game," continued Fanning, when asked how he thinks Flores will fair on surfing's Dream Tour next season. "It's hard you know and takes maturity, but he's already had some good results in a couple of 'CTs before and I'm sure he'll do well."
Flores will meet former ISA World Junior Champion Ben Dunn (AUS) in quarter-final 1 tomorrow after the Australian defeated current WQS #7 Gabe Kling (USA) in heat 1 of Round 5 today. Dunn has jumped from 13th to 10th on the ratings with this quarter-final appearance, but should move up again if he makes it past the in-form Flores.
"It's funny, I've done fairly well in 4 star and 5 stars before, but I've never done well in a 6 star event, but now I'm doing well in this 7 star. I'm so stoked. It's such a good time to do good too - it's the end of the Europe leg and I was coming 13th before this event, so I really wanted to go well in this event."
"Having guys like Jeremy already confirm their spots qualifying on the WCT next year is motivation, because I am right on the edge of it now. I really want to make the most of it in this event because it's so important and it's extra special because it's a Rip Curl event."
Victor Ribas : photo Masurel/ASPEurope.com
Aerial specialist Josh Kerr (AUS) ended Brazilian Pablo Paulino's Super Series dreams in heat 3 this afternoon, putting on a show to record the second highest heat score of the day - 17.24 points. Kerr was a little blasé about posting such a high heat score in the conditions, but was just happy to advance through to the quarter-finals.
"I can't really remember which wave was which and what scores I got on each, but I'm just stoked to get through to the quarters," said Kerr. "It's a big result and I'm looking forward to tomorrow."
The 2005 Rip Curl Pro Super Series was dominated by Brazilian surfers last year, headlined by champion Adriano de Souza and runner-up Odirlei Coutinho, but this year there is only one remaining Brazilian still alive in the contest. Andre Silva won a close battle against Patrick Gudauskas (USA) in the round of 16 and will face off against Kerr tomorrow.
Germany's hopes were dashed when ripper Marlon Lipke bowed out against Australian Kai Otton in heat 5 this afternoon. Otton will surf quarter-final 3 tomorrow against Dayyan Neve (AUS), who defeated current WQS #2 Ricky Basnett (ZAF) in heat 6.
Matt Wilkinson (AUS), the youngest surfer in the round of 16, has been surfing unbelievable all week, but like Fanning watched a win slip away in the final minutes of his heat against Sam Page (AUS). Wilkinson finished fourth in the Rip Curl Pro Junior last week and was happy with his strong result in the Super Series event today.
"It's been good, but I'm a little disappointed about losing that one," said the 17-year-old. "I thought I had it on that last wave, but when I came down from that floater I landed hard and kind of hurt my leg."
Matt Wilkinson : photo Masurel/ASPEurope.com
Page will face strong competition in Michael Campbell (AUS) tomorrow, who is high on confidence after his tense final heat win this afternoon. Campbell, currently rated 3rd on the WQS ratings, scored a last minute 10-point ride to win an exciting heat against Brazilian Leonardo Neves.
"I'm stoked - I don't know what to say," laughed Campbell after his heat. "I saw the last wave and it kind of doubled up through the sections and I made sure I hit it well along the line. As I came inside I just did a quick floater and I knew I had the score."
"It'll be good to surf against Sam, because I have never surfed against him before," continued the Australia. "He's a good little surfer, but it'll come down to who gets the best waves and makes the most out of it so I'm looking forward to it and hopefully getting through to the final tomorrow. Full credit goes to Rip Curl for having this event for so long and it would be really good to win it."
The Rip Curl Pro Super Series is the highest rating WQS of the season and has already delivered plenty of big results this week. The ASP Tour Manager was able to confirm that the current top 4 WQS rated surfers - Jeremy Flores, Ricky Basnett, Michael Campbell and Royden Bryson (ZAF) - have cemented their position on the Foster's ASP Men's World Tour next season.
The quarter-final round of the Rip Curl Pro Super Series is expected to start tomorrow morning at 9.30am.
Rip Curl Pro Super Series Quarter-Finals
QF1: Ben Dunn (AUS) vs Jeremy Flores (FRA)
QF2: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs Andre Silva (BRA)
QF3: Kai Otton (AUS) vs Dayyan Neve (AUS)
QF4: Sam Page (AUS) vs Michael Campbell (AUS)
Action from Saturday
 
 
 
 
 
More photos
Qualifications en nombre pour le WCT sur le Super Series
et un 16ième de finale qui rentre dans la légende du Rip Curl Pro.
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 26 August, 2006 : - - Ce matin après un dernier passage pluvieux, ce vingtième anniversaire du Rip Curl Pro a renoué avec les bonnes vagues et un spectacle digne de sa réputation. Dans des vagues d?1m50 relativement propres malgré le vent onshore, la majorité des surfeurs ont enfin pu donner toute la mesure de leur talent.
La journée a débuté avec l?élimination d?Eric Rebière (Fra) qui n?a rien pu faire face à deux des favoris de l?épreuve Josh Kerr (Aus) et Patrick Gudauskas (USA). Les deux autres séries marquantes de ce tour des 48 ont été celle du Sud Africain Ricky Basnett, qui se qualifie pour le WCT sur cette série et du Brésilien Rodrigo Dornelles qui élimine, quelques secondes avant le coup de sirène final, le surfeur Rip Curl Nathan Hedge. Puis l?ancien surfeur du WCT, Mick Campbell se requalifie pour l?élite en remportant sa série et en récoltant la deuxième meilleure moyenne de l?épreuve avec un 18.33 derrière Romain Laulhé (18.57). Un record qui n?avait plus que quelques heures à vivre !
Puis le tour des 24 a démarré avec une série très attendue, un combat de la jeune génération opposant, Alex Gray 19 ans (USA), Jeremy Flores 18 ans (Fra) et Gabe Kling 26 ans (USA). Gabe Kling a pris les commandes très tôt dans sa série et a laissé les deux autres se battre pour la seconde place qualificative. Jeremy ne lâchera pas Gray dans les deux dernières minutes, lui interdisant de prendre une vague en maintenant sa priorité et il s?impose de justesse. Le reste de ce tour a vu la qualification des favoris pour le prochain tour où les surfeurs se sont affrontés en man on man, format WCT qui a encore tenu toutes ses promesses?
Josh Kerr : photo Masurel/ASPEurope.com
Dans la série 1, Ben Dunn s?impose face Gabe Kling dans un affrontement très new school puis c?est la série 2 qui a réuni le plus de monde. Mick Fanning avait annoncé qu?il souhaitait prendre sa revanche sur Jeremy Flores mais le jeune français élimine l?Australien sur sa dernière vague et parvient pour la troisième fois à s?imposer face à ce surfeur du WCT.
Dans la série 3, Josh Kerr s?est facilement débarrassé du jeune brésilien Pablo Paulino. Même sanction pour Patrick Gudauskas qui tombe face au petit brésilien Andre Silva. Kai Otton se débarrasse lui de Marlon Lipke malgré un beau retour de l?Allemand dans les dernières minutes.
Dans la série 6, Neve Dayvan (Aus) se qualifie au détriment du sud africain Ricky Basnett, auréolé de sa récente qualification pour le WCT. Puis dans l?avant dernière série de la journée, la tension est montée d?un cran pour l?affrontement des deux potes, Matt Wilkinson et Sam Page. Et c?est ce dernier qui s?impose grâce à une meilleure fin de série, Wilkinson s?étant légèrement blessé sur une man?uvre proche de la plage.
Mais c?est sans aucun doute la dernière série de la journée qui rentrera dans les annales de ce Super Series, véritable feu d?artifice pour ce vingtième anniversaire du Rip Curl Pro.
Spectators : ASP Covered Images
Mick Campbell (Aus) distance rapidement le brésilien Leonardo Neves avec un 7.83 et un 7.00. Puis doucement Neves revient, défiant les juges à la fin de chacune de ses vagues avec d?abord un 7.2 puis un 7.80 et reprend la tête. A 1 minute de la fin, Campbell seul à l?eau part sur sa dernière vague?Il conclu son ride avec un geste explicite en direction des juges, le public retient son souffle, les surfeurs exultent devant la qualité des man?uvres exécutées et la note tombe?.10 ! La note parfaite. Mick se qualifie et devient le grand favori de ce Super Series. « Je suis tellement heureux que je ne sais pas quoi dire?j?ai vu cette vague arrive et elle s?est bien dressée sur le banc de sable et j?ai été bien tapé mes deux premières man?uvres. Et quand je suis arrivé dans l?inside j?ai assuré ma dernière man?uvre car je savais que j?avais la note requise déjà. "
Demain rendez vous à 9h.
Les quarts de finale seront suivis des demi puis du Legend Tag team pour conclure avec la finale.
Check the Live Coverage
Check out the Rip Curl Podcasts
Check out the Rip Curl Podcasts
Video Premiere: Mick Myself & Eugene
Previous reports:
# 1 : High performance day of surfing at Rip Curl Pro Junior
# 2 : Title favorites turn it on at Rip Curl Pro Junior in France
# 3 : Joan Duru wins the Rip Curl Pro Junior his home event
# 4 : Rip Curl Pro Super Series Day 1/Big names eliminated
# 5 : Rip Curl Super Series France postponed Wednesday
# 6 : El Harim, Flores & Dunn stars of Rip Curl Super Series
# 7 : Fanning & Flores advance at Rip Curl Pro Super Series
# 8 : Flores defeats Fanning at Rip Curl Super Series event
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Dane Sharp
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