Jordy Smith takes fifth as Mick Fanning wins Quiksilver Pro France

Brandon Jackson places fifth in Super Surf Int’l in Brazil

Four out of seven South Africans into Round 3 at Oakley ASP World Pro Junior

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Quiksilver Pro France
Stop No. 7 of 10 on the 2010 ASP World Tour
Southwest Coast, France
September 25 – October 5, 2010

Jordy Smith takes fifth as Mick Fanning wins Quiksilver Pro France

CULS NUS BEACH, Hossegor/France (Saturday, October 2, 2010) – Jordy Smith placed fifth in the Quiksilver Pro France, stop No. 7 of 10 on the ASP World Tour, which was won by the reigning ASP World Champion Mick Fanning (AUS), 29, for the second consecutive year on Saturday.

Smith was defeated by Fanning in their quarterfinal clash held in pumping six-to-eight foot (2.5 metre) barrels at Les Culs Nus Beach. The Durbanite retained his ASP World No. 2 ranking although he slipped to 7 250 points behind past nine-time ASP World Champion and current ASP World No. 1, Kelly Slater (USA), 38, who finished runner-up to Fanning.

“There’re not many good ones out there,” Smith said after failing to find his rhythm in the quarters. “It’s kind of a diamond-in-the-rough situation. That’s the way it goes though – you win some, you lose some. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t get any waves out there for that heat, but that’s okay. I think everyone on tour is trying their hardest to prevent Kelly (Slater) from getting No. 10, but what can you do?”

Smith convincingly won his opening three-man encounter at the event before defeating Gabe Kling (USA) in Round 3. He then finished third in his three-man Round 4 match-up but rebounded with a strong performance to overcome Tom Whitaker (AUS) in Round 5 to advance to the quarters where he was ousted by Fanning.

The Quiksilver Pro France culminated in dramatic fashion with a bevy of high-scoring rides amidst the treacherous conditions that left some of the world’s best competitors with heat-tallies of less than 10 points out of 20.

“That was difficult,” Fanning said of the final. “There was just a lot of water moving and it was super challenging. You were either in the spot or you weren’t, and I was fortunate enough to be there for a couple.”

 “This one feels pretty good,” Fanning said of successfully defending the title. “Last year, the waves weren’t really pumping. This year, it almost didn’t feel like a surf contest, but rather a bunch of guys getting barrelled off their heads for a few days.”

Slater was in phenomenal form from the outset today, consistently racking up impressive scores and feeding off the energy of the ocean.

“This is what we live for,” Slater said after his quarterfinal duel. “This is insane. There are the craziest waves out there. You don’t want to get 6s, you want to get 10s.”

The iconic natural-footer did just that in his semifinal bout, free-falling and recovering with supernatural ability on a solid forehand barrel, being spat out to the eruption of applause from the millions watching around the world. That ride wave marks only the second perfect 10 of the ASP season, and the first for Slater.

However, in quickly-changing conditions in the Final, Slater found himself uncharacteristically out of rhythm and only able to amass a 6.74 heat total.

“Ouch,” Slater said. “It was really difficult out there and I didn’t get much aside from a few poundings. Congrats to Mick (Fanning) for finding a couple of scores out there.”

The win saw Fanning leapfrog from No. 5 to No. 3 in the ASP World Title Race Rankings while his runner-up finish sees Slater cement his position as ASP World No. 1 heading into the remainder of the season.

South Africa’s Travis Logie (Durban) was eliminated in Round 2 to earn his second 25^th place result since making the cut for the last five events of the 2010 ASP World Tour season.

Highlights from Quiksilver Pro France are available via http://quiksilverlive.com/profrance2010/

The next stop on the 2010 ASP World Tour will be the Rip Curl Pro Portugal from October 7 through 18, 2010.

For more information, log onto www.aspworldtour.com

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE FINAL RESULTS:

1 – Mick Fanning (AUS)16.90

2 – Kelly Slater (USA) 6.74

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE SEMIFINAL RESULTS:

SF 1: Kelly Slater (USA) 15.13 def. Brett Simpson (USA) 3.00

SF 2: Mick Fanning (AUS) 17.67 def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 11.40

QUIKSILVER PRO FRANCE QUARTERFINAL RESULTS:

QF 1:Brett Simpson (USA) 14.67 def. Daniel Ross (AUS) 10.77

QF 2:Kelly Slater (USA) 17.43 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 9.33

QF 3:Adrian Buchan (AUS) 16.93 def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 4.27

QF 4:Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.00 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 8.76

CURRENT ASP WORLD TITLE RACE TOP 5 (After Quiksilver Pro France):

1. Kelly Slater (USA) 48,000 pts

2.Jordy Smith (ZAF) 40,750 pts

3.Mick Fanning (AUS) 39,500 pts

4.Taj Burrow (AUS) 32,250 pts

5.Dane Reynolds (USA) 32,000 pts

South Africans

34. Travis Logie (ZAF) 9 250 pts