Bede Durbidge defeats Dusty Payne in Round 3 of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay
Australia’s Bede Durbidge defeated Hawaii’s Dusty Payne in the third heat of Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay’s Round 3 that went down at the coastline of Jeffreys Bay in South Africa on Saturday, July 23rd.
The victory confirmed the 28-year-old Australian’s place in the next round, while marking the end of the event-title pursuit for Payne.
While the 22-year-old Hawaiian had gotten off to a great start at the latest stop of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, clinching a comfortable win in the first round to advance directly to Round 3, the journey to the third round had
been a little bumpy for Durbidge.
The Australian had tasted defeat at the hands of Portugal’s Tiago Pires in Round 1 to get relegated to the second round. Instead of losing his confidence after a disappointing start, he came up with an exceptional performance in the second round to make
his way to Round 3.
Pitted against Payne in yet another sudden-death round, Durbidge could not afford a hiccup. Despite being No.9 on ASP World Tour rankings, the Australian had a tough battle at hand. Payne, World ASP No. 21, was expected to be high on confidence after the
Round 1 victory and would undoubtedly be looking to keep the momentum going.
As the battle commenced, it was Durbidge who drew first blood, locking a wave in the opening minutes of the heat to throw down a string of amazing manoeuvres and adding a 7.93 to his account.
As the battle progressed, the Australian kept a firm hold on his lead to maintain pressure on his rival. However, Payne managed to shake some pressure off by collecting a 7.67-point wave in the later stages of the heat and narrowing the gap. He immediately
followed this impressive wave with another business-wave, adding an additional 3.67 points to his account and reaching a heat-total of 11.34 points.
With time running out, Durbidge was in dire need of another 3.42 points to edge past his rival. In the final minutes of the heat, he eventually caught the wave and scoring 3.83 points off it, he successfully sealed the fate of the heat in his favour.
Durbidge now moves to Round 4, where a victory will allow him to advance directly into the quarter-finals.
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