Ferreira spoils Fanning’s fairytale Bells finish

MICK Fanning fell just short of a fairytale finish to his World Surf League career, going down in the final as the Rip Curl Pro closed out at Bells Beach last week.

Fanning – who lost to Italo Ferreira in clean, five-to-seven-foot conditions – now says goodbye to elite competition after 17 years on tour and 22 Championship Tour victories.

The Australian’s story has come full circle as he ends his career at the same event where he first won as a wildcard in 2001.

“Today was really special,” Fanning said.

“I always said I wanted to finish the year up here at Bells. Thanks so much to everyone. It has been incredible to see all the support in Torquay and the support of the fans. This is my 20th year of coming down to Bells Beach.

“I just want to thank my family for all the support you’ve shown over these years. Thank you to my friends that have flown down and making this so memorable. It’s been an amazing career, and I want to thank everyone.”

Ferreira’s win was the first Championship Tour victory of his career, and propelled him to joint WSL #1 alongside Julian Wilson.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “That was such a sick heat. I started slow, but after that it was amazing. Mick is one of my favourite surfers in the world. But wow, I can’t believe it. That was unbelievable.”

Six-time WSL champion Stephanie Gilmore earned the right to ring the Bells trophy for the fourth time with a close victory over Tatiana Weston-Webb in the Rip Curl Women’s Pro.

“It was such an emotional build-up to this moment and it is incredible,” Gilmore said. “I feel like all the focus is on Mick, so it doesn’t really matter what happens with the rest of the event – it was like I could sneak in and get a little ding ding and no one would even care, so it took the pressure off.”

Weston-Webb posted the highest scores throughout the Women’s Pro, including a 9.23 in round 2, but was 0.23 points behind when the buzzer sounded in the final.

“Even though I didn’t come away with the win, this just feels amazing,” she said. “I love coming to Bells Beach and all of the crowd support is amazing here. I’d like to thank all of the fans that come down so early in the cold.”