Mesmerising performance by John John Florence takes him into Round 4 of Volcom Fiji Pro
Hawaii’s John John Florence advanced through into the fourth round of Volcom Fiji Pro, the fourth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after putting on a spectacular performance to claim victory over
Australia’s Adrian Buchan in the second heat of Round 3 that went down at the alternate venue of Restaurants in Tavarua, Fiji, on Saturday, June 9.
The latest battle in the elimination round featured one of the most memorable performance of the day as Florence exhibited his big-wave riding prowess to ensure his survival in the contention for the event title while eliminating his rival from the competition.
“I’m still reeling from those waves,” Florence said. “This has been the best trip of my life and the waves we’ve had have been some of the best of my life too. Yesterday we had Cloudbreak about as big and perfect as it gets and today we’re getting four barrels
a wave at Restaurants. It’s unbelievable.”
The 19-year-old Hawaiian had been exuding immense confidence since the very first stop of his ASP Dream Tour in Australia and continued to look just as solid as ever during his first-ever trip to Fiji.
The massive swell at the main event venue of Cloudbreak, lying in the 12-to-15 foot range, had a mouth-watering effect on the surfers, but the disorganised nature of the waves compelled the event organisers to move the event to Restaurants, where draining
four-to-six foot waves were on offer.
Florence found himself pitted against Buchan in a man-on-man battle for the Round 3 spot, with the pressure of elimination hanging over them.
As the battle got underway, the young Hawaiian powerhouse got off to a promising start, making his vigour and determination quite apparent since the very first minute. Almost halfway through the heat, Florence charged towards a huge barrel and rode deep
into it before emerging to post a 9.50 on the score-board. In the final minutes of the heat, he rode a mammoth-sized barrel on his back-hand to leave everyone at the event-site stunned and earning a 9.80 on the score-board to reach a heat-total of 19.30 points.
Adrian Buchan failed to pose a significant threat to his rival’s score, scoring a 7.50 and 4.17 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 11.67 points, consequently getting removed from the competition field at Volcom Fiji Pro.
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