Michel Bourez and Fredrick Patacchia prevail in Round 3 of Oakley Pro Bali – Surfing news
French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez and Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia clinched victories in their respective Round 3 heats at the fifth of ten stops on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, the Oakley Pro Bali, which continued
at Keramas in Bali, Indonesia, on Tuesday, June 25, 2013.
Bourez held his own against Brazil’s Gabriel Medina in the 11th heat of Round 3 to make his way through into the next round. His successful result, however, meant an early exit for his rival from the competition.
The 12th heat saw Patacchia claim the responsibility for the biggest upset of the day, as he downed South Africa’s Jordy Smith to reach the next round, while eliminating his rival from the event in the process.
The wait for the recommencement of Round 3 at the main event venue of Keramas had proved to be worth it, as barrelling six-to-eight foot waves greeted the surfers on the latest day of the event. Such conditions promised plenty of entertainment for the huge
crowd that was in attendance to catch the world’s top surfing talent in action.
Bourez, who had been looking in prime form since the start of the event, found himself facing Medina in a one-on-one battle for the Round 4 spot. With both the surfers capable of creating magic in the waves on their day, the battle was expected to be full
of fire-works.
That, however, is not how the heat turned out to be, as the French Polynesian surfer completely stole the show with some great surfing, leaving his rival completely over-shadowed.
“Very fun waves out at Keramas today,” Bourez said. “I’m feeling strong and healthy and I have very good boards at the moment. I had a good start to the year with a 3rd on the Gold Coast, but have had some poor results too already. Keramas is a wave that
is very rippable for all the guys on tour. I feel like I can surf it well if I get the right waves in my heats.”
Bourez executed a series of powerful carves and turns on two of the best waves that showed up during the course of the heat to post an 8.67 and 8.27 on the score-board, thus getting to a heat-total of 16.94 points.
Medina failed to come up with a decent response and only managed to register a two-wave total of 8.94 points, which included a 5.17 and 3.77-point ride. As a result, he found himself making a premature exit from the competition.
The final heat of Round 3 saw Patacchia remove Smith, who was being considered as one of the favourites to win the event, in a rather convincing fashion.
The Hawaiian surfer collected a 7.50 off his first business-wave and went on to back it up with a 5.00-point ride, thus registering a heat-total of 12.50 points.
Smith’s response included a 6.17 off his first business-wave and a 4.17 off his second, thus taking him to a heat-total of 10.34 points. The performance was not good enough to take him across his rival’s score and consequently led to his elimination from
the competition.
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