Adam Melling and Olamana Eleogram enter 2011 Vans World Cup of Surfing
The second stop of the highly prestigious Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, Vans World Cup of Surfing, came down to the Quarter-Finals after a series of enthralling battles between some of the best surfers from around the world. The action continued as Australia’s
Adam Melling took on Tahiti’s Michel Bourez, Hawaii’s Evan Valiere and America’s Nat Young in the first Quarter-Final, whereas Hawaii’s Olamana Eleogram found himself competing against his compatriot Dusty Payne, South Africa’s Jordy Smith and his compatriot
Travis Logie in the second Quarter-Final at Sunset Beach in Oahu, Hawaii, on Friday, December 2.
The first Quarter-Final saw Melling manage to collect just enough score off his top two waves to clinch victory and confirm his place in the Semi-Finals. The runner-up finish by Bourez proved to be sufficient as it carried him through into the next stage
of the competition as well. Valiere and Young rounded out the third and fourth positions respectively, which consequently led to their elimination from the event.
The second Quarter-Final featured an epic battle between Eleogram and Payne, with both the surfers stretching each other to the limit while pursuing the win. In the end, it was Eleogram who managed to walk away with top honours, leaving his compatriot to
settle for second place. However, both the Hawaiians made it through into the Semi-Finals. The third and fourth place finish by Smith and Logie respectively led to their ejection from the competition.
As the first Quarter-Final kicked off, the 26-year-old Melling wasted absolutely no time in taking control of the heat by locking a wave to perform a combination of lightening fast turns, earning 7.83 points for the effort. He later added an additional 5.03
points to his account, moving to a heat-total of 12.86 points. The score remained unbeatable until the end, consequently carrying him off to victory.
Bourez remained pretty impressive during the 30-minute bout and collected a couple of fives to get to a heat-total of 11.33 points. The decent effort earned him runner-up place and hence carried him off into the next round as well.
Valiere and Young finished in third and fourth place with a heat-total of 7.16 and 4.77 points respectively. Their lacklustre performance came as a real disappointment for the crowd who was hoping to catch something similar to what they had witness in the
previous two days, instead of watching of watching them get eliminated in such a manner.
The second Quarter-final turned out to be epic as Eleogram and Payne stole the show in the four-man battle with their breath-taking performance. As the battle got under-way, Payne drew first blood with an outstanding 9.00-point wave and followed it up with
an 8.50-point wave to get to a heat-total of 17.50 points. Instead of getting intimidated by his compatriot’s early onslaught, Eleogram met the challenge head on and locked his first business wave to score a perfect 10, sending both the crowd and judges in
awe. Continuing his charge, he added another 7.83 points to his account, consequently over-taking his rival on the score-board with a heat-total of 17.83 points.
While the Hawaiians entertained the local crowd with a spectacular performance, the South African surfers remained in the shadows after failing to the meet the standard that had been set by Eleogram and Payne. Smith, who had been simply superb in the 2011
Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, finished in third place with a heat-total of 14.16 points, while Logie rounded out the bottom position with a disappointing 6.16 points. As a result, both the surfers were eliminated from the competition.
For more updates on the quarter-finals stage of 2011Vans Hawaiian Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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