Adrian Buchan and Patrick Gudauskas win in Round 5 of the ASP PRIME Nike Lowers Pro
Australia’s Adrian Buchan and America’s Patrick Gudauskas walked away with top honours from their respective Round 5 (no-loser Round of 24) heats at Nike Lowers Pro, an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME event, which went down at the fabled beach-break of Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California, on Thursday, May 3.
The success in their Round 5 heats enabled both Buchan and Gudauskas to confidently move into the seventh round (Round of 16). Australia’s Jay Thompson and his fellow countrymen Mark Occhilupo and Blake Thornton, along with America's Nathan Yeomans moved into the relegation round following their failure to clinch victory.
The entertainment continued at the primary event site as the top surfing talent from around the world took each other on in three-man battles during the fifth round of the competition. There was plenty of motivation to keep the surfers pushing hard as they sought to ensure their survival in the event and gradually make their way towards the coveted ASP ranking points, prestigious event title and a slice of the huge prize purse.
The seventh heat saw Buchan take on his compatriots Thompson and Blake Thornton in a three-man bout.
It turned out to be an intense affair, with plenty of exquisite tricks getting landed during a determined search for a big score. Buchan, however, managed to eventually steal the show with his remarkable performance. He scored a 7.17 off his first business-wave and backed it up with an 8.00-point ride to finish with a winning heat-total of 15.17 points.
Thompson moved into the sixth round as well after finishing with a heat-total of 13.60 points, which included a 6.17 and 7.43-point wave.
Thornton was forced to take a trip to Round 6 after finishing bottom with a heat-total of 13.20 points, which included a couple of scores in the six-point range.
The eighth heat featured an enthralling performance by Gudauskas as he utilised his local knowledge of the waves and skills to collect a 7.00 and 8.53 off two juicy waves that appeared during the heat. The resultant heat-total of 15.53 points earned him the win and thus carried him through into the next round.
Occhilupo, former ASP World Champion, got relegated to Round 6 despite yet another solid performance that allowed him to get to a heat-total of 13.83 points for runner-up place.
Yeomans failed to make much of an impact during the heat, collecting a 4.17 and 4.40 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 8.57 points. This resulted in his relegation to Round 6 of the event.
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