Nic Muscroft and Kolohe Andino advance to Round 5 of 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro – Surfing News
Australia’s Nic Muscroft and America’s Kolohe Andino advanced through into the fifth round (Round of 16) of the 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro after walking away with top honours from their respective Round 3 (no-loser Round of 24) heats that went down at Margaret
River in Australia on Friday, March 23.
Australia’s Mick Fanning, Brazil’s Willian Cardoso got relegated to the fourth round (Round of 24) after rounding out the second and third position respectively in the fifth heat, whereas Hawaii’s John John Florence and Australia’s Adam Melling were forced
to take a trip to Round 4 after finishing in second and third place respectively in heat 6.
The surfing conditions prevailing at the primary event site continued to remain promising, offering clean five-to-six foot waves to the surfers during the latest day of their pursuit of event victory at the second Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)
Prime rated event of the year.
Pitted against Fanning and Cardoso in the fifth heat, Muscroft put his local knowledge of the waves to pick a couple of really good waves. His first business-wave, caught in the opening minutes of the heat, allowed him to post a 7.50 on the scoreboard to
put him in an early lead. He went on to back it up with a 6.70-point wave in the drying minutes of the three-man battle to finish with a resultant heat-total of 14.20 points. The score eventually served to seal the deal in his favour, taking him through into
the fifth round.
The former two-time Australian surfer Fanning got off to a solid start, earning a 7.10 off his first business-wave, but ended up receiving an interference call. He eventually finished with a heat-total of 10.07 points to get relegated to the fourth round.
Cardoso did not look in good touch during the 30-minute battle and consequently finishing third with a heat-total of 5.00 points to join Fanning in the Round 4 line-up.
The sixth heat saw the young Californian sensation Andino put on a spectacular performance to deprive an in-form Florence and Melling of the Round 5 spot.
The American surfer scored a 7.67 off his first business-wave and soon added an additional 7.00 to his account to finish with a heat-total of 14.67 points.
Florence had been looking really good in the big waves on offer at Margaret River, but was unable to continue his winning run in Round 3 heat after scoring a 5.67 and an 8.23 off his top-two wave for a heat-total of 13.90 points.
Melling failed to make much of an impact either during the three-man battle. He finished with a two-wave total of 9.84 points, which included a 5.17 and 4.67-point wave. As a result, he too got relegated to the fourth round.
Tags: