John John Florence of Oahu, Hawaii won the Quiksilver Pro France, defeating Jadson Andre Florence. Photo: ASP/Poullenot
John John Florence won the Quik Pro France in massive conditions. As the swell rose, the Hawaiian worked his way through the ranks, methodically picking off his opponents before finding himself in a final against Jadson Andre.
After a slow start to the heat, Florence paddled into a huge, hollow barrel. The judges gave him a 7.00 and a commanding lead. By the mid-point of the heat, Andre only had a total of 4.57. While he made some huge drops, he was never quite able to find the waves that he needed. John John, however, put on a clinic. The big barrels suited Florence’s style perfectly, and he found another giant tube for an 8.00. This is his first win of the year. “It’s the best feeling in the world,” he said. He’s now sitting in fifth place in the world rankings.
Before the final, Andre drew Jordy Smith. Like the final, their heat started off slow, with both competitors struggling to find any real potential for high scores. Then Andre pulled onto a massive bomb of a left, pulled into an almost impossible barrel, and emerged to an erupting crowd on the beach and an 8.00 from the judges. Before Smith could think about catching up, Jadson found another giant wave – this one a righthander. After a steep drop, he pulled into another barrel and sent Smith packing.
Florence’s road to the final pitted him against Josh Kerr. Within a few minutes of the start of their Semi-final heat, JJF had a combined 10 points before Kerr could even find a wave. When he did, though, he got covered up in a clean tube for a 6.83, but John John wasn’t stopping. His next wave was an 8.00 that gave him a solid lead that he would hold onto until the horn.
