Dane Reynolds and Bede Durbidge clinch victory in Round 2 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing
The intense surfing action continued at the Huntington Beach Pier in California, America, with the eighth and ninth heat of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing’s round of 48 (Round 2) on Thursday, August 4.
America’s Dane Reynolds dominated the eighth heat to clinch a convincing victory over his rivals and confidently make his way to the round of 24 (Round 3). His compatriot Kolohe Andino came up with an impressive performance as well and qualified for the
next round after finishing in runner-up place. Spain’s Aritz Aranburu and Australia’s Julian Wilson were eliminated from the competition after rounding out the third and fourth positions respectively.
The ninth heat saw Australia’s Bede Durbidge walk away with top honours to secure a place for himself in the third round. He was accompanied by Brazil’s Jadson Andre, who finished in runner-up place. Brazil’s Wiggolly Dantas and Spain’s Hodei Collazo rounded
out the third and fourth positions respectively, consequently getting ejected from the event.
The 25-year-old Reynolds came up with the most sensational performance of the day to steal the show during the eighth heat. After getting off to a slow start, the Ventura-native built momentum and eventually unleashed a ferocious backside 360 air to earn
9.33 points off a wave. He followed it up with another impressive wave to earn 8.10 points, finishing with a heat-total of 17.43 points to claim victory.
Talking to a reporter after the heat, Reynolds said, “It was fun out there. I kind of just sat off to the left of everyone and took it easy. I didn’t really get any waves in the beginning and Kolohe got an 8 in the beginning for a small wave, so I knew if
you were to get a set wave, anything you did was going to be a good score. That 9.33 was really important, I was looking pretty bad in the beginning and that definitely turned the heat for me.”
Andino put up a commendable fight, but failed to edge past his compatriots’ heat-total and eventually settled for second place with a two-wave total of 15.67 points.
Aranburu and Wilson failed to meet the standards that had been set by the Americans in the 30-minute battle and ended up getting eliminated after finishing with a heat-total of 13.90 and 13.07 points respectively.
Australia’s 28-year-old Durbidge earned a Round 3 spot after walking away as the top performer from the ninth heat. He made his good form apparent early in the heat and collected impressive scores off his two best waves to finish with a heat-total of 13.90
points.
The 21-year-old Brazilian sensation, Andre, also managed to qualify for the next round after clinching second position with a heat-total of 11.87 points.
Dantas finished in third place with a heat-total of 9.06 points, while Collazo finished fourth after earning a combined-total of 8.97 points from his two best waves. The disappointing effort by the two surfers got them eliminated from the event.
For more updates on Round 2 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing, stay tuned to bettor.com
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