Yadin Nicol and Kelly Slater reach the quarter-finals at Billabong Pipe Masters
Australia’s Yadin Nicol and America’s Kelly Slater were able to successfully secure their place in the quarter-finals at the Billabong Pipe Masters after claiming victory in their respective Round 5 heats that went down at the Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii,
on Friday, December 14, 2012.
Nicol put on an impressive performance to get the better of Brazilian young gun Gabriel Medina in the third heat, which served to carry him into the quarter-finals while bringing the competition to a premature end for his rival in the process.
The fourth heat saw Brazil’s Miguel Pupo succumbing to the onslaught by Slater, getting removed from the contention for the event title while surrendering the quarter-final spot to his rival.
With the best in the business competing for top honours at what is considered to be one of the most exciting surfing spots in the world, the fans were right to expect a heavy dose of adrenaline-pumping action.
The pumping waves gracing the Banzai Pipeline on the final day of the event were ideal for the surfers to put their exquisite skills on display.
Failing to hold their own in their respective Round 4 heats, both Nicol and Medina found themselves pitted against each other for a place in the quarter-final.
As the battle got underway, the Australian surfer got off to an impressive start. Locking his first business-wave, he unloaded a series of exquisite tricks to earn a 7.33 for the effort and went on to add an additional 5.67 points to his account, thus getting
to a heat-total of 13.00 points.
Medina got to a similar start, scoring a 7.33 off his first business-wave, but only managed to back it up with a 4.67-point ride, thus having to settle for a heat-total of 12.00 points.
The fourth heat saw the 11-time ASP World Champion Slater putting on an outstanding performance to remove Pupo from the competition.
The 40-year-old Floridian netted a 9.70 off his first business-wave and added an additional 9.57 points to his account, thus moving to a heat-total of 19.27 points.
Despite an 8.93 off his first business-wave, Pupo failed to threat his rivals lead as he only managed to score a 1.73 off his second business-wave, consequently registering an inadequate two-wave total of 10.66 points.
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