Fredrick Patacchia and Adrian Buchan jump to Round 5 of 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro
Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia and Australia’s Adrian Buchan moved straight into the fifth round (Round of 16) of the 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro after prevailing their respective Round 3 (no-loser Round of 24) heats that went down at Margaret River in Australia
on Wednesday, March 21.
In one of the biggest surprises of the day, America’s Kelly Slater got relegated to Round 4 (Round of 24), accompanied by Australia’s Mark Occhilupo, Blake Thornton and Tom Whitaker.
The second Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime rated event of the season was hosting some of the best surfers from around the globe, giving them an opportunity to get their hands on a handsome prize purse along with coveted ASP rating points.
Squaring off with Thornton and Whitaker in the third heat, Patacchia put on a superb performance to completely steal the show during the three-man battle.
The Hawaiian surfer got off to an excellent start after locking his first business-wave to unload a series of exquisite tricks, earning a near-perfect 9.70 for the effort. He managed to back it up with a 6.07-point wave in the final minutes of the heat to
eventually finish with a heat-total of 15.77 points. The score held up until the end to take him into the fifth round.
Thornton finished in second place with a heat-total of 10.77 points, which included a 6.67 and 4.10-point wave, whereas Whitaker rounded out the bottom-position after scoring a 5.77 and 3.30 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 9.07 points. Both the
surfers were consequently relegated to the fourth round.
The fourth heat featured the biggest upset of the day as Buchan managed to outperform the 11-time ASP World Champion Slater and former ASP World Champion Occhilupo.
Buchan only managed to lock three waves during the course of the 30-minute battle, but made two of those really count. Earning an 8.93 off his first business-wave and following it up with an 8.00-point wave, the local talent finished with a heat-total of
16.93 points.
Slater, in response, scored an 8.57 and 6.00 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 14.57 points. The 2.36-point deficit forced him to settle for second position and thus forced him to make a trip to Round 4.
Occhilupo joined the Florida-based Slater in the Round 4 line-up after scoring a heat-total of 9.67 points, which included a 3.00 and 6.67-point wave.
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