- 2017-04-09
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SPORTS
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Donate to support families affected by the crisis in Ukraine ➔ World Surf League: Men's Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, John John Florence Wins
The final day of Men's Drug Aware Margaret River Pro, following Women's event, the Quarterfinal, the Semifinals and the Final ran in six-to-eight foot waves perfect conditions at Main Break on April 9, 2017.
John John Florence (HAW) claimed his first victory of 2017 WSL tour, took down Kolohe Andino (USA) with 19.03 in the Final.
Current World Champion John John Florence dominated other competitors on these waves size like his home town Hawaii, in which he could do tube riding, ripping, layback, cutback and everything. In fact, nobody could beat him in this event.
He injured his right elbow during Heat 1 of the Semifinals, but after injuring, he continued to draw high level surfing.
This result marks he moves up to top WSL tour ranking.
While, runner-up Kolohe Andino defeated Jordy Smith (ZAF) in the Quarterfinals with 18.77 and the following, he eliminated Filipe Toledo (BRA) in the Semifinals. But both of results were close. And halfway through Heat 2 of the Semifinals, the competition was suspended for a short time with shark presence. Event organizers fully assessed the area before resuming the event.
After the Final, John John Florence said;
"This is one of my favourite places to come to in the world. There is such an abundance of different and amazing waves. The crowd we get for the event is awesome and it’s just such a special event. Thank you to my mom and family. My mom would take me and my brothers to all of our surfing events when we were kids and was always supportive. I wish she was here to celebrate, but I know they are watching at home. My support crew here has been really great and fun to surf and just hang out with, so thank you to those guys.
I was really excited to get out there and just stay focused on my own surfing at this event. I feel like I learned a ton last year. I have been working closely on my equipment and my boards feel incredible right now. Surfing against Kolohe [Andino] in the Final was really cool. He used to always beat me in the national events when we were kids, so it was nice to get one back on him."
Runner-up Kolohe Andino said;
“I’m really stoked with this event. The waves today -- and the entire event for that matter -- have been awesome. You can’t ask for much more than big swell and offshore winds. I know I work as hard as anyone else on tour and my surfing is there, but I just need to work on competing right. This event was really John’s [Florence] to lose. I am glad I was on the other side of the draw as he was ripping so hard all event. I’ve been competing against John since as long as I can remember and he has always pushed me a lot, so it was cool to share a CT Final with him.”
Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Men’s Final Results:
F 1: John John Florence (HAW) 19.03 def. Kolohe Andino (USA) 13.60
Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Men’s Semifinals Results:
SF 1: John John Florence (HAW) 19.27 def. Jack Freestone (AUS) 10.57
SF 2: Kolohe Andino (USA) 15.63 def. Filipe Toledo (BRA) 15.00
Drug Aware Margaret River Pro Men’s Quarterfinals Results:
QF 1: Jack Freestone (AUS) 10.50 def. Owen Wright (AUS) 5.50
QF 2: John John Florence (HAW) 18.04 def. Michel Bourez (PYF) 15.77
QF 3: Filipe Toledo (BRA) 12.83 def. Adriano de Souza (BRA) 10.33
QF 4: Kolohe Andino (USA) 18.77 def. Jordy Smith (ZAF) 16.86
All photos copyright by World Surf League.- source : World Surf League
