Bede Durbidge prevails over Fredrick Patacchia in Round 2 of Billabong Rio Pro
Australia’s Bede Durbidge successfully secured his place in Round 3 of Billabong Rio Pro, the latest stop on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, after getting a comprehensive victory over Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia in the seventh
heat of Round 2 that went down at the main event site of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday, May 14.
With two consecutive losses to his name, Patacchia found himself removed from the contention for the event title.
While the first round of the latest elite tour event went down in tricky one-to-two foot waves at the alternative event venue of Arpoador, the event organisers decided to keep the second round on hold until the conditions improved. After a wait of five days,
the main event site of Barra da Tijuca began to offer four-to-six foot barrels. The world’s top surfers entered the sea once again for a long rest to compete for survival and edge closer to the event title.
The seventh heat of Round 2 pitted Durbidge against Patacchia in a battle for the Round 3 spot. Both the surfers had looked pretty uneasy while surfing at Arpoador on Wednesday, consequently relegating them into the elimination round. While the first loss
had not proved costly, another unsuccessful result meant elimination from the competition, thus requiring the two surfers to give their all during their Round 2 clash.
As the heat kicked-off, Durbidge got off to an ideal start, locking his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the man-on-man battle to pull off a series of exquisite tricks to post an 8.00 on the score-board. He backed it up with a modest 4.00-point
ride to reach a heat-total of 12.00 points.
Patacchia did not look any more comfortable in his latest heat than he had looked on day 1 of the competition. The Hawaiian surfer also turned out to be short on luck, with hardly any potential scoring opportunities heading his way. Collecting a 2.17 and
0.47 off his best-two waves, Patacchia finished with a heat-total of 2.64 points. The lacklustre performance resulted in a comprehensive victory for Durbidge.
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