Josh Kerr and Kelly Slater advance to Billabong Pro Tahiti Semi-Finals – 2011 ASP World Tour
The exciting Billabong Pro Tahiti action resumed with the first and second quarter-final on Monday, August 29, at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti.
Australia’s Josh Kerr prevailed over France’s Jeremy Flores in a thrilling first quarter-final match-up to remove his opponent from contention for the event-title and advance to the Semi-Finals.
The second quarter-final saw USA’s Kelly Slater continue his winning momentum, adding Australia’s Matt Wilkinson to his list of victims as he made his way into the Semi-Finals.
Once again, excellent surfing conditions prevailed at the primary event site, with clean four-to-six foot waves gracing Teahupo’o. The stage was all set for a thrilling showdown between the best surfers from all around the globe as they looked to bridge
the gap that separated them from the event title.
The first quarter-final pitted the 27-year-old Kerr against Flores, the man responsible for posting a perfect 20 just a day earlier. While Kerr had been truly impressive and consistent throughout the course of the event, the Frenchman could not be undermined
either after his mesmerising performance on Sunday despite showing a little inconsistency over the last few days.
As the heat kicked off, Kerr immediately took the lead by locking his first business-wave to score 6.17 points off it. However, Flores soon posted a 7.00-point wave to gain the upper hand and further widened the lead by adding an additional 4.83 to his account,
finishing with a heat-total of 11.83 points.
In the dying minutes of the 30-minute heat, the Australian pulled off a 5.77-point wave to move to a heat-total of 11.94 points, defeating Flores by a mere 0.11-point difference. The last-minute win earned Kerr a place in the Semi-Finals.
The second quarter-final turned out to be a one-man show, with the 10-time Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion, Slater, completely stealing the show with his epic performance yet again to defeat Wilkinson.
Slater took control of the battle early on, locking a wave to throw down a string of flips and turns, earning 8.50 points for the effort. Almost half-way through the heat, he showed off his class through an exquisite combination of manoeuvres on a wave to
collect 9.00 points and moved to a heat-total of 17.50 points.
Wilkinson seemed utterly dumbfounded by his rampaging opponent’s onslaught. A mere 2.17 and 4.00-point wave was all he could manage in response to Slater’s intimidating total, allowing his rival to walk away with a comfortable win into the Semi-Finals.
For updates on the quarter-finals of Billabong Pro Tahiti, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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