John John Florence defeats Tanner Gudauskas to qualify for ASP PRIME Nike Lowers Pro Quarter-finals
Hawaii’s John John Florence successfully confirmed his place in the Semi-finals at the Nike Lowers Pro, an Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME event, after barely edging past America’s Tanner Gudauskas in the second Quarter-final that went down
at the fabled point-break of Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California, on Saturday, May 5.
Currently competing in his first-ever ASP World Title campaign, Florence is enjoying one of the best seasons of his life as far as his career is concerned. He had been making waves in the sport for the last few years, which had eventually gotten him a place
among the ranks of elite surfers. The confidence shown by the young Hawaiian surfer has been quite apparent since the last few months.
The latest ASP PRIME event saw Florence in top form as he took on some of the best surfing talents from around the globe in the glassy two-to-four foot waves at Lower Trestles. There was a prestigious title, huge prize purse and coveted ASP ranking points
up for grabs and the Hawaiian surfer had no intention of walking away without the rewards.
The determination made way for a series of exquisite performances as he gradually drilled his way through the early rounds of the competition to eventually reach the Quarter-finals, all set to take on the experienced Gudauskas.
The American surfer had been nothing short of sensational during the course of the latest event either, making good use of his local knowledge of the waves to collect good scores and desirable results. However, he was about to get a real run for his money
as he found himself facing an in-form Florence for survival.
As the second Quarter-final kicked-off, Gudauskas wasted little time in getting down to business. He drew first blood with a 7.67-point ride in the opening minutes of the heat to grab an early lead. Despite an excellent start, he struggled to back it up
with another big score and after a long search, he had to settle for a 5.33-point wave, which took him to a heat-total of 13.00 points.
Florence scored a 5.83 off his first business-wave and went on to add an additional 7.37 points to his account to move to a heat-total of 13.20 points. While sitting just 0.20 points ahead of his rival on the score-board, the Hawaiian surfer managed to claim
the win and thus advance to the next stage of the competition.
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