Mick Fanning pulls out of 2011 Billabong Pipe Masters due to injury
Australia’s Mick Fanning officially pulled out of the final event of 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Billabong Pipe Masters in the memory of Andy Irons, due to a neck injury that he sustained during his trip to Tahiti for Billabong
Pro in August.
The former two-time ASP World Champion suffered from a disc bulge while competing at the fifth stop of the elite tour and instead of taking it easy for a while to give his injury ample time to heal, Fanning decided to keep pursuing the World title. As a
result, he kept on suffering from the injury, which had an apparent effect on his performance as well.
However, the 30-year-old New South Wales-resident has decided to give his neck some rest in order to allow the healing process to take place once and for all. Thus, the decision to pull out of the final event of the 2011 ASP World Tour season was taken.
“It’s just one of those things. It (the injury) is going to take time to heal – and it’s not helping surfing every day. I’ve had it since Tahiti – I’ve tried a few different things to fix it but (we’ve come to the conclusion) the only thing that will work
is rest.”
Fanning notified the ASP about his withdrawal almost a week back, though the official statement was made only a couple of days ago.
Sitting at the No.11 slot on the ASP World Title rankings, Fanning did not really have a lot to surf for at Billabong Pipe Masters. An opportunity to ride some the best waves at Pipeline was indeed a temptation, but it was high time for the Australian to
give more consideration to his health than his passion for surfing.
Fanning is not the only surfer who would be missing from the line-up at the final stop of the elite ASP tour, much to the dismay of the surfing fans. The 23-year-old Jeremy Flores from France has also withdrawn from the competition due to injury.
The slots left vacant by the withdrawal of Fanning and Flores have been filled up by America’s CJ Hobgood and Australia’s Adam Melling in the respective order.
The latest edition of Billabong Pipe Masters is scheduled to get underway at Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii, on Wednesday, December 8.
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