Josh Kerr and Kelly Slater prevail in Round 1 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing
The intense surfing action continued at Huntington Beach in California, America, with the 11th and 12th heat of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing’s round of 96 (Round 1) on Tuesday, August 2.
Australia’s Josh Kerr remained the most impressive surfer during the 11th heat and eventually walked away with top honours. Puerto Rico’s Dylan Graves took runner-up place to extend his life in the competition by qualifying for round of 48 (Round
2) as well. Brazil’s Bernardo Miranda and Australia’s Daniel Ross rounded out the third and fourth position, consequently getting eliminated from the competition.
The 12th heat saw America’s legendary Kelly Slater clinch a thrilling last-minute win to make his way through to the next round. Brazil’s Jano Belo survived the first round heat as well after finishing in second place. New Zealand’s Jay Quinn
and Hawaii’s Mason Ho were forced to make an early exit from the competition after rounding out the third and fourth position respectively.
Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) elite surfer, Kerr, got off to a great start on Tuesday, while facing Graves, Miranda and Ross in a four-man battle. After going through a series of waves, the 27-year-old Australian locked a juicy wave to throw
down a flurry of impressive manoeuvres and collecting 7.43 points for the effort.
Kerr soon added another 6.60 to his account, moving to a heat-total of 14.03 points. The score proved too much for his competition, leaving them with no option but to surrender victory to Kerr.
Graves only caught three waves during the entire length of the heat, but managed to make one of these really count, earning 7.00 points off it. Despite a failure to follow it up with a decent wave, earning a mere 3.93 off his second business wave, the Puerto
Rican still managed to secure second place to stay alive in the competition.
Miranda and Ross were removed from the contention for the event title after finishing with a heat-total of 9.33 and 7.54 points respectively.
The 39-year-old Slater, former US Open of Surfing Champion, advanced to the second round after competing in one of the most intense heats of the day. A few minutes into the 12th heat, the Florida-native earned 7.00 points off a wave to take the
lead.
As the heat progressed, Brazil’s 28-year-old Belo managed to take the upper hand with a 5.00 and 7.57-point wave, moving to a heat-total of 12.57 points. Just when it seemed that the fate of the heat was sealed, Slater locked a wave to unleash a flurry of
sensational forehand turns, earning 8.50 points for the effort and moving past the Brazilian with a heat-total of 15.50 points.
“There were waves breaking outside the heat before and there were only a few in our heat so it was a little tough,” Slater said after the heat. “Days like this, it’s a lot of luck, you’ve just got to catch the right waves. I tried to plan that one at the
end. I could have gone on the one before, but that one looked a little bit bigger and had that little peak up against the pier.”
Quinn finished in third place with a heat-total of 10.63 points, while Ho’s two-wave total of 8.37 points put him in last place. The bottom-two left both the surfers out of the Round 2 cut.
For more updates on Round 1 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing, stay tuned to bettor.com
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