It took five Championship Tour events and nine heats for rookie Leo Fioravanti to finally break through to his first heat victory of the year. But it finally happened against Ace Buchan, riding the momentum of a runner-up finish last month in Rio, under some unlikely circumstances -- a tactical mistake from Buchan.
Holding second priority, the crafty rookie sold Buchan on a lemon of a wave out the back, then used priority to hold off the vet and squeeze the life out of their Round Two heat. The rangy Italian was visibly elated by ending the hoodoo voodoo. Now that he's finally broken through, there's no time to gloat over a Round Two win. He'll need to keep his head down and focus on the task at hand: another win in Round Three.
In that round, he'll have his work cut out for him. He faces reigning World Champ John John Florence in Heat 6.