Adrian Buchan defeats Miguel Pupo to qualify for Quarter-finals at Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast
Australia’s Adrian Buchan got the better of Brazil’s Miguel Pupo in the fourth heat of Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast’s Round 5 that went down at Snapper Rocks in Queensland, Australia, on Tuesday, February 28.
The crucial victory in the fifth round served to add Buchan into the Quarter-finals line-up. Pupo, on the other hand, was forced to make a premature exit from the competition.
The opening stop of 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title series was expected to be nothing short of spectacular as the top surfers from around the globe were looking to get their campaign for the ASP World Title.
The ASP Dream Tour rookie Pupo had clinched the boasting honours for eliminating the former two-time ASP World Champion Mick Fanning of Australia from the competition during their Round 3 face-off. That particular performance was enough to convince anyone
that the young Brazilian sensation had the necessary skills to go all the way in the event.
However, the fourth day of the competition did not find him in the best of forms. He lost to South Africa’s Jordy Smith in the fourth round to get relegated to the fifth round, where he found himself pitted against Buchan, who had been forced to take a trip
to Round 5 following a defeat at the hands of Australia’s Taj Burrow.
As the battle for the final slot in the Quarter-finals got underway, both the surfers struggled to find good scores. The two-to-three foot waves were proving to be pretty challenging, keeping the surfers from unloading their technical tricks.
Pupo eventually broke free of the shackles to post a 6.07 on the score-board. He continued the momentum to add an additional 7.20 to his account to take his heat-total to 13.27 points.
Buchan went through a series of average wave-scores before eventually making a late charge to score a 7.00 and 7.03 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 14.03 points, consequently walking away with top honours.
With the conclusion of the fourth heat, the fourth day of Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast presented by Land Rover came to an end. The competition was scheduled to return to Snapper Rocks on Wednesday to start off with the Quarter-finals and head towards a possible
finish.
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