Maxime Huscenot wins the King of the Groms
The world's elite U16 surfers have had the honour of closing the 7th edition of the Quiksilver Pro France 2008. For the first time, the sole French stage of the ASP World Tour hosted the world final of the King of the Groms. Following a worldwide qualifying tour, sixteen surfers aged 16 and under came together in the Landes region of south-west France to compete for the much sought-after title of King of the Groms. The Reunionese Maxime Huscenot, dominant throughout the series, showed formidable cool-headedness in this extremely tight final, which he won in the dying seconds. Neck and neck with Kolohe Andino (USA), the French surfer won by the finest of margins, by 17.17 points to the American's 17.16. "It was a great final, not easy to win, the level was very high" explained Maxime after his series. In addition to the title, the surfer from Reunion will also have the privilege of competing in the trials for two legs of next season's ASP World Tour: the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast 2009 and the Quiksilver Pro France 2009. He will have the immense privilege of rubbing shoulders with the world's very best surfers. Eight-times World Surfing Champion Kelly Slater and 2007 Rookie of the Year Jérémy Florès, warmly congratulated the winner and all of the competitors, whose progress they followed with interest. "Amongst you, are no doubt those who will succeed us in the future..." declared the most successful surfer of all time, with a knowing smile.
Winner of a stage of the Pro Junior ASP tour (Santa Pro Junior – Spain) last June, and victorious at the unofficial World Championships in his age category, Maxime is certainly blazing an incredible trail this year.
Watched by prestigious older surfers like Miky Picon, Jérémy Florès or Dany Wills, all previous winners of this top junior surfing contest and now members of the world's elite club, the King of the Groms finalists enjoyed excellent conditions at the Spot des Estagnots in Seignosse, and the same infrastructure as the pros (judges, live webcast). Thanks to perfect and consistent waves, the Landes beach break proved a formidable hunting ground for the next generation of international surfers.
The other French contender, Dimitri Ouvré, who qualified at the European final in Capbreton last August, was not as successful as Maxime Huscenot, being knocked out in the second round of the competition.
This 2008 edition of the Quiksilver King of the Groms therefore ends on a triumphant note for one young Frenchman, Maxime Huscenot, a worthy successor to Jérémy Florès and the Euroforce.
Quiksilver King of the Groms Final 2008 - Results
1/ Maxime Huscenot (Fra)
2/ Kolohe Andino (USA)
3/ Matt Banting (Aus)
4/ Alex Dive (Nz)
Adrian Buchan wins the Quiksilver Pro France
Adrian Buchan (Avoca, Australia) won the Quiksilver Pro France presented by Orange today over 8-time ASP world champion Kelly Slater (Cocoa Beach, USA) in a thrilling and closely fought final. Buchan's win, the first WCT victory of his career, took away Slater's chance at clinching an unprecedented 9th world title at this event. Slater moves on to the next event in Mundaka, Spainwhere he needs only a 9th place finish to win the title. His 2nd place result, coming on the heels of 5 tour wins this year, pushed him even farther ahead of his closest rivals, Taj Burrow (Yallingup, Australia) and Bede Durbidge (Currumbin, Australia.) Brazil's Adriano De Souza (Guaruja, Brazil) and American Damien Hobgood (Satellite Beach, USA) finished in equal 3rd. De Souza's result rocketed him to 3rd in the world and equaled his career best result. Hobgood's finish helped him improve upon what has been an injury marred season. Rookie Dane Reynolds (Ventura, USA) whose explosive surfing stood out throughout the event, took a solid 5th place. He beat world #2 Taj Burrow in Round 4 and moved to the lead in the race for rookie of the year honors. Tahitian wildcard, Michel Bourez (Papara, French Polynesia), also made the quarterfinals and was very impressive in every heat he surfed. The waves remained in the 1-2 meterrange and the weather was ideal at LesEstagnotBeachin Hossegor and the world's best surfers put on quite a show during the four days of competition.
The ASP World Tour moves on next week to Mundaka, Spainand all eyes will again be on Kelly Slater in his quest for world title #9
Joan Duru finished 2nd at Rip Curl Pro Zarautz, WQS 5 Stars
Joan Duru made his best result of the season with his second place, behind Tim Boal. Aritz Aranburu and Michel Bourez finished 3rd.
At ninteen years of age, Duru confirmed his status of most promissing French surfer of the moment by getting a runner-up finish in the event, his best result to date.
"I am happy with that finish but there was not enough waves during the final and I did not surf my best," Duru said. "To get a second in a 5-Star event is great and it is another step on the WQS."
Duru, who has had a consistent first year on the WQS with several big results inlcuding a 5th in the US Open of Surfing and a 9th in the Rip Curl Pro Hossegor/Seignosse, secured 1750 points and remains a favorite within the rising European contingent.
"I am having a good time and a few results so far so I am definitely focused on qualifying," Duru said. "The few big results I got gave me confidence and I defeated some of the best surfers so I hope I am on the right path."
Cuurent ASP World Tour member and defending champion Aritz Aranburu (Zarautz, EUK) failed to reach a second consecutive final at his home break despite the massive support from the Basque crowd. Aranburu, who suffered a serious knee injury at the beginning of the year that kept him away from competition for three months, still showed he was back in a promissing form and will surf in the next ASP World Tour event in France confidently.
"I was not supposed to be here so I am stoked to make it to the semis at home," Aranburu said. "I was really hoping for a second consecutive title but I will take that 3rd, which is pretty good in a 5-Star event. I am stoked for Tim (Boal), Joan (Duru) and Michel (Bourez), we all had a good time and to all make the semis is great."
Aranburu, who clinches his best result of the year, left the water cheered by all Basque fans and is looking forward to seeing his home event grow.
"The event has been growing fast and well and we have had good waves," Aranburu said. "It pleases me a lot to see that Zarautz can become an important stop on the ASP World Qualifying Series (WQS). I am stoked with the week and I feel very well. My injury is definitely behind now."
Michel Bourez (Tahiti, PYF), 22, placed 3rd in the Rip Curl Pro Zarautz losing to Boal in a high performance battle. Bourez, who secured a second excellent result after his runner-up finish in Pantin, came up with the same powerful and progressive surfing he showed all week but was disappointed with his tactics.
"I was not patient enough and I thought the set waves would not make any difference," Bourez said. "I got lots of waves but Tim (Boal) chose the better ones. I knew it could turn this way if I had to surf against him because he has been smart in all his heats today. I should have been more relaxed."
Bourez seals the European leg with excellent results and will is back on track for a possible 2009 ASP World Tour qualification. The Tahitian charger will be a serious contender in the upcoming reefbreaks in Lanzarote in October.
"To get two big results in a row is what I needed to keep any qualification hope alive," Bourez said. "I would have prefered to win this one but it is a great confidence boost and the upcoming locations in Lanzarote and Hawaii usually suit my surfing well."
Michel and Joan will attend the next ASP World Tour event taking place in France as a wildcard.
Final :
Heat: Tim Boal (FRA) 16.34 pts Def. Joan Duru (FRA) 10.87 pts
Semifinals
Heat 1: Tim Boal (FRA) 15.17 pts Def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 13.66 pts
Heat 2: Joan Duru (FRA) 15.33 pts Def. Aritz Aranburu (EUK) 12.60 pts
Kelly Slater wins The Boost Mobile Pro at Trestles, California USA. His fifth event win out of the seven!
Kelly surfed against the odds to pull one of the biggest comebacks ever seen in surfing history to beat the in-form Taj Burrows. Taj had two great rides early in the final and his scores of 9.00 and 9.63 put Kelly in a combo situation. Kelly was left searching for two world-class rides just to save face, nevermind win. With all the work to do, Kelly laid everything on a rail, in the air and put his turns in reverse to manage a comeback from a seemingly impossible position. He scored a 9.70 then, in the dying seconds, Taj made the fatal error of allowing Kelly to catch a smaller wave, which proved to put the final nail in his own coffin. Kelly thoroughly destroyed the smaller wave, surfing with huge, committed and radical turns. His score of 9.27 met his requirements and he stole the win in true Slater style.
Kelly Slater had been having a great week. He won the Surfer magazine Poll for the 11th time. He scored the first 10-point wave and numerous 9-point waves at Trestles, in what turned out to be one of the highlight locations of the ASP World Tour this year. Besides the invaluable points, Kelly walked away with a massive 75,000$ cheque due to the additional generosity of the event sponsors.
French star and highest placed European surfer, Jeremy Flores, went into the event recovering from an ankle injury rated 13th but rose to 10th after his fantastic semi-final result. He earned his quarterfinal spot in the last ten seconds of his 4th round heat against reigning World Champion Mick Fanning. Jeremy pulled a radical high speed reverse to score 8.5 points. Jeremy then bettered it with a 9.07, linking fast-flowing combination turns that put Mick on the back foot. Jeremy said, "To beat the best, there is no better feeling than that." His semi-final placing matched his best result of the year, a 3rd at the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast event. Jeremy will continue his momentum straight into the next event at his home venue in SW France.
Dane Reynolds (rated 26th before but rose to 20th after the event) was the third Quiksilver rider to make it through to the final day of the event. He had already pulled out some amazing performances in the early rounds including a 9.77 wave score. He is renowned as one of the best free-surfers, having just won the best manoeuvre at the prestigious Surfer Poll awards, but hadn't yet put in a contest performance worthy of his level. He said, "I try to do a trick 60 times, make it once and get an award for it!"
Miky Picon had a 17th place finish losing out by 0.9 points in Round 3, even though he won his first heat. The result will better his rating and count towards his year-end result. Aritz finished 33rd and lost to Bruce Irons, the previous event winner. Both surfers can now look forward to home-crowd support when they compete in Europe in the coming fortnight.
Gabe Davies
Belly's blog will be in California for the Boost Mobile Pro in Trestles.
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