Kelly Slater dominates Ramzi Boukhiam in Round 3 of Quiksilver Pro France – 2011 ASP World Tour
The latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour event, Quiksilver Pro France, has kept the renowned beach-break of La Graviere in France hot as fan favourite, Kelly Slater faced, Morocco’s Ramzi Boukhiam in the sixth heat of Round 3 on Sunday,
October 9.
Naturally, Slater was tipped to win the battle and he had no problem in living up to expectations. He dominated Boukhiam to advance through to Round 4, bringing the event to a premature end for his rival.
The 39-year-old Slater has been in a threatening form over the last month. He’s managed to make it into the Finals in the last three elite tour events, two of which saw him walk away with top honours. The shifting waves of La Graviere may not have allowed
the Floridian to really spread his arms yet, but he had still managed to get into the third round without a scratch.
Pitted against Slater in the battle for the Round 4 spot was the 17-year-old wild-card, Boukhiam. It may have been the young surfers dream to compete with the sport’s legend, but the timing for the fulfilment of this dream could not have been any worse.
Things were not expected to end well for the Moroccan.
As the 30-minute showdown got underway, Slater got down to business right away and showed no mercy to his young opponent. In the opening minutes of the heat, the American locked on to a wave to unload a combination of exquisite manoeuvres, earning an impressive
9.00 for the effort. Adding another 7.90 points to his account in the dying minutes of the heat, he finished with a heat-total of 16.90 points
Coming up with a decent response to his rival’s onslaught was something that Boukhiam just couldn’t manage. While the conditions were definitely not easy to get big scores in, the way the Moroccan surfed was utterly disappointing. He merely collected a 1.07
and 5.83 off his top-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 6.90 points, thus allowing Slater to advance into the next round with a convincing victory.
Commenting on the heat while talking to a reporter, Slater said, “I was nervous before the heat because there have been a few that have been slow and guys haven't been getting waves. I started loosening up there at the end. With the tide changing, I was
somewhat confident that the lefts would begin offering better scoring opportunities and that's where I got my two best waves.”
Things seem to be going pretty well for Slater as he continues his campaign for what would be his 11th ASP World Title. Despite a number of fierce young surfers emerging in the recent past, the American is still holding on to his domination of
the sport quite firmly.
For more updates on Round 3 of Quiksilver Pro France, stay tuned to bettor.com.
Tags: