Josh Kerr and Kelly Slater advance to Round 4 of Hurley Pro – 2011 ASP World Tour
Nothing but top-notch surfing action is expected from the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour event and that is exactly what fans got treated to during the fifth and sixth heat of Hurley Pro’s Round 3 on Tuesday, September 20, at Lower
Trestles in California, America.
The fifth heat saw Australia’s Josh Kerr take out Brazil’s Gabriel Medina after a real nail-biting showdown. The outcome of the battle sent Kerr to Round 4, while eliminating the latter from the competition.
America’s Kelly Slater kept the momentum going with yet another excellent performance to defeat Australia’s Tom Whitaker in the sixth heat and secure his place in Round 4. Failure to clinch a successful result in Round 3 resulted in Whitaker’s removal from
the contention for the event-title.
As compared to Monday, surfing conditions turned out to be pretty decent on Tuesday morning, though the on-shore winds kept troubling surfers and made it increasingly difficult to ride waves. However, the high-performance waves were there for the taking
and anyone who managed to adjust to the winds had an opportunity to collect big scores.
It was under these testing conditions that the Round 3 bout between the 27-year-old Kerr and Medina kicked-off. As the fifth heat got underway, Kerr drew first blood by scoring 5.83 points off a wave in the opening minutes. He then indulged in a long and
patient hunt for another decent score and eventually managed to add another 6.50 points to his account, finishing with a heat-total of 12.33 points.
Medina got-off to a slow start, but slowly built momentum as the heat progressed. Almost halfway through the heat, he locked a wave to earn 5.43 points off it. Requiring another 6.90 points for the win, the Brazilian desperately locked a series of waves,
but he only managed to collect a 6.40 off his second business-wave, consequently finishing in a 0.50-point deficit which forced him to surrender victory to his rival.
The sixth heat featured a one-man show with legendary 10-time ASP World Champion, Slater, as he completely stole the show with his mesmerising performance despite challenging conditions. He stripped his opponent, Whitaker, off the hope and confidence to
win in the opening minutes of the battle by locking a wave to pull off a series of outstanding manoeuvres, earning 8.77 points for the effort. Adding an additional 8.87 points to his account after yet another impressive wave, the American finished with a heat-total
of 17.64 points.
Whitaker struggled to adjust to conditions and only managed to catch three waves, earning a 7.33 and 5.60 off the top-two to finish with a heat-total of 12.93 points. Such an effort was never going to be enough to take down surfing icon, Slater. Hence, the
Australian gave a comfortable win to his rival and consequently got evicted from the competition.
For more updates on Round 3 of Hurley Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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