Tanner Gudauskas and Fredrick Patacchia advance to Round 2 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro
The latest Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event of the year, Billabong Azores Islands Pro, continued to treat fans to a heavy dose of surfing action with the 15th and 16th heat of Round of 96 (Round 1) at Praia de Santa Barbara in Sao Miguel, Portugal, on Thursday, September 29.
The 15th heat concluded with America’s Tanner Gudauskas walking away with top honours, confirming his place in the Round of 48 (Round 2). Accompanying him to the second round was Puerto Rico’s Brian Toth, who finished in runner-up place. Brazil’s Alex Ribeiro and Puerto Rico’s Dylan Graves got eliminated from the competition after finishing in third and fourth places, respectively.
Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia clinched victory in the 16th heat to advance through to next round, along with Australia’s Mark Occhilupo who finished in second place. America’s Matt Pagan finished third, while Australia’s Lincoln Taylor rounded out the fourth position. Both surfers were consequently eliminated from the competition.
The 23-year-old Gudauskas had no serious trouble in adjusting to the demanding surfing conditions that had been putting surfers in a misery since morning. As the 15th heat kicked-off, he locked a juicy wave to pull out an exquisite manoeuvre from his arsenal and collected 7.83 points for the effort. A few minutes later, he earned another 6.87 points to reach a heat-total of 14.70 points. The score proved sufficient to seal the fate of the battle in his favour.
Toth got-off to a slow and rather shaky start, but gradually built momentum and eventually managed to get his hands on the runner-up position with a heat-total of 12.33 points, which included a 4.93 and 7.40-point wave.
Ribeiro finished in third place after scoring 10.77 points in total off his top-two waves, while Graves merely got to a heat-total of 8.41 points, consequently finishing in last place. The bottom-two finishes resulted in the exclusion of the two surfers.
The 16th heat saw the 29-year-old Patacchia take control of the heat early on by milking a juicy wave for 7.00 points. Though he gradually lost his momentum, he still managed to put another 4.60 points on the score-board to reach a heat-total of 11.60 points. The score proved to be a decisive one, carrying him-off to victory.
Occhilupo finished in second place after scoring 5.10 and 5.43 points off his first and second wave respectively, to reach a heat-total of 10.53 points. The result served to extend his life in the competition by sending him through to Round 2.
Pagan barely missed out on the safe zone by 0.03 points after finishing with a heat-total of 10.50 points. Taylor only managed to get to a heat-total of 9.84 points, which earned him the fourth place. The inadequate scores resulted in the elimination of both surfers from the event.
For more updates on Round 1 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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