Taj Burrow and Jadson Andre fly into the third round at Quiksilver Pro France
Australia’s Taj Burrow and Brazils Jadson Andre kicked off the Quiksilver Pro France, the seventh of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, with a successful result in their respective Round 1 heats that took place at La Graviere in Hossegor, France, on Friday, September 28.
Burrow took the win over his compatriot Kai Otton and America’s Taylor Knox, advancing directly into the third round as a result while relegating his rivals into the second round to surf again for the Round 3 spot.
The second heat saw Andre claim the win after getting the better of Brazil’s Adriano de Souza and America’s Damien Hobgood, securing a Round 3 stop while forcing his rivals take a trip to the second round.
The clean three-to-five foot waves on offer at the primary event site promised a series of intense battles, hardly a surprise since the competition field comprised of the heavy-weights of surfing.
Burrow found himself kicking off the proceedings at the latest elite tour event, taking on Otton and Knox in a three-man battle.
The 34-year-old Australian put on an impressive show for the crowd, displaying his fore-hand tube-riding prowess in challenging waves. Collecting a 6.83 off his first business-wave and backing it up with a 7.33-point ride in the final minutes of the heat, Burrow finished with a heat-total of 14.16 points, which proved sufficient to seal the fate of the heat in his favour.
“First heat of the morning is always a gamble,” Burrow said. “You don’t have a reference from the other heats and you’re not sure what the judges are going to throw. Lucky for me, the conditions this morning were fun little barrels and it always feels great to get through Round 1. There are some really dangerous wildcards in this event so I’d much rather be watching Round 2 than in it.”
Otton finished in second place after scoring a 2.03 and 9.00 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 11.03 points, whereas Knox finished third with a two-wave total of 7.00 points.
The next heat turned out to be a low-scoring affair, with all three surfers struggling to get their hands on a big score.
In the end, a 4.67 and 4.37-point ride for a heat-total of 9.04 points was all it took for Andre to emerge triumphant.
De Souza scored a 4.50 off his first business-wave and backed it up with a 4.20-point ride to finish with a heat-total of 8.70 points, where Hobgood finished third with a heat-total of 8.20 points, which included a 3.10 and 5.10-point ride.
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