Mick Fanning earns shot at Billabong Pro Tahiti title after win over Owen Wright in first semi-final
Australia’s Mick Fanning headed into Billabong Pro Tahiti’s final after taking down his fellow countryperson Owen Wright in the first semi-final that went down at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti, on Monday, August 27.
The battle between the two surfers went down to the wire, with neither one of them willing to settle for anything less than victory.
With classic four-to-six foot waves and a warm weather prevailing at the contest site on the final day of the latest stop on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, the stage was set for an exciting climax.
Fanning, former two-time ASP World Champion, had his work clearly cut out for him while aiming for a title shot in his heat against Wright, with the latter in a prime form himself. The contest was expected to go down to the wire considering the skills and
level of energy the two surfers possessed.
As the battle got underway, the 31-year-old Fanning wasted no time to shift to full throttle. He beat his opponent to an excellent wave that had appeared and made the most of it, throwing down a flurry of exquisite tricks that earned him an average of 9.50
from the judges, thus putting him into a comfortable lead.
Keeping the momentum going, the former World Champion treated the crowd to yet another excellent ride, this time earning a 9.43 for the effort. This took him to a heat-total of 18.93 points.
Finding himself under pressure due to an excellent start by his rival, Wright surely had plenty of work to do in the heat. However, he continued to find himself pushed against the edge as the heat progressed, eventually reaching a point where he needed a
couple of massive scores to challenge his compatriot’s lead.
The desperation eventually caused him to step up and pushed him to go all out on his first business-wave, earning an 8.37 off it. The additional of 9.73 points to his account thus took him to a heat-total of 18.10 points. As a result, he was forced to concede
victory to Fanning, sending the latter into the next round.
“The waves were so perfect today that you can’t really be to disappointed in a loss,” Wright said later in the day. “I felt like I was surfing well all day and I put up a couple of 9s in my heat against Mick (Fanning) so there’s not too much to be upset
about. Congrats to Mick on the win though. He’s been super impressive all event with his backhand tube-riding and hopefully I get the opportunity to return the favor at the next stop at Trestles.”
Fanning will find himself taking on either his fellow countryperson Joel Parkinson or Hawaii’s John John Florence in the battle for the event title.
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