Stellar performances take Florence and Slater to Volcom Fiji Pro semi-finals – Surfing news
Hawaii’s John John Florence and America’s Kelly Slater clinched success with apparent ease in their respective quarter-final heats at the Volcom Fiji Pro, fourth stop on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, which recommenced
at Cloudbreak in Tavarua, Fiji, on Wednesday, June 12, 2013.
Florence got the better of South Africa’s Jordy Smith in the first quarter-final, whereas Slater downed Hawaii’s Sebastian Zietz in the second quarter-final to secure his place in the semi-finals.
Pumping six-to-eight foot waves greeted the eight surfers who were still in contention for the event title.
The day’s proceedings kicked-off with Florence taking on Smith in the first quarter-final. Despite the latter being a seasoned elite tour contender, the young Hawaiian sensation, currently competing in his first complete ASP World Championship, was the heavy
favourite.
As the battle for the semi-final spot got underway, Florence hardly took any time to take complete control of the heat.
Locking his first business-wave, he posted a near-perfect 9.93 on the score-board. Keeping the momentum going, he added an additional 9.13 points to his account, thus making his way to a heat-total of 19.06 points.
Smith failed to come up with an adequate response to his rival’s onslaught. Scoring a 7.27 and 6.40 off his top-two waves, the South African surfer finished with a heat-total of 13.67 points, well short of his rival’s score.
The second quarter-final pitted Slater, an 11-time ASP World Champion, against Zietz, whose experience on the elite tour amount to nothing when compared to that of his rival.
Even though there was no doubt that the 41-year-old Florida-based surfer would comfortably walk away with the win, he still managed to leave everyone at the main event venue flabbergasted.
Slater did not only collect one perfect score, but actually went on to back it up with another perfect-10 ride, thus finishing with a flawless score of 20 points.
Zietz never really had any real chance of troubling the man who is considered to be the best in the business and that too in barrelling conditions. Apparently stunned by what he just witnessed, he finished with a heat-total of 4.10 points, which comprised
of a 2.50 and 1.60-point ride.
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