CJ Hobgood and Julian Wilson prevail in opening round of Rip Curl Pro Portugal
America’s CJ Hobgood and Australia’s Julian Wilson claimed top honours in their respective Round 1 heats at the Rip Curl Pro Portugal, the eighth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, which continued
at Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal, on Saturday, October 13.
The 11th heat saw CJ Hobgood get the better of South Africa’s Travis Logie and his fellow countryperson Jordy Smith to secure his place in the third round, relegating both his rivals to the second round in the process.
Wilson clinched a convincing win over Portugal’s Tiago Pires and Australia’s Adrian Buchan in the 12th heat to jump straight into the third round, forcing both his rivals to take a trip to Round 2 to surf again for a place in the third round.
The crowd in attendance at Supertubos and audience via live webcast expected to get treated to a heavy dose of thrilling action as the three-to-five foot waves offered plenty of juice for the elite ASP surfers to put their skills on display.
While his brother was unable to taste success in his heat earlier in the day, CJ Hobgood had no intention of taking the long road to Round 3. Instead, he took the shortest way possible by getting his hands on the win in the 11th heat of Round
1 by defeating Logie and Smith with a heat-total of 13.73 points, which included a perfect 10-point ride, courtesy of a lengthy lefthander, and a 3.73-point wave.
Logie had to settle for second place after scoring a 5.00 off his first business-wave and later backing it up with a 7.83-poing ride. While the latter effort was nothing short of impressive, it just was not enough to put his American rival under pressure.
Smith suffered an uncharacteristic defeat in the opening round after finishing with a heat-total of 11.03 points, which included a 6.50 and 4.53-point ride.
The final heat of Round 1 saw the young Wilson get the better of the local favourite Pires and Buchan in the three-man battle for the Round 3 spot.
The Australian sensation got off to an excellent start, earning a 9.20 off his first business-wave, but quickly lost the lead to Pires, who utilised his local knowledge of the waves and skills to post a 9.77 on the score-board.
As the heat progressed, Wilson added another 6.33 points to his account, thus moving to a heat-total of 15.53 points, which placed him in the lead once again.
Pires failed to challenge his rival’s position again after managing to score only a 3.50 off his second business-wave, thus finishing with a heat-total of 13.27 points.
Buchan displayed a pretty ordinary form, scoring a mere 1.93 and 1.20 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 3.13 points.
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