Coco Ho downs Pauline Ado to stay in contention at the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic
Hawaii’s Coco Ho got the better of France’s Pauline Ado in the first heat of the Commonwealth Bank Beachley Classic’s Round 2 that went down at the Dee Why point in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday, April 19.
The Hawaiian surfer made her way through into the third round of the fourth of seven stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Women’s World Title Series following her success in Round 2, bringing the competition to a premature end for
Ado in the process.
The surfing conditions prevailing at the Dee Why point on Thursday afternoon turned out to be quite decent, offering plenty of opportunities to the surfers to unleash their potential while battling it out for survival in the event.
Both Ho and Ado had failed to claim top honours in their respective Round 1 heats. The Hawaiian surfer had succumbed to her compatriot and the reigning ASP Women’s World Champion Carissa Moore, whereas Ado had bowed out to America’s young sensation Lakey
Peterson.
Looking to bounce back after a disappointing start to the event, both the surfers got ready to put on their best performance to defeat the other in order to extend their life in the event.
As the first heat of Round 2 got underway, Ho began to gradually build momentum by collecting a series of average scores. Almost halfway through the heat, the Hawaiian stepped up to lock her first business-wave and threw a series of turn to post a 5.75 on
the score-board. She went on to back it up with a 6.30-point wave to move to a heat-total of 12.05 points.
Ado did not have much luck with the waves during the initial stages of the battle either. As the heat progressed, she began to become desperate to post a decent score on the score-board to offer her rival some challenge. In the final minutes of the heat,
she caught her first business-wave to earn a 5.50 off it and immediately followed it up with a 6.35-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 11.85 points.
Finishing in a 0.20-point deficit, Ado was forced to concede victory and thus the Round 3 spot to Ho, consequently getting removed from the contention for the event title in the process.
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