Adrian Buchan move to Round 3 of Billabong Rio Pro after claiming victory in tough Round 1 heat
Australia’s Adrian Buchan managed to claim top honours in the eighth heat of Billabong Rio Pro’s Round 1 that went down at the alternative venue of Arpoador in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday, May 9.
The successful result in Round 1 served to take Buchan directly into the third round. Brazil’s Gabriel Medina finished second, whereas Australia’s Yadin Nicol was forced to settle for third place. This led to the relegation of both the surfers into the second
round, giving them another chance to secure a spot in the third round.
With clean two-to-four foot left-handers gracing the beach-break of Arpoador on Wednesday, the event organisers opted to shift the opening round of the third of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour from Barra da Tijuca
to the secondary event site. The move proved to be rewarding as the surfing elite put on a series of exquisite performances during their Round 1 battles.
Buchan, current World No.11 on the ASP World Title rankings, found himself pitted against an in-form Medina and Nicol during the eighth heat of Round 1.
The 29-year-old Australian was made to work hard during his search for potential scoring opportunities during the course of the 30-minute wave-starved heat. However, a couple of juicy waves allowed him to post a 6.00 and spectacular 9.00 on the score-board
to reach a heat-total of 15.00 points. The score held up until the end to earn him victory and thus take him through into the third round.
“It was a slow heat and we almost had a restart,” Buchan said. “I knew Gabriel [Medina] was going to go to work on those inside ones and my strategy was to wait for the bigger sets. I finally got my chance with about three minutes to go.”
The 18-year-old Medina came to Brazil fresh off a victorious run at ASP PRIME Nike Lowers Pro that wrapped up at California, America, last week. He exhibited a promising form in his first heat of the latest elite tour event, posting a 6.67 and 7.57 on the
score-board for a heat-total of 14.24 points. However, a 0.76-point deficit forced him to settle for runner-up place.
Nicol finished in third place after collecting a couple of scores in the five-point range for a heat-total of 11.30 points. Both Medina and Nicol consequently got relegated to the second round.
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