Willian Cardoso and Taj Burrow enter Round 3 of 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro - Surfing News
Brazil’s Willian Cardoso and Australia’s Taj Burrow advanced through into the third round (Round of 24) of the 2012 Telstra Drug Aware Pro after emerging triumphant in their respective Round 2 (Round of 48) heats that went down at Margaret River in Australia on Wednesday, March 21.
Australia’s Adam Melling and his fellow countryman Kieren Perrow confirmed their place in the third round as well after clinching second place in the seventh and eighth heat respectively.
With the world’s best surfers converging to the primary event site to participate in the second Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime rated event of the season, the crowd was anticipating yet another day of exciting surfing battles. The six-foot waves on offer at Margaret River on the third day of the event were nothing short of promising, tempting surfers to go for the more advanced tricks in their arsenal.
Facing-off with the Australians Melling and Heath Joske along with Hawaii’s Granger Larsen in the seventh heat, Cardoso managed to put on a decent performance to walk away with the win.
Fresh from his win in the ASP 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Merewether Beach in Newcastle, the Brazilian surfer continued his excellent run of form at Margaret River despite facing a much tougher competition. Locking his first business-wave, Cardoso posted a 6.50 on the scoreboard and soon backed it up with a 5.63-point wave for a heat-total of 12.13 points. The score held up until the end to advance through into the next round.
“That was a great heat for me,” Cardoso said. “It was a bit slow, I only caught three waves. I’m feeling great this year I started the year with a 9th, then a win in Newcastle last week and I want to keep it going here. I love the waves here.”
Melling advanced through into the next round as well after finishing with a heat-total of 10.83 points, which comprised of a 4.83 and 6.00-point wave respectively.
Larsen and Joske were forced to step out of contention for the event title after scoring a heat-total of 9.36 and 7.70 points respectively.
The eighth heat of Round 3 saw Burrow, current No.1 on the ASP World Title rankings, put on a phenomenal performance to down his compatriots Perrow and Brent Dorrington, along with Guadeloupe’s Charles Martin.
The 33-year-old Burrow collected a couple of scores in the seven-point range to finish with a heat-total of 15.46 points. The score proved to be too much for his rivals to beat, which enabled him to walk away with top honours.
Perrow scored both his best scores in the six-point range for a two-wave total of 12.50 points to secure runner-up place and thus advance through into the next round.
Dorrington and Martin got eliminated from the competition after finishing with a heat-total of 6.72 and 6.33 points respectively.
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