Hawaiian and American young guns taking charge in Quiksilver Pro France
Hawaii’s John John Florence and Brazil’s Miguel Pupo may not have gotten off to the best of starts at Quiksilver Pro France, but they seemed to have made up their mind to make amends without wasting any time and establish themselves as strong contenders
for the event title.
The seventh of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour had the best surfers from around the globe in the contention for the event title, a sight that has the fans shaking with excitement and quite understandably
so.
With the waves breaking at the event site of La Graviere in Hossegor, France, ranging between three-to-six feet during the initial rounds of the competition, the surfers found plenty of opportunities to put their exquisite skills on display, determined to
keep themselves alive in the contention for the event title.
Florence, the Hawaiian powerhouse, had faltered in the opening round of the event, but bounced back strong during his Round 2 heat to make his way through into the third heat, where America’s Taylor Knox was waiting to take him on in a battle for the Round
4 spot.
The American surfer had looked in great touch on day 1 of Quiksilver Pro France and was never expected to let Florence through without a tough fight.
Florence, on the other hand, was determined to build momentum, which he hoped would help him go all the way to the end.
As the heat kicked-off, Knox drew first blood, though with a pretty ordinary 1.83-point ride. He struggled to get his hands on another decent wave, but eventually managed to add 4.60 points to his account, thus moving to a heat-total of 6.43 points.
Florence got off to an energetic start, looking as fearless as ever while attacking the demanding waves that were being offered by La Graviere.
After going through a series of average wave-scores, he managed to post a 6.50 points to his account and later backed it up with an impressive 8.67-point ride, stunning the crowd and giving his fans plenty of reason to cheer their lungs out.
Finishing with a heat-total of 15.17 points as a result of two impressive rides, the Hawaiian surfer walked away with a comfortable win.
The second heat had Pupo and Wilson exchanging blows for a place in the fourth round. Both the surfers had recently made it out of Round 2 alive, but their troubles were far from over as they found themselves facing-off in yet another elimination battle.
As the battle got underway, Pupo got down to business without wasting any time, scoring a 6.50 off his first business-wave to immediately move into the lead.
His joy, however, did not last for long as Wilson registered a near-perfect 9.87-point ride a few minutes later to not only move in front, but also strengthen his chances of clinching the win.
The Australian surfer added another 3.10 points to his account, thus reaching a two-wave total of 12.97 points.
Desperately searching for an adequate response, Pupo made a last-minute charge to put a 7.90 on the score-board.
The effort turned out to be a decisive one, taking him to a heat-total of 14.40 points, while sealing the fate of the battle in his favour.
It turned out to be a thrilling display of nerves from the young Brazilian sensation and definitely went to show what he was capable of in coming years.
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