Adrian Buchan shows-off his adeptness at surviving in pressure situations at Quiksilver Pro France
Going against the best surfers at the greatest stage in the sport, the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour is never easy and Adrian Buchan knew this from first-hand experience.
The Australian surfer may not be a stranger to the pressure of competing at the big stage, but arriving in France for the seventh of ten stops on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, Quiksilver Pro France, it was not surprising to find him feeling a bit
jittery.
Sitting at the 14th spot on the ASP World Title rankings, there was plenty of reason for Buchan to aim for a good result at the main event site of La Graviere as it could move him into a stronger contention for the coveted title.
The waves on offer during the opening round of the competition were not easy to surf in, keeping a handful of elite surfers at bay.
Unfortunately for Buchan, he ended up on the list of surfers who failed to hold their own during the first round. Competing against his fellow countryperson Kieren Perrow and Julian Wilson, he failed to put on a solid performance and therefore ended up getting
relegated to the second round to surf again for a place in the third round.
Things were only going to get tougher for him during the elimination round as pitted against him in a battle for survival was Travis Logie. The South African had succumbed to Australia’s Mick Fanning during his Round 1 heat and thus got pushed into the relegation
round.
Both Buchan and Logie were well aware of getting over the Round 1 disappointment quickly and focusing on the latest battle at hand to successfully prevail over the other.
As the heat got underway on Wednesday, October 3, the two surfers failed to get off to the sort of start that they would have liked.
The shifting three-to-five foot waves breaking at the main event site pushed both Buchan and Logie on the back-foot, forcing them to revise whatever strategy they had devised to get their hands on a good score during their latest heat.
With the pressure of elimination hanging over their heads, the Australian and South African surfer continued to desperately search for a decent opportunity to capitalise on, though it seemed that Mother Nature had other plans for them.
After a pretty intense hunt, Buchan finally managed to break free of the shackles. Detecting a relatively juicy wave quite early, he quickly paddled towards it to get in a position to ride it. Unloading a series of powerful turns, he managed to earn 5.83
points for the effort, thus getting the need.
As the heat continued, he went on to add another 2.50 points to his account, thus moving to a heat-total of 8.33 points, which hardly seemed like a winning score, but judging by the conditions on hand, it was definitely too early to write him off.
However, Logie failed to offer any challenge to his rival and continued struggling to adjust to the waves on hand. He earned a mere 1.83 off the only wave that he was able to catch during the course of the battle, thus giving away a comprehensive victory
to his rival.
Buchan may have faltered during the opening round, but his determination enabled him to bounce back and qualify for the third round.
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