Chris Davidson and Taj Burrow emerge triumphant in Round 1 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing
The fans kept getting treated to intense surfing action with the seventh and eighth heat of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing’s round of 96 (Round 1) that went down at Huntington Beach in California, America, on Tuesday, August 2.
Australia’s Chris Davidson clinched top honours in the seventh heat to guarantee his place in the next round. Brazil’s Pedro Henrique confirmed his place in the round of 48 (Round 2) after finishing in second place. Australia’s Lincoln Taylor and Kai Otton
finished third and fourth respectively, getting eliminated from the competition as a result.
The eighth heat saw Australia’s Taj Burrow exhibit exceptional skills to emerge triumphant, while America’s Conner Coffin finished second to extend his life in the competition. Australia’s Nic Muscroft and New Zealand’s Billy Stairmand failed to make the
Round 2 cut after finishing in third and fourth position respectively.
As the seventh heat kicked off, Davidson went through a series of low-scoring waves before catching his first business wave, earning 6.50 points off it, to gain an upper hand. He later collected a 6.40-point wave to move to a heat-total of 12.90 points.
The score remained unbeatable, consequently carrying him off to victory.
Brazil’s Henrique kept searching hard for a good score throughout the heat and was rewarded for his determination and persistence in the final minutes, when he earned a 6.43 and 5.80 off his last two waves of the heat. The resulting total of 12.23 points
put him in second place.
Taylor and Otton failed to make a solid impact during the heat and were forced out of the competition after finishing with a heat-total of 11.80 and 8.77 points respectively.
The 33-year-old Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Elite, Burrow, dominated the eighth heat with exceptional forehand and backhand surfing despite the challenging conditions prevailing at the event site. In the opening minutes of the four-man battle,
he locked a wave to collect 7.23 points off it, immediately placing his rivals under pressure. A few minutes later, he added another 8.70 points to his account, finishing with a heat-total of 15.93 points and taking the win.
During his post-heat interview, Burrow said, “I luckily started with a pretty decent wave out the back and finished up in the shore-pound. It’s great surfing against the young guys. They’re so hi-fi out there. They’re really light on their feet and can do
every trick in the book, I love it. I want to go out there and mix it up with them in these small little waves. It’s always a challenge and I love surfing with those guys.”
Coffin also secured his place in the next round after using his local knowledge of the waves to beat Muscroft and Stairmand for second place. He finished with a heat-total of 12.34 points, which included a 5.67 and 6.67-point wave.
Muscroft took third place after finishing with a heat-total of 11.00 points, while Stairmand rounded out the bottom position with a two-wave total of 9.30 points.
For updates on Round 1 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing, stay tuned to bettor.com
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