Despite being comboed for the first half of the heat, Mick Fanning stuck to his immaculate rail game and came out victorious. Photo: WSL
Conditions remained in the doldrums throughout the morning, as the devilish onshore flow hung around for much of the day and made our competitors work extra hard to find that coping in the tricky conditions. Fortunately, the waves cleaned up, the sun came out, and the water turned a beautiful turquoise for the exciting final heat down at 2015 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.
After an intense battle, the elated Mick Fanning fist pumped his way to the winner’s podium where he received a warm congratulations and a hard-earned champagne bath from fellow competitor and runner up, Adriano de Souza. Adriano, undoubtedly a stand out throughout the entire contest, came out of the gates and put the pressure on Mick, but it was Mick Fanning who stuck to his immaculate rail game and came out on top.
Adriano was in form the entire event. Unfortunately, it was a deciding tiebreaker that hindered his chance at a second Bells Beach victory. Photo: WSL
With 14 minutes remaining in the the final heat, Adriano had the 3-time world champion comboed. In the dying minutes of the heat, Mick Fanning managed to climb out of the combo situation by locking in 8.17 and a 7.1, tying Adriano’s heat total score of 15.27. As the horn sounded the end of the heat, the tiebreaker was decided on Mick Fanning’s next single highest scoring ride of an 8.17 against Adriano’s 7.77. This heat marks the first-ever final decided by a tie.
This victory also marks the defending Rip Curl Pro champion’s 4th victory at Bells Beach, joining Mark Richards and Kelly Slater for the most wins ever in Torquay. Additionally, Mick Fanning will be wearing the honorable gold jersey heading into the final stop on the Australian leg at Margaret River. Congratulations to Mick Fanning, your 2015 Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach champion!
