Kelly Slater downs Adrian Buchan to qualify for Quiksilver Pro France quarter-finals
American legendary surfer Kelly Slater got the better of Australia’s Adrian Buchan in the fourth heat of Quiksilver Pro France’s Round 5 that went down at the main site of La Graviere in Hossegor, France, on Thursday, October 2012.
The reigning 11-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion received a tough fight from Buchan, but was successfully able to finish on top once the dust settled.
Over the last few days, the best surfers from around the world had been taking each other on in demanding surfing conditions on offer at the main event site that had put both their experience and skills to test.
The 40-year-old Slater had continued to be as impressive as ever, smoothly making it through the initial rounds of the competition before eventually taking a stumble in Round 4, which resulted in his relegation to the fifth round.
Buchan was also one of the few Australians who had managed to survive the challenging conditions so far, though things were about to become really tough as he found himself pitted against the best in the business in a battle for survival.
As the one-on-one battle got underway, Slater got down to business right away, locking a juicy barrel in the opening minutes of the heat to unleash a flurry of exquisite tricks, earning an 8.17 for the effort.
Buchan had no intention of letting his rival taking control of the situation and stepped-up almost instantly to register an 8.43 on the score-board.
Almost half-way through the heat, the Australian surfer added another 4.23 points to his account, thus getting to a heat-total of 12.66 points.
Slater continued his hunt for another decent score, searching for the right opportunity to cut loose. Although he was unable to come across such a wave, he did manage to get his hands on a 4.90-point ride, which served to put him into the lead with a heat-total
of 13.07 points.
The score held up until the end to seal the fate of the battle in the favour of the Floridian surfer, taking him through into the next stage of the competition.
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