Fredrick Patacchia rebounds strongly after Round 1 loss at Volcom Fiji Pro – Surfing News
Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia got the better of French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez in the fifth heat of Volcom Fiji Pro’s Round 2 that went down at the main venue of Cloudbreak in Tavarua, Fiji, on Monday, June 4.
The success served to take Patacchia into the third round, while bringing the fourth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour to a premature end.
While Patacchia had been struggling with his form since the start of the latest elite tour season, Bourez had been exhibiting a lot of promise. The world’s best surfers from around the globe were in contention for the coveted ASP World Title and thus every
single battle was bound to be a testing one. Therefore, the 12th spot on the ASP World Championship rankings was not a shabby effort from the Tahiti-based surfer.
Continuing the campaign for the most prestigious honours in Fiji, both the surfers failed to get off to the sort of start that they were hoping for. They were unable to make a solid impact during their respective Round 1 heats and thus got relegated to the
second round, where they could not afford to settle for anything less than victory.
As the fifth heat of Round 2 got underway, both the surfers got off to a modest start, apparently experiencing a little difficulty to find their rhythm. The surfing conditions on hand were pretty cooperative though, sending clean four-to-six foot waves in
the direction of the surfers and thus giving them plenty of scoring opportunities to post a couple of decent scores on the score-board.
Bourez claimed an early lead through a 4.17-point ride, an effort that did not exude confidence to the slightest. Patacchia soon managed to get an upper hand over his French Polynesian rival by scoring a 6.17 off his first business-wave.
As the heat progressed, both the surfers began to show more confidence and energy, charging towards waves with greater determination. In the dying minutes of the wave, Patacchia caught an impressive 7.50-point wave to move to a heat-total of 13.67 points.
Bourez needed a big score urgently in order to pose a threat to his rival’s lead, but only managed to post a 6.37 on the score-board, thus finishing with a heat-total of 10.54 points. As a result, he conceded victory to Patacchia, sending him through into
the next round.
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