Brett Simpson and Patrick Gudauskas survive Round 2 of Quiksilver Pro New York – 2011 ASP World Tour
The fans kept getting treated to exciting surfing action as the 11th and 12th heat of Quiksilver Pro New York’s Round 2 went down at the Long Beach, New York, on Wednesday, September 7.
The 11th heat saw America’s Brett Simpson clinch top honours by defeating his country-man, mentor and friend, Taylor Knox, to secure a place in the third round while eliminating his rival from the competition in the process.
America’s Patrick Gudauskas prevailed over Australia’s Daniel Ross in the 12th heat to clinch the Round 3 spot, brining the competition to a premature end for his opponent.
With four-to-six foot waves on offer, the Round 2 bout between Simpson and Knox kicked off. The 26-year-old Simpson got down to business right from the word go, locking a wave to score 6.00 points off it and taking the lead.
Knox struggled to ride waves in the early stages of the 30-minute heat and after a long and patient hunt, he eventually managed to catch a couple of decent waves, earning 5.63 and 5.57 points off them to move to a heat-total of 11.20 points.
In the final minutes of the battle, Simpson caught a wave to add an additional 6.93 points to his account, which took his heat-total to 12.93 points and sealed the fate of the contest in his favour.
Commenting on his contest against Knox, Simpson said, “We all knew coming into this event that Taylor [Knox] needed to do something and I am coming off momentum from Teahupo'o. He's been a mentor and friend since I started on tour last year. He's inspired
all of us. It's just the way it goes. I was anxious. I knew there was a lot on the line for him and I want to climb the rankings too.”
The final heat of the second round saw the 25-year-old Gudauskas take on the Australian force, Ross, in a do-or-die contest. Both the surfers were well aware of the fact that a failure to perform in their current battle would lead to their elimination from
the event.
Gudauskas did exceptionally well under the pressure situation, locking a wave early in the heat to earn 7.50 points off it. He immediately followed it up with a 7.43-point wave, taking his heat-total to 14.93 points.
From the very start of the heat, Ross seemed out of rhythm and struggled to get a decent score off the waves on offer. The situation did not improve for him as the heat-clock ticked away and he eventually finished with a heat-total of 8.86 points, which
included a 4.83 and 4.03-point wave.
The disappointing performance by the Australian allowed Gudauskas to walk away with a comfortable victory, moving into Round 3 to continue his campaign for the event-title as well as the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) ASP World Title.
For updates on Round 3 of Quiksilver Pro New York, stay tuned to bettor.com
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