Michel Bourez conquer difficult conditions to secure Round 3 spot at Quiksilver Pro France
Michel Bourez from French Polynesia successfully advanced through into the third round at the Quiksilver Pro France, the seventh of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after claiming top honours in their
respective Round 1 heat that went down at La Graviere in Hossegor, France, on Friday, September 28.
Bourez found himself pitted against Australia’s Owen Wright and his fellow countryperson Matt Wilkinson in the ninth heat, with the fate of the three-man battle to decide who got to go straight into the third round without having to surf in the second round.
The conditions at the primary event site on the opening day of the Quiksilver Pro France could be described as testing, with the heavy-weights of the sport finding themselves struggling to get their hands on big scores. The clean three-to-five foot waves
just did not give them enough opportunity to really cut loose and forced them to settle for relatively modest scores as they battled for the win.
With a huge crowd in attendance at La Graviere, with an even large audience catching the action through live webcast, the surfers were expected to put on a show and that is exactly what they attempted to do.
As the three-man battle Bourez, Wright and Wilkinson got underway, it did not take the French Polynesian surfer much time to grab the lead. Locking a wave in the opening minutes of the heat, he posted a 4.67 on the score-board.
Keeping the hunt going as the heat progressed, he eventually managed to add an additional 5.67 points to his account, thus reaching a heat-total of 10.34 points, which held up until the end to see him through into the third round.
Wright seemed full of energy during the heat, attacking wave after wave and attempting to pull off tricks.
However, he only managed to earn a couple of fours for his efforts, thus finishing with a heat-total of 8.30 points.
Wilkinson finished in third place with a heat-total of 5.77 points, which included a 4.57 and 1.20 points.
Both Wright and Wilkinson got relegated to the second round after rounding out the second and third position.
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