Adrian Buchan Wins Billabong Pro Tahiti 2013
More: ADRIAN BUCHAN WINS BILLABONG PRO TAHITI
There was a very controversial priority mistake made in the final, when Adrian paddled hard for a wave, then stopped when he saw Kelly back off. At that point in time, Kelly stopped because Adrian had priority. After his paddle for that wave, priority should have been returned to Kelly, but the judges either missed the call or decided that Adrian didn’t fully commit to catching the wave. If you look at the replay, it is clear that he definitely went for the wave. Shortly after this, Adrian caught his second high-scoring wave to clinch the heat. That wave should have gone to KS. If the priority error hadn’t been made, we might have had a very different result in the end. It is unfortunate that a judging error may have caused the wrong result. That being said, Ace surfed incredibly on the final day, grabbing some of the best waves in the entire contest in every heat he was in. He was in great form and very much deserved to be in the final. He may have won even if the judges hadn’t missed that call.