John John Florence and Dane Reynolds power into Round 4 at Reef Hawaiian Pro
Hawaii’s John John Florence and America’s Dane Reynolds emerged triumphant in their respective Round 3 (Round of 64) heats at the Reef Hawaiian Pro, first of three events on the 30th anniversary Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, which went down at
the North Shore in Oahu, Hawaii, on Saturday, November 17, 2012.
Australia’s Tom Whitaker finished behind Florence in second place during the ninth heat, thus accompanying the latter into the fourth round (Round of 32). Local talent Dylan Goodale and his compatriot Koa Smith rounded out the bottom-two positions, which
resulted in their elimination from the competition.
The 10th heat saw Hedge accompany Reynolds into the fourth round after finishing in fourth place. Brazil’s Heitor Alves finished third, while America’s Damien Hobgood had to settle for fourth place. Both the surfers were consequently ejected from
the contention for the event title.
The clean and contestable four-foot waves on offer at Alii Beach on the latest day of the competition offered just enough juice to allow the talented surfers from around the globe to take each other on for a share of the $250,000 and coveted Association
of Surfing Professionals (ASP) ranking points.
Squaring-off against Whitaker, Goodale and Smith in a four-man battle for the Round 4 spot, Florence wasted hardly anytime time to assert his dominance.
The Hawaiian sensation locked his first business-wave to clinch a near-perfect score of 9.40 points and went on to back it up with a 7.50-point ride, thus getting to a heat-total of 16.90 points. The effort remained unbeatable until the end to see him through
to victory.
Whitaker was successful in extending his life in the event as well after securing runner-up place through a heat-total of 10.07 points, which included a 6.50 and 3.57-point ride.
Goodale and Smith finished with a heat-total of 9.67 and 7.06 points respectively, thus finishing in bottom-two positions.
The 10th heat saw Reynolds walk away with the win after getting the better of Hedge, Alves and Hobgood to make his way into the next round.
The American surfer got himself an 8.00 off his first business-wave and went on to add an additional 5.70 points to his account, thus registering a decisive heat-total of 13.70 points.
Hedge made the Round 4 cut as well after scoring a 6.40 and 5.20 points off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 11.60 points.
Alves finished third with a heat-total of 9.90 points, while Hobgood was forced to fill in the fourth position after an ordinary two-wave total of 8.83 points.
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