Damien Hobgood off to a perfect start at Rip Curl Pro Portugal – 2011 ASP World Tour
The ninth of eleven stops on the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Rip Curl Pro Portugal, continued to treat the crowd to a heavy dose of thrilling action at the beach-break of Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal, on Sunday, October
16, with the ninth heat of Round 1 pitting America’s Damien Hobgood against Australia’s Kieren Perrow and Bede Durbidge in a battle for the Round 3 spot.
It turned out to be an extremely nail-biting contest between Perrow and Hobgood, with both the surfers fighting tooth and nail until the very end. However, the latter eventually managed to grab victory in the final minutes of the heat, consequently advancing
through into Round 3. Perrow had to settle for second place, while Durbidge rounded out the third place. The second and third place finish resulted in their relegation to Round 2.
With clean three-to-five foot waves on offer during Sunday afternoon at the primary event site, expectations were high of the battles between the best surfers from around the globe as they resumed their campaign for glory. There was enough juice in the waves
to tempt the surfers to go for the more technical tricks in their arsenal during their hunt for big scores to increase their chances of clinching victory.
As the ninth heat of Round 1 got under-way, Perrow wasted no time in getting down to business and locked a wave to unload a flurry of impressive manoeuvres, posting 7.17 points on the score-board. Hobgood remained patient during the early stages of the heat,
but eventually made a charge half-way through the battle to collect 6.50 points off his first business-wave.
As the heat progressed, both Hobgood and Perrow continued to go through a series of scores while searching for a solid score. In the final minutes of the heat, the American locked a wave and gave it his all. The effort got rewarded with a 7.57 from the judges,
putting him into the lead with a heat-total of 14.07 points.
With the heat-clock ticking, Perrow became increasingly desperate as he struggled to find an adequate score to challenge Hobgood’s lead. However, the desperation and determined hunt turned out to be futile. He eventually had to settle for a 6.43-point wave,
consequently finishing with a heat-total of 13.60 points. The 0.47-point deficit forced him to concede victory to his American rival while getting relegated to Round 2 himself.
Durbidge remained overshadowed by the ongoing battle between his two rivals throughout the entirety of the contest and he did not do much to make his presence felt in the heat either. Earning 4.17 points off his first wave and adding another 6.43 points
into his account in the final minutes of the battle, he finished off with a heat-total of 10.60 points, rounding out third place and getting relegated to Round 2 as a result.
For more updates on Round 1 of Rip Curl Pro Portugal, stay tuned to bettor.com.
Tags: