Hawaii 2012 Vans World Cup Of Surfing (152 images)

HONOLULU - (Tuesday, December 4, 2012) -- Australian Adam Melling, from Lennox Head NSW, has won the US$250,000 VANS World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach, Hawaii - exactly what he needed to retain a position on the ASP World Tour for 2013. Melling, 27, won US$40,000 and moved to equal second on the VANS Triple Crown series ratings.
Melling found himself in the final against Sebastien Zietz (Kauai) - the recent winner of the REEF Hawaiian Pro (the first stop of the $1million Vans Triple...
more »

HONOLULU - (Tuesday, December 4, 2012) -- Australian Adam Melling, from Lennox Head NSW, has won the US$250,000 VANS World Cup of Surfing at Sunset Beach, Hawaii - exactly what he needed to retain a position on the ASP World Tour for 2013. Melling, 27, won US$40,000 and moved to equal second on the VANS Triple Crown series ratings.
Melling found himself in the final against Sebastien Zietz (Kauai) - the recent winner of the REEF Hawaiian Pro (the first stop of the $1million Vans Triple Crown of Surfing); Brazilian wunderkind Gabriel Medina; and fellow Australian Adrian "Ace" Buchan (Central Coast, NSW). He was up against the wall, knowing he needed a win or a second to get the points he needed to requalify.

Zietz ran away with an early lead after a 7.67 tube ride. Melling was afraid he had peaked too soon, surfing "the perfect heat" in the quarter finals that earned him the highest score of the entire competition: 18.4 points out of 20 (9.4 & 9.0 wave scores).

But glassy smooth 6-8 foot surf prevailed and so did Melling's powerful level of performance. Digging deep, he turned the tables on Zietz just minutes before the close with a near-perfect ride (9.33) that featured four gouging turns. He shot from third to first. But with seconds remaining, Medina paddled into a game changer, got barreled and cleanly exited. Melling was left floating, waiting for Medina's score to drop... not enough to steal the win, but enough to take second, relegating Zietz to third and Buchan to fourth.
« less