WSL France: Flying Under or Above the Radar
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| Image World Surf League Toledo Airborne setting standards at France |
Flying Under or Above the Radar pays off big at the World Surf League. On October 12 Keanu Asing shocked the World winning the Quiksilver Pro. Asing has been flying under the radar all year long. Got into France ranked 33 and by the time he was done with JJ Florence and Medina in the final moved to 21st position in the ranking. But Asing was not alone in the French airborne waters...
On the Race for the World Title, Top Ten and Requalification the WSL Elite Riders showed up to hack France´s bumby waters. Ocean conditions were varied and mostly dominated by rough seas, shaky whitewaters, mid-to-low waves, confusing winds, clouded skies, runny tides and tricky currents. Some crazy, inspired and talented managed to force airs and tubes into the waves despite these conditions and stolled the show.
France ride scores saw abundant 4s to 6s and few 8s, 9s, and 10s. Only a handful of surfers of the CT brought down something spectacular to the Show Down. Flying Above the Radar Medina and JJ shined. Flying Under the Radar -in Full Stealth Mode Felipe Toledo, Keanu Asing, Leo Fioravanti and Kolohe Andino delivered the most exciting rides.
By the time Semifinal set sands in France Florence was up against Keanu Asing and Medina faced the more aggressive Kolohe Andino who carved his way to the Top.
Gabriel Medina and John John Florence both still Ranked 1st and 2nd delivered in harsh conditions. Neither surfers crossed paths throughout the entire event. France ended leaving Florence still wearing the Yellow Jersey.
Medina flew to the Final taking on Andino which never seem to find his full pace during the heat. Andino did carve and rail it hard but fell and incompleted several moves. The ocean waves were modest to say the least and power and speed nowhere to be truly found but because the event had ran out of days the WSL Commission decided to roll with it. Medina found ways to ramp up into the air and continued flowing. Surfing over 15 waves in the heat Medina was restless. Carve, rail, hack, lip, finish off was mostly all that was on offer. Medina moved to the final.
JJ Florence fought against Asing on the Semifinal and went down in two air maneuvers. The ocean seemed to slow down even more and this did not help at all but Asing found himself in his element and took doors to the Final.
The final at France was intense not because of the waves but because of the pace which Medina and Asing accelerated to. Wave after wave, response after response, each other breathing down the neck of their opponent moved from 3s to 4s to 7s on the scoreboard. Medina saw one of his numbers taken down by an interference call. Asing carve after carve saw the opportunity and finished it off. The heat ended with Medina on the beach waiting for Asing to ride out from the Ocean, then they crossed words, Medina congratulated Asing and hugged him off to a fully crowded celebrating beach.
At France JJ had to battle his way to the Semifinal while Medina flowed by more easily unchallenged. The look in both Medina and JJ´s eyes has changed. They are beyond focused, supposedly detached and “gloved-up” battling under pressure for the World Title. It was sure easier to watch the two talented surfers ride before the “Brazilian Social Media Crisis” and before there “was so much at stake -World Title and all” but make no mistake WSL is a professional sport organization, competition is harsh and sometimes can be a turn-off.
Julian Wilson -now ranked 6 has been on a spectacular blood-bleeding radical roll moving up the ranking ladder in the past stops. At France he moved up 3 positions making it to Quarter finals. Wilson did all this never setting full gears and this speaks of just how dangerous the rider is. No doubt that Julian Wilson´s magic is far from over. If he steps on that gas once again he could deadly. Wilson took home the recent Trestles win, rode it out hard at Tahiti, saw Semifinal waters at J-Bay and on and on. Now in Ranked 6th Wilson is stuck between Andino, Toledo and Slater in the Top Ten Mix.
Matt Wilkinson´s road once again was over fast. The rider packed bags early in Heat 12 of Round 3 -despite all that much which most expected from him. Even after his latest performances Wilkinson is Ranked 3rd and the rider keeps smiling. Some want to see him up and running again.
Kelly Slater also took an early fall at France. The fall caused a 3 position damage. Now Slater is ranked 8 in the World. Slater took a rollercoaster high Top 10 road in less just 6 months. Is that rollercoaster over? Not Likely given that Pipe is the light at the end of the tunnel. At France Slater was shaken in Round 1 Heat 2 by heavy waves. After that heat was over -one which he lost against Keanu Asing the entire day of competition was cancelled. That is how bad the weather was and how dangerous the Ocean was becoming. Unlucky this time Slater´s unpredictability is still poised to give a show. With two more stops to go what can and can't Slater do is nearly impossible to answer. Whatever way it goes the Legend has sure nothing to prove. The Slater 2016 Statement is as clear as water.
Felipe Toledo going into France Ranked 11 moved up 4 positions to settle in a deserved 7 Rank. It is hard to say that Toledo is surfer which rides Under the Radar given his amazing performances and career but lucky for viewers and sport enthusiasts Toledo still emanates that feeling. Again Toledo became one of the big stars at France. Despite little on offer Toledo took on massive airs and tube rode responses to heated Florence. Florence and Toledo faced each other not one but twice in France, the result was more than warning shots of crazy talent.
By now it is no secret that Toledo has generated perhaps the best airs and rides of the year. Dressing in full red neoprene -the “Genius in Red” broke hard into 2016. Every time he showed up he delivered extremely strong and innovative surfing. His carves and hacks are wild, his airs are unique and set high standards and his inner force is making huge noise. Toledo had to miss out on part of the start of the year due to his Australian injury and returned even looking sharper. Now in a deserved Top 10 position there is no doubt that if Toledo continues on this “his own path” he will be one of the biggest names for this year and the years to come. In France Toledo was the only rider to get a Full 10 -agreed by all Judges for his performance. That 10 was during the heat the WSL described as the “Heat of the Year”.
"You've gotta go big," Toledo said after the epic clash. "Round Four is good to try crazy stuff. Thank God that wave came to me...John is the best surfer in the World to me. We spent time together in Brazil last year, we're friends but we're kind of enemies in a heat. It's always fun, we're putting on a show."
The aerial showdown between Toledo and JJ continued in the Quarterfinals -where both had much more too loose. Toledo took the fall with JJ delivering his classics. However, Toledo's Signature is now becoming more than evident. Every big heat that comes Toledo´s way is a heat worth watching. The man just knows his surf.
One of the most exciting questions in the World of Professional Surfing and the CT World Tour is who will be in and who will be out in 2017. That question is being answered in these the final stops of the 2016 World Tour. It is not only CT rankings which are shaking and molding, the QS rankings are also taking final shapes. They will be coming, new rookies - fresh new guns of 2017. Watching new talents rise gives the Sport a needed refreshed view, it is like taking a deep breathe before duck diving.
No one has been playing that game better than Leonardo Fioravanti. Leo referred to as “the Future” of surf proves that the “future” once again comes from unexpected places, not from Brazil, nor Australiana nor the US, the kid rocks it straight from Italy Rome Born -now living in France, plain weird!? This rider -of insolit origins already made several Wildcard appearances this year and rocked it. Fioravanti has been leading the QS Ranking for long time now so while he is not entirely a new face he has a mystic thing about him. Leo continues to gain water and continues to face -and mostly win or rattle Top Ten Surfers of the CT World Tour.
Leo is for sure the Rookie Revelation out of the Bag and at France he not only took down his friend Slater again -he had taken him down in the early year at Margaret Australia but he took Medina “to the Wire” as well. WSL commentators interceded that Leo knows France as his second home and knows Slater so that “makes him comfortable” but word to be said acting as a Wildcard he is recklessly irresponsible for World Rankings! It seems like Leo always finds way to use his knowledge to break down his opponents at Heat. It is no secret that he has shared lots of time with Slater and that Slater is whispering into his ears. Out in the Ocean where he is alone he is dropping 8s and 9s, making some dreams come true and breaking others in the meantime.
“The Italian Wildcard utilized local knowledge to thread the best barrel of the morning, earning an 8.57. His solid tube/turn combo left Medina scrambling for a response. In the end, Medina squeaked through when Leo failed to find a decent backup score,” WSL reported on the France heat between Leo and Medina.
“The Italian (who's been living in France since he was 12) improved to a 2-0 lifetime record against his mentor Kelly Slater, advancing to Round Three. Get used to Leo's face, because you're going to be seeing a lot of it,” WSL read the obvious writing on the wall.
Sitting on Leo´s Corner is “Stephen ‘Belly' Bell the long time Quiksilver caddy/pit boss” mostly known for his work with Slater. All been said, right?
But there are others in the water too, others who are interesting to watch, riders which have a way about themselves on the ride, something about them and their style…
Kolohe Andino is one of those “something about him” guys. To see Kolohe Andino back up again riding the high peaks is exciting. His own particular style of surfing is something to be on the lookout for. At France he carved his way in and out to the Semifinals and only fell to Medina. Andino is now ranked 5 in the Jeep Leaderboard moving up 5 positions in just one stop. It just becomes interesting when he gets into this positions and upsets the natural balance of what everyone thinks will happen. Andino is not unknown and far from it but he still feels like a vanguard surf-cult-way-of-life rider. At times he seems to be as silent as the sky and then unexpectedly is as loud as the wildest ocean.
“Andino's opening wave made all the difference in his Quarterfinal heat against Kai Otton. The Californian hacked his way to a 7.67 before the wind switched, and conditions deteriorated. Kai was left scrambling around the lineup looking for a clean face that never came. However, Kolohe's work is far from over. He will face World No. 2 Gabriel Medina in the Semis,” WSL reported from France.
From here it seems like for Andino Surf is not “work” at all and that facing number 2 or 1 or even 77 seems to worry him little and amuse him a lot. Andino was born into the Ocean. To see more of Kolohe would not only be thrilling but humbling mysterious.
With Portugal and Hawaii to go the Race for the World Title is far from over. Medina state of mind is also mysterious.
“Gabriel Medina strode defiantly into the Quarters...Medina, carrying a vibe that marries an unlikely combination of focus with mild detachment appears to be saving himself to peak in the business end of the event. But only just,” WSL reported.
The pressure on JJ was not less.
“John John Florence faced a different set...Could he avoid getting bogged down in a stodgy Round Five heat with defending World Champ Adriano de Souza? Could he out-gun Filipe Toledo in a rematch of yesterday afternoon's madness? And indeed, would his recently-troubled knee hold up to the rigours of the brutal air show their Quarter Final surely promised to be? The answer to the first two was yes, just about. The third… what knee injury?” WSL asked
Lots of questions for the Rider riding the Yellow Jersey. But is that all it has come down to? Unlikely again. JJ Florence´s Surf continues to be impeccable. No words found.
"It was perfect conditions for Filipe out there. Early on I kinda got caught up trying to do airs, and had to bring myself back. It was really dumpy on the inside with the super low tide, running really fast. It wasn't easy. It kinda reminded me of surfing at home at Ehukai," Florence said during France road to semifinals.
"I was feeling tired before the heat after yesterday," Medina said on his way to semifinals. "I'm glad I landed my airs and made it, it's always hard against Julian. John is good to fight for the title. It's hard man, not because it's John, but it's just hard. I'm just concentrating on doing my job, I can't depend on the other surfers. I need to make heats, win contests, and that's pretty much it," Medina kicked it.
Portugal, Hawaii, Thinking 2017…
Under or Above the Radar?
Flying that´s for sure.
Airborne.
On the Race for the World Title, Top Ten and Requalification the WSL Elite Riders showed up to hack France´s bumby waters. Ocean conditions were varied and mostly dominated by rough seas, shaky whitewaters, mid-to-low waves, confusing winds, clouded skies, runny tides and tricky currents. Some crazy, inspired and talented managed to force airs and tubes into the waves despite these conditions and stolled the show.
France ride scores saw abundant 4s to 6s and few 8s, 9s, and 10s. Only a handful of surfers of the CT brought down something spectacular to the Show Down. Flying Above the Radar Medina and JJ shined. Flying Under the Radar -in Full Stealth Mode Felipe Toledo, Keanu Asing, Leo Fioravanti and Kolohe Andino delivered the most exciting rides.
By the time Semifinal set sands in France Florence was up against Keanu Asing and Medina faced the more aggressive Kolohe Andino who carved his way to the Top.
Gabriel Medina and John John Florence both still Ranked 1st and 2nd delivered in harsh conditions. Neither surfers crossed paths throughout the entire event. France ended leaving Florence still wearing the Yellow Jersey.
Medina flew to the Final taking on Andino which never seem to find his full pace during the heat. Andino did carve and rail it hard but fell and incompleted several moves. The ocean waves were modest to say the least and power and speed nowhere to be truly found but because the event had ran out of days the WSL Commission decided to roll with it. Medina found ways to ramp up into the air and continued flowing. Surfing over 15 waves in the heat Medina was restless. Carve, rail, hack, lip, finish off was mostly all that was on offer. Medina moved to the final.
JJ Florence fought against Asing on the Semifinal and went down in two air maneuvers. The ocean seemed to slow down even more and this did not help at all but Asing found himself in his element and took doors to the Final.
The final at France was intense not because of the waves but because of the pace which Medina and Asing accelerated to. Wave after wave, response after response, each other breathing down the neck of their opponent moved from 3s to 4s to 7s on the scoreboard. Medina saw one of his numbers taken down by an interference call. Asing carve after carve saw the opportunity and finished it off. The heat ended with Medina on the beach waiting for Asing to ride out from the Ocean, then they crossed words, Medina congratulated Asing and hugged him off to a fully crowded celebrating beach.
At France JJ had to battle his way to the Semifinal while Medina flowed by more easily unchallenged. The look in both Medina and JJ´s eyes has changed. They are beyond focused, supposedly detached and “gloved-up” battling under pressure for the World Title. It was sure easier to watch the two talented surfers ride before the “Brazilian Social Media Crisis” and before there “was so much at stake -World Title and all” but make no mistake WSL is a professional sport organization, competition is harsh and sometimes can be a turn-off.
Julian Wilson -now ranked 6 has been on a spectacular blood-bleeding radical roll moving up the ranking ladder in the past stops. At France he moved up 3 positions making it to Quarter finals. Wilson did all this never setting full gears and this speaks of just how dangerous the rider is. No doubt that Julian Wilson´s magic is far from over. If he steps on that gas once again he could deadly. Wilson took home the recent Trestles win, rode it out hard at Tahiti, saw Semifinal waters at J-Bay and on and on. Now in Ranked 6th Wilson is stuck between Andino, Toledo and Slater in the Top Ten Mix.
Matt Wilkinson´s road once again was over fast. The rider packed bags early in Heat 12 of Round 3 -despite all that much which most expected from him. Even after his latest performances Wilkinson is Ranked 3rd and the rider keeps smiling. Some want to see him up and running again.
Kelly Slater also took an early fall at France. The fall caused a 3 position damage. Now Slater is ranked 8 in the World. Slater took a rollercoaster high Top 10 road in less just 6 months. Is that rollercoaster over? Not Likely given that Pipe is the light at the end of the tunnel. At France Slater was shaken in Round 1 Heat 2 by heavy waves. After that heat was over -one which he lost against Keanu Asing the entire day of competition was cancelled. That is how bad the weather was and how dangerous the Ocean was becoming. Unlucky this time Slater´s unpredictability is still poised to give a show. With two more stops to go what can and can't Slater do is nearly impossible to answer. Whatever way it goes the Legend has sure nothing to prove. The Slater 2016 Statement is as clear as water.
Felipe Toledo going into France Ranked 11 moved up 4 positions to settle in a deserved 7 Rank. It is hard to say that Toledo is surfer which rides Under the Radar given his amazing performances and career but lucky for viewers and sport enthusiasts Toledo still emanates that feeling. Again Toledo became one of the big stars at France. Despite little on offer Toledo took on massive airs and tube rode responses to heated Florence. Florence and Toledo faced each other not one but twice in France, the result was more than warning shots of crazy talent.
By now it is no secret that Toledo has generated perhaps the best airs and rides of the year. Dressing in full red neoprene -the “Genius in Red” broke hard into 2016. Every time he showed up he delivered extremely strong and innovative surfing. His carves and hacks are wild, his airs are unique and set high standards and his inner force is making huge noise. Toledo had to miss out on part of the start of the year due to his Australian injury and returned even looking sharper. Now in a deserved Top 10 position there is no doubt that if Toledo continues on this “his own path” he will be one of the biggest names for this year and the years to come. In France Toledo was the only rider to get a Full 10 -agreed by all Judges for his performance. That 10 was during the heat the WSL described as the “Heat of the Year”.
"You've gotta go big," Toledo said after the epic clash. "Round Four is good to try crazy stuff. Thank God that wave came to me...John is the best surfer in the World to me. We spent time together in Brazil last year, we're friends but we're kind of enemies in a heat. It's always fun, we're putting on a show."
The aerial showdown between Toledo and JJ continued in the Quarterfinals -where both had much more too loose. Toledo took the fall with JJ delivering his classics. However, Toledo's Signature is now becoming more than evident. Every big heat that comes Toledo´s way is a heat worth watching. The man just knows his surf.
One of the most exciting questions in the World of Professional Surfing and the CT World Tour is who will be in and who will be out in 2017. That question is being answered in these the final stops of the 2016 World Tour. It is not only CT rankings which are shaking and molding, the QS rankings are also taking final shapes. They will be coming, new rookies - fresh new guns of 2017. Watching new talents rise gives the Sport a needed refreshed view, it is like taking a deep breathe before duck diving.
No one has been playing that game better than Leonardo Fioravanti. Leo referred to as “the Future” of surf proves that the “future” once again comes from unexpected places, not from Brazil, nor Australiana nor the US, the kid rocks it straight from Italy Rome Born -now living in France, plain weird!? This rider -of insolit origins already made several Wildcard appearances this year and rocked it. Fioravanti has been leading the QS Ranking for long time now so while he is not entirely a new face he has a mystic thing about him. Leo continues to gain water and continues to face -and mostly win or rattle Top Ten Surfers of the CT World Tour.
Leo is for sure the Rookie Revelation out of the Bag and at France he not only took down his friend Slater again -he had taken him down in the early year at Margaret Australia but he took Medina “to the Wire” as well. WSL commentators interceded that Leo knows France as his second home and knows Slater so that “makes him comfortable” but word to be said acting as a Wildcard he is recklessly irresponsible for World Rankings! It seems like Leo always finds way to use his knowledge to break down his opponents at Heat. It is no secret that he has shared lots of time with Slater and that Slater is whispering into his ears. Out in the Ocean where he is alone he is dropping 8s and 9s, making some dreams come true and breaking others in the meantime.
“The Italian Wildcard utilized local knowledge to thread the best barrel of the morning, earning an 8.57. His solid tube/turn combo left Medina scrambling for a response. In the end, Medina squeaked through when Leo failed to find a decent backup score,” WSL reported on the France heat between Leo and Medina.
“The Italian (who's been living in France since he was 12) improved to a 2-0 lifetime record against his mentor Kelly Slater, advancing to Round Three. Get used to Leo's face, because you're going to be seeing a lot of it,” WSL read the obvious writing on the wall.
Sitting on Leo´s Corner is “Stephen ‘Belly' Bell the long time Quiksilver caddy/pit boss” mostly known for his work with Slater. All been said, right?
But there are others in the water too, others who are interesting to watch, riders which have a way about themselves on the ride, something about them and their style…
Kolohe Andino is one of those “something about him” guys. To see Kolohe Andino back up again riding the high peaks is exciting. His own particular style of surfing is something to be on the lookout for. At France he carved his way in and out to the Semifinals and only fell to Medina. Andino is now ranked 5 in the Jeep Leaderboard moving up 5 positions in just one stop. It just becomes interesting when he gets into this positions and upsets the natural balance of what everyone thinks will happen. Andino is not unknown and far from it but he still feels like a vanguard surf-cult-way-of-life rider. At times he seems to be as silent as the sky and then unexpectedly is as loud as the wildest ocean.
“Andino's opening wave made all the difference in his Quarterfinal heat against Kai Otton. The Californian hacked his way to a 7.67 before the wind switched, and conditions deteriorated. Kai was left scrambling around the lineup looking for a clean face that never came. However, Kolohe's work is far from over. He will face World No. 2 Gabriel Medina in the Semis,” WSL reported from France.
From here it seems like for Andino Surf is not “work” at all and that facing number 2 or 1 or even 77 seems to worry him little and amuse him a lot. Andino was born into the Ocean. To see more of Kolohe would not only be thrilling but humbling mysterious.
With Portugal and Hawaii to go the Race for the World Title is far from over. Medina state of mind is also mysterious.
“Gabriel Medina strode defiantly into the Quarters...Medina, carrying a vibe that marries an unlikely combination of focus with mild detachment appears to be saving himself to peak in the business end of the event. But only just,” WSL reported.
The pressure on JJ was not less.
“John John Florence faced a different set...Could he avoid getting bogged down in a stodgy Round Five heat with defending World Champ Adriano de Souza? Could he out-gun Filipe Toledo in a rematch of yesterday afternoon's madness? And indeed, would his recently-troubled knee hold up to the rigours of the brutal air show their Quarter Final surely promised to be? The answer to the first two was yes, just about. The third… what knee injury?” WSL asked
Lots of questions for the Rider riding the Yellow Jersey. But is that all it has come down to? Unlikely again. JJ Florence´s Surf continues to be impeccable. No words found.
"It was perfect conditions for Filipe out there. Early on I kinda got caught up trying to do airs, and had to bring myself back. It was really dumpy on the inside with the super low tide, running really fast. It wasn't easy. It kinda reminded me of surfing at home at Ehukai," Florence said during France road to semifinals.
"I was feeling tired before the heat after yesterday," Medina said on his way to semifinals. "I'm glad I landed my airs and made it, it's always hard against Julian. John is good to fight for the title. It's hard man, not because it's John, but it's just hard. I'm just concentrating on doing my job, I can't depend on the other surfers. I need to make heats, win contests, and that's pretty much it," Medina kicked it.
Portugal, Hawaii, Thinking 2017…
Under or Above the Radar?
Flying that´s for sure.
Airborne.
