Miguel Pupo and Kolohe Andino shine under pressure in French conditions
Brazil’s Miguel Pupo and America’s Kolohe Andino were nothing short of impressive during their respective Round 5 heats at the Quiksilver Pro France, the seventh of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour,
which went down at the main event site of La Graviere in Hossegor, France, on Thursday, October 4, 2012.
Pupo took a convincing victory over French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez in the opening heat of Round 5 to advance through into the quarter-final, removing the latter from the contention for the event title.
The second heat saw Australia’s Bede Durbidge succumb to Andino to find himself ejected from the competition, allowing the latter to go through into the next round.
The pulsing six foot waves on offer at the primary event site during the fifth round of the latest elite tour event set the stage very nicely for the thrilling battles between the best surfers from around the globe to take each other on in one-on-one battles
for a place in the quarter-finals.
The large crowd in attendance, as well as an even bigger online audience expected the heats to be full of exciting action and thrilling climaxes as that is exactly they had witnessed over the last few days of the competition.
The first heat of Round 5 pitted Pupo against Bourez in a battle for survival. Both the surfers had failed to put on a solid performance during their Round 4 bout, which consequently led to their relegation to the fifth round.
The pressure of elimination and the determination to make it through into the next stage of the competition was bound to make the two surfers push harder.
As the battle got underway, both Pupo and Bourez got off to a slow start, apparently struggling to adjust to the conditions on hand.
Almost half-way through the heat, the French Polynesian surfer locked his first business-wave to post a 5.23 to his account, consequently moving into the lead.
Adding another 4.93 points to his account, Bourez eventually had to settle for a heat-total of 10.16 points.
Pupo carried out a pretty energetic search for a couple of good waves, though his first success came in the later stages of the heat as he got his hands on a 4.67-point ride.
Giving the crowd the intense climax that they were hoping to witness, the Brazilian young gun locked a juicy wave in the dying minutes of the heat to unload a series of stylish tricks, earning a 7.83 for the effort and thus moving to a decisive heat-total
of 12.50 points.
The second heat saw one of the most promising Californian talents in recent times, Andino, take on the experienced Durbidge in a battle for the quarter-final spot.
As the heat kicked off, the American young gun hardly wasted any time to get down to business, earning a 6.00 off his first wave to take the lead.
He went on to back a solid start with a 6.50-point ride halfway through the heat, thus moving to a heat-total of 12.50 points.
Durbidge, on the other hand, seemed pretty much out of rhythm, struggling to adapt to the pulsing waves on offer.
Scoring a 0.67 off his first business-wave and backing it up with a 1.40-point ride, the Australian surfer eventually had to settle for a heat-total of 2.07 points. The lacklustre performance led to his elimination from the competition.
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