John John Florence and Jack Freestone shine in 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro’s Round 1 – Surfing News
Hawaii’s John John Florence and Australia’s Jack Freestone claimed victory in their respective Round 1 (Round of 96) heats at the 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro that continued at Margaret River in Australia on Tuesday, March 20.
The successful Round 1 result carried both Florence and Freestone into the second round (Round of 48), while Australia’s Lincoln Taylor and America’s CJ Hobgood accompanied them into the next round after finishing in runner-up place in the 17th and 18th heat respectively.
The second Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime rated event of the year had attracted a large number of world class surfers, leaving the fans in anticipation of a heavy dose of thrilling action.
Pitted against the local talent Taylor and Dean Bowen, along with Brazil’s Wiggolly Dantas, Florence put on a phenomenal performance to completely steal the show in the 17th heat. Adapting exceptionally well to the six-to-eight foot waves that were on offer at Margaret River, the Hawaiian sensation put his experience of riding Banzai Pipeline to use. Locking his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat, Florence posted an 8.43 on the scoreboard and soon backed it up with a 7.70-point wave to finish with a decisive heat-total of 16.13 points, consequently walking away with a comprehensive win.
Taylor managed to make the Round 2 cut as well after finishing with a heat-total of 9.90 points, which included a 3.90 and 6.00-point wave.
Dantas lost his focus during the heat and ended up getting called for interference, which resulted in a penalty. He finished third with a two-wave total of 6.92 points, while Bowen rounded out the fourth position with a heat-total of 4.10 points. The lacklustre performance by the two surfers led to their ejection from the race for the event-title.
The 18th heat went down to the wire as Freestone and Hobgood put up a determined fight for top honours.
The result of the battle eventually came out in Freestone’s favour as he put his local knowledge of the waves to use to post a 5.93 and 7.10 on the score-board for a heat-total of 13.03 points.
Hobgood, on the other hand, barely missed out on victory after finishing with a heat-total of 12.93 points, 0.10 points short of the required score. His efforts did not go to waste as he still advanced through into the next round.
America’s promising young talent Nat Young left the competition field early after finishing in third place with a heat-total of 11.10 points, while Hawaii’s Kiron Jabour joined him on the elimination list after rounding out the bottom position with a heat-total of 9.03 points.
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