Julian Wilson thrives under pressure situation at Quiksilver Pro France
Australia’s Julian Wilson was nothing short of phenomenal as he took down his fellow countryperson Adam Melling in the second round at Quiksilver Pro France, the seventh of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship
Tour.
Continuing at the primary event site of La Graviere in Hossegor, France, on Tuesday, October 2, the elimination round of the latest elite tour had the surfers standing on the edge, giving them very little room for error as a significant err could prove costly.
Wilson, who was sitting just outside the top 10 on the ASP World Championship Tour rankings at the time of Quiksilver Pro France, was determined to get his hands on a good result.
Despite being 23 years of age, the Australian surfer had given some of the best surfers from around the globe a run for their money, getting the better of them on his day.
Things had not started off great for the young Australian as he ended up losing to his fellow countryperson Kieren Perrow in the seventh heat of Round 1.
The quality of the waves had improved significantly as the time for his Round 2 heat arrived, in which he was pitted against Melling, who had succumbed to South Africa’s Jordy Smith in the 10th heat of Round 1.
The battle between the two Aussies was expected to be full of entertainment as both of them were expected to push beyond their limits to try and oust the other from the competition to successfully secure their place in the next round.
Pushed against the corner with the pressure of elimination hanging over their heads, both Wilson and Melling were aware of the important of putting on a superior performance.
The four-to-six foot waves breaking at the primary event site on that day presented a perfect canvas for them to cut loose and put their most exquisite tricks on display in a bid to bag big score and strengthen their chances of surviving the pressure heat.
As the battle got underway, Wilson got off to a cautious start, carefully analysing the waves and conserving his energy until a wave of his liking arrived.
He did not have to wait for too long as a huge barrel built up and started flowing close to where he was. He quickly paddled a short distance to get into a perfect position to catch it and rode it with perfection to earn a 10 from the judges.
Keeping the momentum going, he went on to add an additional 7.77 points to his account, thus reaching a heat-total of 17.77 points.
While Wilson surfed superbly, his rival seemed out of sorts. Melling just was not able to find his rhythm during the course of the event and ended up tasting a bitter defeat after finishing with a heat-total of 4.30 points, which included a 2.77 and 1.53-point
ride.
Wilson was really excited about the 10-point ride and quite understandably so as it had allowed him to stay alive in the contention for the Quiksilver Pro France title.
“The 10 felt really good,” Wilson said. “I spent the first quarter of that heat getting smashed. I got smashed on my first wave and then probably got smashed by fifteen more trying to go back out. As soon as that rip kind of cleared out of the line-up we
saw some really good waves come through and yeah I was really happy to get that first one, get that 10 and then it up. Melling caught a couple too, he just was unlucky and fell off but it was cool to surf a heat like that coming to France.”
Despite prevailing over Melling in such a pressure situation, there was plenty of work to be done before Wilson could truly start savouring his performance in the barrelling conditions at La Graviere.
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