Mick Fanning Wins 2009 Quiksilver Pro France
By Sean Doherty
Okay, so now we got a story.
What looked like being a runaway world title win for Joel Parkinson has, in the space of two weeks, just became a whole lot more interesting. Mick Fanning won his second event in the space of a fortnight today, closing Joel Parkinson’s ratings lead – previously blown out to 1400 points – back to just 146. “Game on,” as Mick said.
With the swell for the rest of the week predicted to be easterly on a west-facing coast, it was on till the bitter end today at Les Bourdaines today despite a limp and patchy swell death-crawling over the contest bank. The day started with Dane Reynolds mercurial efforts of yesterday a long distant memory. The magic Machado board looked skatey and Dane looked kinda lost out there. The glorious unpredictability of Reynolds though means he’s going to have heats like that, and his glorious nonchalance means he’ll laugh them all off. He lost to Bede Durbidge, who’s the polar opposite of Dane, as sure and steady as the sun rising in the east.
Kelly Slater came into France knowing he needed to make the final if he was going to be any realistic chance of running Parko down. On a stacked bottom half of the draw that included Mick, Taj and Jordy, it was always going to be a tough assignment, but he probably never saw trouble coming from Tiago Pires. The needle on the judging scale was bouncing all over the place in this heat, but there was little doubt that the diminutive Portuguese surfer earned the upset win. Kelly’s exit at the quarter final stage makes him a long shot to win a tenth world title, needing to win two of the last three events to put himself in with a shot.
The final between Fanning and Durbidge – the second time these two have met after surfing for the title at Snapper Rocks two years ago – was over by halfway. Fanning did as he pleased out there. While Bede had looked good up till that point, he wasn’t nearly as razory as Mick. When Fanning won the world title back in 2007 he averaged heat totals of 16 from 20 for the whole year, and that’s exactly what he’s done in the last two events. But it’s his icy demeanour in the water and in between heats that should have Joel worried. When he says about the world title, “As long as it goes back to Cooly, I don’t care who gets it,” you’ll find he’ll probably be happier if it’s sitting on his mantelpiece rather than Joel’s.
Parko has a week in France to turn it around before he bumps down the coast to Mundaka. His trainer arrives on Thursday, but it’s his head he has to keep together. He knows he’s not far away. His two 17ths have both been close calls – a winning wave a half-second too late at Trestles, and a winning wave five yards too far out in France. The first half of the season Joel was steely the same way Mick is now. That’s what he needs back. Whatever happens, the two childhood mates battling for this title might be the story surfing needs right about now.
QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE FINAL RESULTS:
1 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.66
2 – Bede Durbidge (AUS) 12.87
QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE SEMIFINAL RESULTS:
SF 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.76 def. Patrick Beven (FRA) 12.90
SF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.43 def. Tiago Pires (PRT) 12.33
QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:
QF 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 14.70 def. Ben Dunn (AUS) 13.60
QF 2: Patrick Beven (FRA) 14.86 def. Bobby Martinez (USA) 14.00
QF 3: Tiago Pires (PRT) 17.70 def. Kelly Slater (USA) 17.43
QF 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.00 Taj Burrow def. (AUS) 12.33
QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE ROUND 4 RESULTS:
Heat 1: Bede Durbidge (AUS) 13.33 def. Dane Reynolds (USA) 12.40
Heat 2: Ben Dunn (AUS) 13.83 def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 12.37
Heat 3: Bobby Martinez (USA) 11.43 vs. Taylor Knox (USA) 10.30
Heat 4: Patrick Beven (FRA) 14.10 def. Dean Morrison (AUS) 12.67
Heat 5: Kelly Slater (USA) 17.23 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 8.33
Heat 6: Tiago Pires (PRT) 14.83 def. Tim Boal (FRA) 9.36
Heat 7: Mick Fanning (AUS) 16.40 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 15.00
Heat 8: Taj Burrow (AUS) 15.74 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 10.40
CURRENT ASP WORLD TOUR TOP 10 (After Quiksilver Pro France):
1 – Joel Parkinson (AUS) 5896 points
2 – Mick Fanning (AUS) 5750 points
3 – C.J. Hobgood (USA) 4872 points
4 – Bede Durbidge (AUS) 4792 points
5 – Kelly Slater (USA) 4638 points
6 – Adriano de Souza (BRA) 4573 points
7 – Taj Burrow (AUS) 4417 points
8 – Damien Hobgood (USA) 4384 points
9 – Bobby Martinez (USA) 4314 points
10 – Taylor Knox (USA) 4216 points
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Highlight of the day:
Take your pick from any of Mick’s waves today. There were about 50 and their wasn’t a bad one amongst them.
Biggest blown opportunity:
Kelly surfed well, but needed to win here. They were Kelly-friendly conditions, and he might have had his head already in a potential semi-final with Mick Fanning when he paddled out for his quarter with Tiago.
Best Quote:
Two Australians discussing who they’d rather see win the quarterfinal between Mick Fanning and Taj Burrow: “Who’s putting more on the bar at de Paris? Last year Taj told pulled the old ‘I left my wallet at home’ trick… and the bill was 1000 Euro! Go Mick.”
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