John John Florence and CJ Hobgood emerge triumphant in Round 2 of 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro
Hawaii’s John John Florence and America’s CJ Hobgood confirmed their place in the third round (no-loser Round of 24) of the 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro after claiming top honours in their respective Round 2 (Round of 48) heats that went down at Margaret
River in Australia on Wednesday, March 21.
Australia’s Nic Muscroft and his fellow countryman Lincoln Taylor advanced through into the next round of the competition as well after securing first runner-up position in the ninth and tenth heat respectively.
The latest day of the second Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime rated event of the year saw six-foot waves breaking at the event site, giving the world class surfers plenty of opportunity to exhibit their skills and style, much to the delight
of the surfing fans.
Taking on Muscroft, his compatriot Jack Freestone and Cayman Islands’ Jonathan Gonzalez in the ninth heat, Florence held nothing back as he made his comfort in the big waves apparent, courtesy of his experience of surfing at Banzai Pipeline in Oahu.
The Hawaiian sensation gradually built momentum to eventually lock his first business-wave and post a 7.83 on the score-board. He soon backed it up with an even more spectacular 8.73-point wave to move to a heat-total of 16.56 points. The score proved to
be a decisive one, which eventually earned him victory.
Muscroft made the Round 2 cut as well after finishing with a heat-total of 12.04 points, which included a 6.17 and 5.87-point wave.
Freestone and Gonzalez rounded out the bottom-two positions after scoring a heat-total of 10.40 and 9.43 points respectively. Both the surfers were consequently eliminated from the competition.
The 10th heat featured a phenomenal performance by Hobgood as he downed Taylor, Spain’s Gony Zubizarreta and Brazil’s Tomas Hermes to advance through into the next round.
The American surfer collected a couple of scores in the seven-point range to finish with a heat-total of 15.16 points, which held up until the end to seal the deal in his favour.
Taylor moved into the next round as well after securing runner-up position through his heat-total of 12.37 points, which included a 5.50 and 6.87-point wave.
Zubizarreta finished third with a heat-total of 12.10 points, whereas Hermes rounded out the bottom-position with a two-wave total of 9.76 points. The bottom-two position led to the elimination of both the surfers from the competition.
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