John John Florence defeats Olamana Eleogram to take out 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro – Surfing News
Hawaii’s John John Florence lifted the 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro title after getting the better of his fellow countryman Olamana Eleogram in the Final that went down at Margaret River in Western Australia on Saturday, March 24.
Dominating the event since the very first round, Florence’s win over his compatriot in the Final hardly came as a surprise.
The surfing conditions prevailing at Margaret River resembled the ones at Banzai Pipeline that the Hawaiian surfer had grown up surfing. Feeling pretty much at home, Florence landed one spectacular performance after another to gradually make his way through
the initial stages of the competition.
Despite a number of top surfers from around the world competing for top honours at the second Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime rated event of the year, Florence managed to remain one of the biggest standouts over the past week.
Reaching the Final of the event, Florence found himself taking on his compatriot Eleogram in a battle for the overall win. The latter had been nothing short of impressive over the last few days either and was expected to put up a determined fight to try
and get his hands on the event title.
As the Final got underway, Florence wasted no time to make his intentions clear. Locking his first business-wave in the early minutes of the battle, he unloaded a string of exquisite tricks to post a 9.33 on the score-board. Continuing the momentum, he went
on to add another 9.43 points to his account, consequently finishing with a heat-total of 18.76 points.
Eleogram evidently pushed himself hard to try and challenge his rival’s mammoth-sized two-wave total, though his efforts remained futile. Scoring an impressive 8.83 off his first business-wave and adding an additional 6.60 points to his account off his second
business-wave in the final minutes of the heat, Eleogram finished with a heat-total of 15.43 points. As a result, he was forced to surrender victory and thus the 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro title to Florence.
“I’ve been having a lot of fun this week,” Florence said. “The waves are are a lot like at home, even the wind when it’s good for airs is a lot like Hawaii. The waves have been fun in all of my heats. I’m so stoked to win. This gives me a lot of confidence
going into Bells because I hear the waves are similar. I was so stoked to make the Final with Ola (Eleogram), I’ve grown up surfing with him and to have him in the Final with me at Margaret River was great.”
With the conclusion of the latest ASP Prime rated event, the surfing fans will turn their attention to the next stop of the 2012 ASP World Tour, Rip Curl Pro, which is scheduled to go down at Bells Beach, Australia, from April 3 – 14.
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