Michel Bourez and Bede Durbidge enter Rip Curl Pro Portugal Quarter-Finals – 2011 ASP World Tour
Tahiti’s Michel Bourez competed against Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia in the third, while Australia’s Bede Durbidge squared off with Hawaii’s John John Florence in the fourth heat of Rip Curl Pro Portugal’s Round 5 that went down at the renowned beach-break
of Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal, on Tuesday, October 18.
The third heat featured an epic showdown between Bourez and Patacchia as both the surfers held nothing back during their pursuit of the Quarter-Final spot. The Tahiti-based Bourez, however, overtook Patacchia in the final minutes of the battle to clinch
top honours and proceeded into the next round, bringing the competition to a premature end for his rival.
The encounter between Durbidge and Florence was nothing short of thrilling either, with neither of them letting the other relax throughout the entirety of the 30-minute battle. Durbidge, however, managed to get a decisive score in the last minute of the
heat to emerge as the winner and advance through into the Quarter-Finals, eliminating Florence from the competition.
The pressure of elimination brought out the best in Bourez and Patacchia and it seemed that neither of the two was ready to leave the competition just yet. As the fifth heat got under-way, the 25-year-old Bourez wasted no time in making a charge and drew
first blood with an impressive 9.10-point wave. However, Patacchia made his rival’s opening wave look inadequate with his own 9.63-point wave, which showcased an array of exquisite stunts.
As the heat progressed, the Hawaiian further cemented his place on top with an 8.33-point wave, moving to a heat-total of 17.96 points. As the heat-clock ticked away, Bourez struggled to find the necessary score despite a determined hunt. Just when it seemed
that the victory had eluded him, the Tahiti-based surfer locked a wave to give it his all and posted a 9.83 on the score-board, finishing with a heat-total of 18.93 points. The last-minute effort served to seal the fate of the contest in his favour and sent
him through into the Quarter-Finals.
After an intense third heat, the crowd got treated to yet another thrilling battle as the 28-year-old Durbidge competed with the young and formidable Hawaiian, Florence, for the Quarter-Final spot. Ever since stepping among the ranks of the elite ASP surfers,
the latter had been consistently proving his mettle and wasn’t expected to show any respect to his senior.
Durbidge put his opponent under pressure in the opening minutes of the heat with a near-perfect score of 9.77 off his first business wave. Not one to give in to pressure easily, Florence responded strongly with an 8.73 and 8.33-point wave to finish with
a heat-total of 17.06 points.
The competitive heat-total was expected to trouble Durbidge, but the Australian proved to be up for the challenge and collected a 7.67 off the final wave to finish with a heat-total of 17.44 points and thus clinch victory.
With the conclusion of the fourth heat, the line-up for the Rip Curl Pro Portugal Quarter-Final got revealed. With only the in-form surfers remaining in contention, the intensity of heats was expected to reach an entirely new level.
For updates on Quarter-Finals of Rip Curl Pro Portugal, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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