Mick Fanning's incredible gesture for young fan
Mick Fanning has shown his absolute class with a brilliant gesture for a young fan after his last hurrah at Snapper Rocks ended in disappointment.
The retiring surfing superstar was eliminated in the fourth round of his second last event on the World Surf League (WSL) tour on Wednesday.
The three-time world champion made a good start to the day at his home break when he downed Californian Conner Coffin in the third round.
But Fanning could not back that effort up in the fourth round later on Wednesday, as he finished last in his three-man heat.
As he was making his way out of the surf, Fanning was approached by a young fan seeking an autograph.
But the youngster got way more than he bargained for as Fanning gave him the very surfboard he had been riding.
The young boy didn't seem to realise what Fanning was doing at first, pressing the board into his arms.
But the realisation of the wonderful gesture made the young fan's day, if not year.
Fellow Australian and defending Quiksilver Pro champ Owen Wright dominated the round-four encounter with a two-wave combined score of 17.00 points.
Young Brazilian Tomas Hermes also advanced to the quarter-finals by finishing second with 11.20, while Fanning could do no better than 10.43.
Fanning will make his WSL swan song next month at Bells Beach.
"I gave (Fanning) a hug before we went out," said Wright.
"It was like 'it's been a pleasure doing business with you'.
"It was nice to go out there and have him and also Tomas, who's a rookie coming through.
"It was a nerve-wracking heat. Three-manners are usually pretty tough as far as (catching) lots of waves goes.
"I went out with a game plan to just get really busy and be on the front foot."
The giant-killing run of Wright's younger brother Mikey came to an end in the fourth round when he was outclassed by Brazilian Filipe Toledo (15.70) and Australian Adrian Buchan (14.60).
Wildcard entrant Wright had eliminated two-time defending world champ John John Florence and 2014 world title-holder Gabriel Medina in the previous two rounds.
with AAP