Miguel Pupo and Yadin Nicol claim victory in Round 2 at Billabong Pipe Masters
Brazil’s Miguel Pupo and Australia’s Yadin Nicol emerged triumphant in their respective Round 2 heats to advance to the third round at the Billabong Pipe Masters, which continued at the Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii, on Sunday, December 9, 2012.
Pupo managed to claim victory over Australia’s Adam Melling in the eighth heat, eliminating the latter from the competition, while at the same time bringing the Vans Triple Crown within the grasp of Hawaii’s Sebastien Zietz.
With the ninth heat getting cancelled, the action continued with 10th heat, which saw Australia’s Matt Wilkinson succumb to Nicol, consequently getting eliminated from the competition while sending the latter through into the next round.
The final stop on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour and the 30th anniversary Vans Triple Crown of Surfing was under the radar for obvious reasons.
With plenty of rewards waiting for the surfer who would eventually managed to secure the event title, the fans had all the reasons to expect nothing but the most thrilling and adrenaline-pumping action during the course of the competition.
The eighth heat pitted Pupo against Melling, the only wall that stood between Zietz and this year’s Vans Triple Crown.
As the battle got underway, the Brazilian young-gun got off to a solid start, making his impressive form apparent as he locked his first business-wave to post an 8.33 on the score-board.
He went on to add an additional 7.33 points to his account, which took him to a two-wave total of 15.66 points.
Despite getting an 8.70 off his first business-wave, Melling eventually finished with a heat-total of 9.90 points as he only managed to add an additional 1.20 points to his account off his second business-wave, thus getting eliminated from the competition.
With the ninth heat, which was to feature a one-on-one bout between America’s Damien Hobgood and Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia getting cancelled, the event moved on to the 10th heat.
The heat saw Nicol take on Wilkinson in a battle to extend his life in the competition.
Without wasting much time, the Australian surfer posted an excellent 9.00-point ride on the score-board and went on to back it up with a 5.17-point wave, thus getting to a heat-total of 14.17 points.
Wilkinson only managed to get to a two-wave total of 12.17 points, which included a 7.67 and 4.50-point wave. As a result, he found himself eliminated from the competition.
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