Adriano de Souza and John John Florence advance to Round 4 of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach
Brazil’s Adriano de Souza and Hawaii’s John John Florence made their way through into the fourth round of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, the latest stop of 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title Series, which resumed at Bells Beach in Victoria,
Australia, on Thursday, April 5.
De Souza got the better of Australia’s Yadin Nicol in the first heat to confirm his place in the fourth round while eliminating the latter from the contention for event title.
The second heat saw Australia’s Matt Wilkinson succumb to Florence in the second round, consequently getting eliminated from the competition while sending the latter to the next round of the competition.
The clean four-to-six waves breaking at the primary event site on Thursday served to create an exciting stage for a series of exciting battles that were scheduled to over the course of the day. The large crowd in attendance anticipated a heavy dose of thrilling
action as the world’s best surfers took each other on in a battle for the Round 4 spot.
Squaring off with Nicol in the first heat of Round 3, De Souza came up with an impressive performance to take the win. The Brazilian surfer got off to a slow start, but gradually built momentum to post a 5.00 on the score-board. Scoring an additional 7.33
to his account in the final minutes of the heat, De Souza finished with a heat-total of 12.33 points.
Nicol failed to challenge his rival’s score as he struggled during his hunt for a scoring opportunity. After a long and determined search, he eventually finished with a heat-total of 9.60 points, which included a 4.00 and 5.60 points. As a result, he was
forced to concede victory to De Souza.
The second heat saw Florence and Wilkinson take each other on in a man-on-man fight for the Round 4 spot.
The Hawaiian surfer got off to solid start, locking his first business-wave to score a 7.67 on the score-board. He went through a series of average-scores before posting a 6.30-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 13.97 points.
Wilkinson opened his account with a 6.93-point wave and later backed it up with a 2.70-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 9.63 points. The lacklustre performance led to his defeat while sending Florence into the fourth round of the competition.
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