Australian surfers gain confidence after impressive wins in Round 3 at Quiksilver Pro France
The third round of Quiksilver Pro France has not been going great for the Australian surfers, save for a few, which included Joel Parkinson and Adrian Buchan, who had managed to successfully advance through into the fourth round safely.
However, they got joined by more fellow compatriots as Owen Wright and Kieren Perrow also claimed top honours in their respective Round 3 heats after getting the better of Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia and France’s Jeremy Flores respectively.
Quiksilver Pro France, seventh of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, had turned out to be an event full of upsets and surprises, with some of the top contenders for the title getting eliminated before
the competition even reached Round 4.
The shifty conditions prevailing at the main event site of La Graviere in Hossegor, France, offered very little opportunity to the surfers to capitalise on, thus keeping them under immense pressure throughout their battles.
Wright had become a victim of the demanding waves on day one of the competition, which had forced him to take a longer and more testing road into the third round. Despite managing to survive the elimination round, his troubles seemed to be far from over
as he found himself pitted against Patacchia in a one-on-one battle for survival during the third round.
As the better got underway, the Hawaiian surfer got off to an ordinary start, earning a 3.40 off his first business-wave and later added an additional 5.00 points to his account, thus reaching a heat-total of 8.40 points.
Wright did not get off to the best of starts either, but was quick to recover and find his rhythm. Locking his first business-wave, the Australian powerhouse unloaded a series of exquisite tricks to post a 7.00 on the score-board and went on to back it up
with another combination of impressive tricks to earn an 8.40 for the effort, thus reaching a heat-total of 15.40 points.
The excellent performance by Wright served to earn him a comprehensive victory over Patacchia, carrying him through into the fourth round while bringing the event to an end for his rival in the process.
The 10th heat featured another Australian battling it out for survival against a local surfer. Perrow was clearly at a disadvantage while facing-off with Flores, who had both the local knowledge of the waves as well as ample support from the crowd
in attendance at La Graviere.
As the contest got underway, Flores wasted absolutely no time to show-off his confidence with an impressive 7.50-minute ride.
Perrow, however, looked a bit uneasy out there in the sea, clearly struggling to find his rhythm. However, he still managed to find himself a 4.00-point wave to keep the hope of taking out the heat alive.
As the heat progressed, the Australian surfer stepped up to lock a juicy peak, which he utilised to unleash a combination of stylish tricks, getting an 8.77 from the judges. The exquisite ride took him to heat-total of 12.77 points.
Despite getting off to an excellent start, Flores failed to capitalize on the opportunity and only managed to add an additional 3.00 points to his account off his second business-wave. As a result, he finished with a heat-total of 10.50 points. The 2.27-point
ride resulted in his removal from the contention for the event title.
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