John John Florence and Bede Durbidge enter the semi-finals at Reef Hawaiian Pro
Hawaii’s John John Florence and Australia’s Bede Durbidge were able to successfully make their way through into the semi-finals at the Reef Hawaiian Pro, first of three events on the 30th anniversary Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, after claiming
top honours in their respective quarter-finals that went down at the North Shore of Oahu in Hawaii on Saturday, November 24, 2012.
Brazil’s Alejo Muniz finished behind Florence in second place during the third quarter-final, thus accompanying the latter into the next stage of the competition. Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau finished third, while Brazil’s Jadson Andre had to settle for fourth place.
Both the surfers were consequently eliminated from the competition.
The fourth quarter-final saw Australia’s Tom Whitaker finish as first runner-up to Durbidge, which served to take him through into the semi-finals as well. Their compatriot Perth Standlick finished third, while Hawaii’s Dusty Payne rounded out the bottom
position.
With some of the most talented surfers from around the world contesting for top honours, a hefty prize purse and covered Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) ranking points that were on offer, it was only natural for the fans to expect a heavy dose
of thrilling action.
Pitted against Muniz, Lau and Andre during the third quarter-final, Florence had his work cut out for him. The Hawaiian surfer was well aware of the fact that he needed to come up with something special to take the win and that is exactly what he managed
to do in the end.
Locking his first business-wave, Florence earned a 9.00 off it and went on to back it up with a 7.87-point ride, thus getting to a heat-total of 16.87 points. The score held up until the end to see him through to victory.
Muniz finished in second place after registering a heat-total of 13.27 points, which included a 6.67 and 6.60-point ride.
Lau finished in third position after concluding the heat at a two-wave total of 12.13 points, while Andre had to settle for fourth place after registering a heat-total of 2.80 points.
The fourth quarter-final saw Durbidge walk away with the win after getting the better of his rivals through a heat-total of 11.40 points, which included a 6.83 and 4.57-point ride.
Whitaker finished in runner-up place with a heat-total of 11.10 points, which included a 6.67 and 4.43-point wave.
Both Standlick and Payne got eliminated from the competition after rounding out the bottom-two positions with their heat-total of 9.20 and 8.10 points respectively.
Tags: