Gabriel Medina and CJ Hobgood qualify for Round 3 at Billabong Pro Tahiti
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina and America’s CJ Hobgood successfully secured their spot in the third round at Billabong Pro Tahiti, the latest stop on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after walking away with top honours
from their respective Round 1 heats that took place at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti, on Thursday, August 16.
While Medina grabbed the win in the 11th heat, Tahiti’s Michel Bourez had to settle for a second place whereas Australia’s Adam Melling finished in third place. Both the surfers found themselves relegated to the second round to have another shot
at a Round 3 spot.
The 12th heat saw Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia and France’s Jeremy Flores finish behind Hobgood in second and third place respectively, which led to their relegation into the second round.
The afternoon conditions prevailing at the primary event site turned out to be even shiftier than what the elite surfers had to surf in during the morning session. This however did not bring down the expectations of the crowd nor the intensity of contest
as the world’s best surfers took each other on in a battle for a Round 3 spot.
Squaring off with Bourez and Melling in a three-man battle during the 11th heat, Medina put on a spectacular show for the crowd. The young Brazilian phenom got off to a solid start, earning a 6.50 off his first business-wave and went on to add
an additional 8.93 points to his account in the dying moments of the heat, thus finishing with a decisive heat-total of 15.43 points.
Bourez scored a 3.50 and 7.27 off his best-two waves to eventually finish with a heat-total of 10.77 points, whereas Melling, who appeared completely out of rhythm, only managed to register a two-wave total of 3.27 points.
The 12th heat saw Hobgood get the better of Patacchia and Flores with a couple of stunning rides. The American surfer unloaded a series of exquisite tricks on his first business-wave to earn a 9.10 for the effort and later backed it up with a
7.83-point ride, thus finishing with a heat-total of 16.93 points.
Patacchia put on a pretty impressive performance as well, earning a 6.77 and 7.00 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 13.77 points, while Flores had to settle for a two-wave total of 11.70 points, which included a 2.13 and 9.57-point wave.
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