Fanning and Bourez fail to win, but do not fail to impress at Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast

America’s Kelly Slater, a 12-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion, may have won the opening stop of the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour, after besting reigning ASP World Champion Joel Parkinson from Australia in the finals, but these two were not the only ones who really turned it on at Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.

Former two-time ASP World Champion Mick Fanning from Australia and French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez were nothing short of spectacular at Snapper Rocks and Kirra, adapting extremely well to the conditions that the two competition sites had to offer.

Fanning was always expected to come off as a serious threat at Quiksilver Pro. Being a seasoned campaigner and more than familiar with the surfing conditions at both the event sites, the Australian surfer delivered a performance that could hardly be called uncharacteristic.

He came down hard at his opponents during the three-man battles in the initial rounds and continued to do pretty much the same as he advanced further in the competition.

Pitted against the 41-year-old Slater in the semi-finals, Fanning surely had his work cut out for him. Both the surfers put on a sensational performance, selecting the right waves to collect big scores. In the end, however, it was the American surfer who walked away with the win, forcing Fanning to settle for an equal-third position at Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast.

“It’s a tough way to go out but you can’t be too upset when you put together a heat like that,” Fanning said. “I had a really good start and put in some solid scores. Kelly (Slater) just did his ‘Kelly Thing’ and got that incredible 10 and really put himself back in the hunt. Shame I couldn’t get to the Final with Joel (Parkinson), but it’s a good start to the year so I’ll refocus and get ready for Bells.”

Bourez kept the crowd entertained during the course of the event as well. Eliminating the defending event champion and one of the best in the sport Taj Burrow was just one of his many successes during the event.

He looked really good as he made his way into the semi-finals, but Parkinson managed to bring his rampage to a halt, removing him from the contention for the event title.

“It was such a hard heat against Parko (Joel Parkinson),” Bourez said. “He’s a local and he got a 10 on his first wave. It was kind of embarrassing for me as I was waiting and sitting out there for too long and Joel was able to catch a lot of waves. It’s alright though. It’s my best result at this event. I feel great, my boards are going well and I can’t wait for Bells.”

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Posted by Muhammad Qasim Hassan on Mar 17 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.