Kelly Slater downs Dane Reynolds to claim Quiksilver Pro France title
America’s Kelly Slater took out the Quiksilver Pro France title by defeating America’s Dane Reynolds in an exciting final that went down at the main site of La Graviere in Hossegor, France, on Friday, October 5, 2012.
This was the 51st elite tour victory for the 40-year-old Floridian, something that complemented his 11 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title really well.
Arriving in France for the seventh of ten stops on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour in top-notch form, Slater comfortably took down rival after rival during the course of the event to eventually make it into the final.
Facing him in the final was Reynolds, reputed as one of the best surfers in the world and former ASP World Tour contender.
Even though he was participating in this year’s event as a wildcard, the 27-year-old Reynolds was putting on a series of phenomenal performance to smoothly make it through into the finals.
However, things were about to become really exciting as the two heavy-weights to set to take each other on for the French title.
As the hat got underway, Slater showed a great deal of urgency after sensing that the conditions were slowing down.
Locking his first business-wave early in the heat, he posted a 7.93 on the score-board and added a near-perfect 9.33 to his account, thus reaching a heat-total of 17.26 points, courtesy of a couple of tube rides on his forehand.
Reynolds put up a determined fight, going for barrels and aerial attempts, but it only enabled him to post a 6.50 and 7.50 on the score-board, thus causing him to finish with a heat-total of 14.00 points.
The 3.26-point lead over Reynolds in the end allowed Slater to collect his first Quiksilver Pro France title in two decades.
“It has literally been 20 years,” Slater said. “I had my first win here 20 years ago and that’s pretty crazy. Obviously when you go out there you want to win the heat, but I would have been really stoked if Dane (Reynolds) pulled a 10 out of his hat at the
end of the heat, it would have been pretty rad.”
The elite ASP surfers will continue their campaign for the coveted ASP World Title at Rip Curl Pro, which is scheduled to go down in Portugal from October 10-21.
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