Fredrick Patacchia dominates Round 1 heat at Rip Curl Pro Search – 2011 ASP World Tour
The current season of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour may not have gone Fredrick Patacchia’s way so far, but the Hawaiian seemed to have stepped onto Ocean Beach in San Francisco, America, with a determination to change that. Despite pitted against Australia’s in-form Owen Wright and America’s Dillon Perillo in the fifth heat of Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco’s Round 1, Patacchia came up with an impressive performance to walk away with top honours and make his way straight into Round 3.
Wright was expected to make a much stronger impact on the opening day of the contest, but his performance turned out to be on the contrary and he ended up finishing in second place. Perillo rounded out the third position after failing to find his rhythm throughout the entirety of the heat. The lacklustre performances by the two surfers led them into the Round 2 for their final shot at the Round 3 spot.
With high-performance three-to-five foot waves on offer, the opening day of the 10th of 11th stops on the ASP World Tour promised a heavy dose of thrilling action. The surfers were not expected to hold anything back as they looked to get off to a solid start at Ocean Beach.
After a series of exciting battles, the first round of the competition came down to the fifth heat. With Wright in the line-up, the situation seemed a little grim for Patacchia and Perillo. The 21-year-old Australian had been simply sensational over the last two months and was expected to put the judges under his magic at Rip Curl Pro Search as well.
However, the 29-year-old Patacchia refused to let the terror of Wright get to him and ended up taking control of the fifth heat right from the word go. As the 30-minute bout got underway, the Hawaiian locked a wave to unleash a combination of exciting tricks, consequently posting a huge 8.50 on the score-board. He later added an additional 6.17 to his account and finishing with a heat-total of 14.67 points. The score kept him in the lead until the end and eventually sealed the fate of the fifth heat in his favour to send him through into Round 3.
Wright’s performance came as a real disappointment for all those who were expecting fireworks from him. After a desperate search, he only managed to collect a 3.67 and a 2.43 off his top-two waves. The heat-total of 6.10 points got him the second-place finish.
Perillo was the under-dog in the three-man battle and there is little that the American did to change that image. He finished in third place after scoring a mere 2.13 and 2.73 off his best-two waves.
The disappointing performance by Wright and Perillo did not result in their elimination from the competition, though it did result in their relegation to Round 2. The two found themselves in a must-win situation if they wish to continue their pursuit for the event title.
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