A successful Round 4 sends Adriano de Souza to Hurley Pro quarter-finals – 2011 ASP World Tour
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour promises nothing but a heavy dose of surfing action, which is exactly what fans got treated to during the first heat of Hurley’s Pro’s no-elimination Round 4 on Tuesday, September 20, at Lower Trestles
in California, America.
As the intense three-man battle concluded, Brazil’s Adriano de Souza walked away with top honours, confirming his place in the quarter-finals. Australia’s Taj Burrow and France’s Jeremy Flores finished in second and third places, consequently getting relegated
from Round 5.
The high-performance waves gracing the primary event site looked very promising, but the presence of strong on-shore winds was expected to prove as a significant challenge for surfers throughout the day.
After a series of thrilling Round 3 battles, the event moved on to Round 4 to determine four of the eight quarter-finalists through a series of three-man battles. The first of these battles pitted the 24-year-old De Souza against Burrow and Flores.
After suffering from lacklustre form over the last three months, De Souza has been looking in great touch at the latest stop of the elite tour. He had made it into Round 4 without as much as a scratch and looked quite confident as he got ready to take on
the intimidating Burrow and Flores.
As the heat kicked-off, the Brazilian drew first blood by locking a wave to unload a series of impressive tricks and earning 8.60 points for the effort. Burrow went through a series of waves before responding with an 8.10-point wave to ease some pressure.
The Australian immediately added another 7.83 points to his account to reach a heat-total of 15.93 points. The score kept him in the lead for quite a while and it seemed that it may very well carry him off to victory. However, De Souza made a desperate effort
on his final wave of the heat and managed to earn 7.73 points off it, consequently moving to a heat-total of 16.33 points. The score proved to be a winning one and guaranteed his place in the quarter-finals.
Burrow was forced to settle for second place after the last-minute come-from-behind victory by his Brazilian rival. The defeat also relegated him to Round 5, where he needed to win his heat in order to progress to the quarter-finals.
Flores remained the least impressive surfer during the 30-minute heat and finished with a heat-total of 12.23 points, which included a 6.00 and 6.23-point wave. He was forced into the relegation round as well.
For more updates on Round 4 of Hurley Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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