The Top 5 performers of 2011 ASP World Tour – Part 4
Mick Fanning
The two-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion from Australia is one of the most celebrated athletes in the sport. Despite entering the elite Tour at a time when the likes of America’s legendary Kelly Slater and Hawaii’s Andy Irons
were dominating the competitions, the 30-year-old Fanning still managed to move into the spotlight with his exquisite skills and style. His ability to come up with a superb performance under any conditions makes him a real intimidating threat.
While the New South Wales-native may possess natural talent, his successful career has a lot to do with his vigorous training and preparation before every contest. He is not one to take anything for granted, and continuously works on grooming his skills
even further. Ever since his inception in ASP World Tour in 2002, Fanning has been consistently finishing in the Top 10 while managing to even go all the way in 2007 and 2009 - a huge accomplishment when you have the likes of Slater and Irons in the competition.
The 2011 ASP World Tour season has gone quite well for the veteran so far. The first stop of the season, Quiksilver Pro, at Gold Coast, Australia, saw Fanning get off to a flying start, dominating the first round, but his journey was cut short by Hawaii’s
Dusty Payne. His defeat came as a huge upset, something that is become somewhat of a norm in ASP World Tour now, forcing him to settle for 13th place. This may not have been the ideal start that the celebrated Australian surfer was looking for,
but then again it was just the beginning and there was ample opportunity at hand to compensate for the disappointment.
The second stop of the season brought the elite Top 34 to Bells Beach in Australia for the Rip Curl Pro. This time, Fanning turned up as more of a shadow of his former self. Once again he got off to a blistering start and made quick works of his opponents
in the initial rounds. Unlike the last time, his journey did not come to an abrupt end and he kept on prevailing over an extremely talented line-up to gradually make his way through to the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and eventually the finals.
Pitted against his compatriot, Joel Parkinson, it seemed as if Fanning was eventually going to collect his first win of the season. However, an onslaught by Parkinson took the unsuspecting Fanning by surprise and eventually deprived him of victory, causing
him to settle for a runner-up finish.
Billabong Rio Pro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, turned out to be something very similar to the first event of the season for Fanning in terms of performance and the outcome. After making a confident start, he faltered in the third round, surrendering victory
to local surfer Raoni Monteiro and once against forced to settle for 13th place.
The fourth stop of the elite Tour, Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay in South Africa, saw Fanning get off to a blazing start yet again. This time, he managed to survive the third round and the rounds that followed to make his way into the crucial stages of the
competition. After successfully getting through the quarter-final, the Australian once against met his Parkinson, this time in the semi-final stage.
This time, the result of the battle came in Fanning’s favour, putting him into the Finals for the second time this season. Competing against South Africa’s Jordy Smith, the New South Wales-resident came up with a commendable performance, but was eventually
bested by the young South African sensation.
Despite getting a title shot twice, Fanning is yet to collect his first victory of the season. However, his exceptional performance in two of the four events has put him in No.4 slot on the 2011 ASP World Tour rankings. There may have been some apparent
issues with his consistency this season, but knowing the Australian and his past record, we can expect him to work out the kinks from his performance and get better and better as the season progresses.
To be continued in Part 5.
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