John John Florence downs Miguel Pupo to enter Billabong Rio Pro – Surfing News
Hawaii’s John John Florence got the better of Brazil’s Miguel Pupo in the eighth heat of Billabong Rio Pro’s Round 3 that went down at the main event site of Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Tuesday, May 15.
With his victory in the third round, Florence confidently advanced through into the fourth round of the third of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title Series. Pupo, on the other hand, found himself removed from the
contention for the event title.
Running for the second consecutive day at the primary event site, the competition continued to cut off heads with its Round 3 heats. The three-to-five foot barrels on offer at Barra da Tijuca offered plenty of potential scoring opportunities, which were
clinched by the world’s best surfers as they put their stylish skills on display to try and extend their life in the event.
The eighth heat of Round 3 saw Florence and Pupo take each other on in a battle for the Round 4 spot. Both the surfers were still relatively young as compared to the other surfers in the competition field, but there was hardly anyone who doubted their potential.
Florence in particular was renowned for his ability to tame barrels and that was exactly what was on offer at the main event site during the latest round.
As the eighth heat of Round 3 kicked-off, Pupo put his local knowledge of the waves to lock a juicy wave and unloaded a string of exquisite tricks to post a 7.17 on the score-board. He continued to catch wave after wave while searching for another good score
and eventually added a 6.97 to his account in the final minutes of the battle.
The 19-year-old Florence was truly spectacular during the course of the 30-minute man-on-man battle. The ASP World Tour rookie locked his first business-wave to post a 7.33 on the score-board. In the late stages of the heat, he caught a juicy wave to pull
off a combination of stylish manoeuvres. The effort earned him 8.90 points, which consequently took him to a heat-total of 16.23 points. The score held up until the end to seal the fate of the bout in his favour, thus taking him through into the next round
of the competition.
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