Ricardo dos Santos (BRA), two-time Trials winner and wildcard, will take on reigning 11-time ASP World Champion and defending event winner Kelly Slater (USA), 40, in Round 3 of the Billabong Pro Tahiti.
TEAHUPO’O, Taiarapu/Tahiti Sunday, August 26, 2012) – The Billabong Pro Tahiti, Event No. 5 of 10 on the 2012 ASP World Championship Tour, has been called back on with Round 3 commencing at 8:30am in clean three-to-four (1 metre) waves at Teahupo’o.
“It’s been a long wait but we’re back on this morning,” Rich Porta, ASP International Head Judge, said. “We expect the swell to fill in more throughout the day with a secondary swell pulsing through this afternoon and into tomorrow. Round 3 starts at 8:30am and we have Round 4 on standby for this afternoon. Good luck to all our competitors.”
Surfline, official forecasters for the Billabong Pro Tahiti, are calling for the surf to pick up significantly for the final two days of the waiting period, thanks to a medium size SW swell Sunday morning and a much larger, long period South swell for this afternoon and tomorrow. Strong East trades continue Sunday, shifting more ENE/NE on Monday and easing.
Up first this morning will be two-time ASP World Champion and current ASP WCT No. 1 Mick Fanning (AUS), 31, up against Fredrick Patacchia (HAW), 30, in the opening heat of Round 3.
The Billabong Pro, Tahiti is made possible with the valued support of international partners Air Tahiti Nui, Sony, Xperia Sony Smartphone and Red Bull, along with our friends at Nixon, VonZipper, Mana and Hyundai.
BILLABONG PRO TAHITI ROUND 3 MATCH-UPS:
Heat 1: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) Heat 2: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS) Heat 3: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Kai Ottonn (AUS) Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Miguel Pupo (BRA) Heat 5: C.J. Hobgood (USA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF) Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Ricardo dos Santos (BRA) Heat 7: Joel Parkinson (AUS) vs. Taylor Knox (USA) Heat 8: Jeremy Flores (FRA) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA) Heat 9: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Damien Hobgood (USA) Heat 10: John John Florence (HAW) vs. Brett Simpson (USA) Heat 11: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Alejo Muniz (BRA) Heat 12: Adriano de Souza (BRA) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
