Travis Logie emerges triumphant in Round 1 of Quiksilver Pro France – 2011 ASP World Tour
The eighth stop on the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Quiksilver Pro France, continued to treat fans to a heavy dose of adrenaline-pumping action during the ninth heat of Round 1, which pitted South Africa's Travis Logie against
Brazil's Adriano de Souza and Gabriel Medina at the iconic beach-break of La Graviere in France on Wednesday, October 5.
Despite a slow start, Logie came up with a timely charge in the final minutes of the heat to clinch victory and confirm his place in Round 3. De Souza failed to make much of an impact and finished in second place, while Medina rounded out the third position.
The lacklustre performance by the two surfers forced them into relegation at Round 2.
The six-to-seven foot waves on offer at the primary event site were turning out to be quite a nuisance, keeping the surfers from getting their hands on big scores during the 30-minute battles. Mother Nature seemed to be in a mood to test the surfers for
both skill and experience and only allow the most worthy of them to go through to the third round.
As the ninth heat of Round 1 got underway, the 32-year-old Logie seemed to be taken by surprise by the shifting waves. Taking it slow in the beginning, the South African slowly adjusted to the conditions and gradually built momentum to score 4.60 points
off his first business-wave in the final minutes of the heat. After breaking free of the shackles, Logie immediately locked a wave to unleash a combination of exquisite tricks, collecting 8.43 points for the effort and moving to a heat-total of 13.03 points.
The score remained unbeatable until the very end and consequently sealed the fate of the three-man battle in his favour.
It turned out to be yet another of those days when the Brazilian force, De Souza, failed to deliver. He had been considered as one of the strongest contenders for the ASP World Title during the first half of the elite tour but he gradually began to lose
his rhythm and struggled to make a solid impact. However, the last two events saw De Souza showing signs of returning form, but those signs were clearly missing during the ninth heat of Quiksilver Pro in France.
Getting off to a promising start with a 4.93-point wave, De Souza lost his way and only managed to add another 5.33 points to his account in the dying minutes of the heat, consequently finishing in second place with a heat-total of 10.26 points.
The third competitor in the ninth heat, Medina, failed to make much of an impact during the 30-minute heat as well and rounded out the third position after collecting a 3.67 and 3.93 off his top-two waves.
De Souza and Medina were pushed into Round 2, where they faced a must-win situation or else get eliminated from the competition.
For more updates on Round 1 of Quiksilver Pro France, stay tuned to bettor.com.
Tags: