Taj Burrow and Adrian Buchan qualify for the quarter-finals at 2012 Hurley Pro
Australia’s Taj Burrow and his compatriot Adrian Buchan were able to successfully clinch the quarter-final spot at 2012 Hurley Pro, the sixth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after walking away
with the win from their respective Round 4 heats that went down at Lower Trestles in California, America, on Wednesday, September 19.
While Burrow clinched the win in the first heat, his fellow countryperson Julian Wilson had to settle for second position, while America’s Kelly Slater finished third. Both the surfers were consequently relegated to the fifth round to have another shot at
the quarter-final spot.
The second heat saw Buchan walking away with the win, leaving France’s Jeremy Flores and Australia’s Mick Fanning to settle for second and third place respectively and consequently forcing them to take a trip to the relegation round.
The opening heat of Round 4 turned out to be a pretty intense affair despite promising four-to-six foot waves on offer at the primary event site.
Burrow opened up with an excellent 7.50 points off his first business-wave, but struggled to get his hands on another big score, eventually having to settle for a 5.43-point ride as his second best and thus finishing with a heat-total of 12.93 points.
Wilson collected a couple of scores in the six-point range to finish in second position with a two-wave total of 12.60 points.
Slater, reigning 11-time ASP World Champion, put on an impressive performance, earning a 6.73 and 7.83 off his best-two waves, but ended up getting an interference call, an uncharacteristic folly indeed. The penalty resulted in him finishing in third place
with a heat-total of 11.20 points.
The second heat saw Buchan take the win after a phenomenal finish to what was otherwise turning out to be an ordinary performance. The Australian surfer scored a 7.90 off his first business-wave late in the heat and immediately followed it up with an excellent
9.33-point wave, thus finishing with a heat-total of 17.23 points.
“I was a little nervous going in to that round and I put a lot of energy in to putting in a good performance,” Buchan said after his Round 3 win. “That round’s kind of been my stumbling block in the last few events and I really felt like my surfing was there.
I’m glad it finally all came together. Heitor is so gymnastic and really passionate and I really like that about his surfing. We’ve had some great heats together and it was cool to have another heat with him.”
Flores put on a determined fight, earning a 6.90 and 9.07 off his best-two waves, but the resultant heat-total of 15.97 points was just not enough to take him ahead of Buchan.
Fanning, former two-time ASP World Champion and current No.1 on the ASP World Tour rankings, seemed completely out of rhythm and only managed to reach a heat-total of 10.17 points, which included a 5.50 and 4.67-point tide.
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