Heitor Alves emerges triumphant in Round 1 of Quiksilver Pro New York – 2011 ASP World Tour
Brazil’s Heitor Alves got himself an ideal start at the latest stop of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Quiksilver Pro New York, by defeating Australia’s Mick Fanning and Asher Nolan in the fifth heat of Round 1 on Tuesday,
September 6, at the Long Beach in New York, America.
Winning the Round 1 heat sent Alves straight to Round 3, while Fanning and Nolan, who finished second and third respectively, headed to the relegation Round 2 to earn their place in the third round.
A quick glance at the three competitors in the fifth heat made it quite clear that Fanning was indeed the most formidable of the lot and most likely to take the win. However, the outcome of the battle turned out to be on the contrary.
As the fifth heat got underway in two-to-four foot waves at Long Beach, the two-time ASP World Champion, Fanning, got off to a decent start by locking a wave to earn 6.50 points off it. However, Alves immediately responded with a 6.83-point wave to take
the lead.
Almost halfway through the heat, Alves caught a relatively juicy wave to pull off a combination of impressive manoeuvres to add an additional 7.00 points to his account, moving to a two-wave total of 13.83 points.
Fanning desperately searched for an adequate response, but the effort turned out to be in vain. Collecting a 6.23-point wave in the later stages of the heat, he eventually finished with a heat-total of 12.73 points, consequently conceding victory to his
Brazilian rival.
The local surfer, Nolan, was unable to make much of an impact during the 30-minute three-man battle. After a long and patient hunt, he managed to collect 6.23 off a wave, which he immediately followed up with a 2.37-point wave to finish with a heat-total
of 8.60 points.
Despite tasting defeat in the first round, both Fanning and Nolan have an opportunity to remain in contention for the event-title by surviving the next round, which would be an elimination one.
Tags: