Ian Walsh and John John Florence survive Round 2 of Billabong Pipe Masters – 2011 ASP World Tour
The last stop of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour and Van’s Triple Crown of Surfing, Billabong Pipe Masters, went on with its Round 2 at the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, on Thursday, December 8, as Hawaii’s Ian Walsh took on
Australia’s Bede Durbidge in the third heat, while Hawaii’s John John Florence took on his compatriot Kai Barger in the fourth heat in a battle for survival.
The third heat saw Walsh completely steal the show with his superb performance and consequently walked away with a convincing victory, satisfied with successfully extending his life in the competition by heading in Round 3. Durbidge, on the other hand, got
eliminated from the competition due to yet another lacklustre performance.
The fourth heat turned out to be the heat of the day as Florence put forth an exquisite performance to defeat Barger and advance through into the next round, consequently removing his competitor from the race for the event-title.
The third heat turned out to be a pretty one-sided contest as the local knowledge of the waves allowed Walsh to felt really comfortably in the otherwise challenging mammoth-sized waves. As the heat kicked off, the 28-year-old Hawaiian locked a wave right
away and unloaded a flurry of exquisite tricks to earn 9.73 points for the effort. He soon added a 6.33 to his account, consequently moving to a heat-total of 16.06 points.
Durbidge failed to rise to the challenge, scoring a mere 2.50 off his first business-wave and later added an impressive yet inadequate 7.67 to his account. The lacklustre performance led to his elimination from the competition.
As the fourth heat got underway, the 19-year-old Van’s Triple Crown of Surfing series leader, Florence, bounced back from a disappointing Round 1 and made the strongest impact of the day through a solid impact in Round 2.
As the third heat got underway, Florence gave plenty of reason to the local crowd to cheer their lungs out. In the opening minutes of the heat, the crowd-favourite started off with an 8.07-point wave and soon went on to put everyone on the site in awe with
a perfect-10 wave. The resultant heat-total of 18.07 points remained unbeatable and eventually carried Florence off to victory.
Barger put up a determined and commendable fight, but his efforts turned out to be in vain. He scored 8.07 points off his first business-wave and later added a 6.60 to his account, finishing with a heat-total of 14.67 points. As a result, he was forced to
surrender victory to his rival and move out of the contention for the event title.
For updates on Round 2 of 2011 Billabong Pipe Masters, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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