Ten-point rides, broken boards and wave hold down. The Round 2 of the Quiksilver Pro France was surfed in extreme beach break conditions, at La Graviere.
Four-to-six foot (1.5 – 2 metre) barrels were on offer for the win-or-nothing heat. Joel Parkinson opened up this afternoon’s action in sterling fashion against wildcard Wiggolly Dantas.
The stylish natural-footer threaded barrels on both his backhand and forehand to net the highest score of the round, an 18.27 out of a possible 20 to advance directly to Round 3. "I was just looking for a couple corners, and a couple of waves that were like medium scores, so to to find a couple of good ones and get good scores is unreal,” Parkinson said.
John John Florence bested fellow Hawaiian Dusty Payne, comfortably pulling into barrels and executing crowd-pleasing aerials to advance directly to Round 3.
“It was definitely scary (surfing in the elimination Round 2),” Florence stated. “Just going into Round 2 is scary, and coming up against Dusty (Payne) in waves like this, big barrels, I was pretty nervous throughout the whole heat cause all he (Payne) needed was a 7 and he could get that in his sleep.”
Talor Knox eliminated Adriano de Souza. After a slow start, Knox took command of the heat with two consecutive long righthanders to put De Souza in a complicated combination situation.
“It was great out there,” Knox said “It’s just nice to surf such good conditions. I was so stoked. C.J. (Hobgood) had a really good quote about here, he said ‘if you’re standing on the beach and the waves look perfect, you’ve already missed it’ so we got out there and it was a little funky but turned perfect so hopefully it stays great for for the rest of the day.”
Adding to the drama of the afternoon was the very real element of danger in the shallow conditions and Jeremy Flores suffered a horrific wipeout in his Round 2 bout against Yadin Nicol.
Despite Nicol free-falling into a phenomenal barrel for the first Perfect 10 of the event, a battered Flores would ultimately paddle back into the lineup to challenge the Australian and hold on for the win.
“Waves are fun but I got a two-wave hold down – I don’t think that’s ever happened to me in my whole life.” Flores said. “I mean, I’ve surfed big waves and that, but after that wipeout (which wasn’t that bad), the wave just held me down. I guess I’m pretty lucky that he didn’t get the second score, but for once I got lucky in a heat and I’ll take it.”
Quiksilver Pro France Round 2 Results:
Heat 1: Joel Parkinson (AUS) 18.27 def. Wiggolly Dantas (BRA) 2.66 Heat 2: John John Florence (HAW) 15.00 def. Dusty Payne (HAW) 8.40 Heat 3: Taylor Knox (USA) 16.80 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 14.44 Heat 4: Kolohe Andino (USA) 9.10 def. Josh Kerr (AUS) 4.90 Heat 5: Jeremy Flores (FRA) 12.50 def. Yadin Nicol (AUS) 12.00 Heat 6: Owen Wright (AUS) 16.76 def. Matt Wilkinson (AUS) 13.90 Heat 7: Julian Wilson (AUS) 17.77 def. Adam Melling (AUS) 4.30
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