Julian Wilson over-powers Jordy Smith in Quiksilver Pro France Semi-Final – 2011 ASP World Tour
The crowd kept getting treated to a heavy dose of adrenaline-pumping action at the beach-break of La Graviere in France on Wednesday, October 12, as the second Semi-Final of the latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Quiksilver Pro France, got underway, pitting Australia’s Julian Wilson against South Africa’s Jordy Smith.
While the much-anticipated clash was expected to be full of fire-works from both the parties, it turned out to a completely one-sided contest, with Wilson prevailing over Smith with a convincing margin to advance through into the Finals.
Both Wilson and Smith have been making waves in the current season of the ASP World Tour and despite being relatively new to the elite tour pressure, both the surfers have managed to make a solid impact at nearly every event that they have competed in so far.
The 22-year-old Wilson had announced himself as one of the most promising new-generation surfer through his consistent and spectacular performances and he did not fail to show his mettle in the tricky waves gracing the banks of La Graviere. He smoothly made his way through the early rounds to eventually reach the Semi-Finals, where he got pitted against the South African prodigy, Smith.
The 23-year-old South African was never going to let Wilson have his way during the Semi-Final bout and was expected to stretch the young Australian to his limit. With both the surfers in exceptional forms, the contest promised to be an exciting one.
As the battle started, both the surfers got off to a sound start and collected a series of decent scores, staying at par with each other in terms of performance. However, Wilson soon decided to raise the intensity by catching a wave to unload a combination of impressive manoeuvres, earning 9.50 points for the effort. Following it up with another superb wave for a 9.00, the Australian reached a heat-total of 18.50 points.
Smith tried to rise to the occasion and collected a 9.30 off a wave in the final minutes of the wave, but ended up committing interference while getting desperate for a good score on the last wave. The penalty caused him to finish with a heat-total of 9.30 points, consequently forcing him to surrender the Finals’ spot to his rival.
Aside from the obvious disappointment over missing out on the Final, Wilson was pretty happy with getting a third-place finish at least at Quiksilver Pro France. Talking to a reporter after the Semi-Final, he said, “I'm really happy with a 3rd and it's a good result for me. To be honest, I'm just happy to be back in the water. It feels great to be back and I just couldn't get into the right waves until the end of that Semi-Final there. Julian [Wilson] got off to a good start and he's been ripping so I hope he posts a win here.”
Securing a convincing victory in the Semi-Final, Wilson advanced through into the Finals of Quiksilver Pro France, where he was to face Brazil’s Gabriel Medina for the coveted event title.
For updates on the Finals of Quiksilver Pro France, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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