Josh Kerr emerges triumphant in Round 4 of Quiksilver Pro New York – 2011 ASP World Tour
The fans continued to get treated to exciting action at the sixth stop of 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Quiksilver Pr New York, with the second heat of Round 4 that went down at the Long Beach, New York, on Thursday, September
8.
The heat featured an exceptional performance by Australia’s Josh Kerr as he triumphed over America’s Kelly Slater and Brazil’s Jadson Andre to secure his place in the quarter-finals. Slater and Andre got relegated to the fourth round after finishing in second
and third place respectively.
With the presence of an in-form Slater in the heat, there was hardly any doubt about the favourite to win the contest. The 10-time ASP World Champion was currently in his top form and looking as formidable as ever.
To tip the scales even more in his favour, the contest was taking place in New York, which meant that Slater’s opponents had to worry about his local knowledge of the waves along with his unmatchable skills and experience.
As the battle for the quarter-final spot commenced in six-foot waves and strong winds at the primary event site, the 39-year-old Slater got off to an almost perfect start, locking a real juicy wave to pull off a series of exquisite manoeuvres, collecting
9.37 points for the effort. This allowed him to take an upper hand in the three-man battle and put his opponents under pressure.
The 27-year-old progressive Australian surfer, Kerr, rose up to the challenge and took the world’s greatest surfer head on. He went through a series of waves before locking a wave to show his own class and the stylish tricks stored in his arsenal, posting
9.57 points on the scoreboard.
However, it turned out that he was far from done yet. In the later stages of the heat, he caught yet another good wave and utilised it to pull off yet another sensational trick, a huge alley-oops, for a near-perfect 9.70. The two aerials moved him to a heat-total
of 19.27 points, which eventually carried him off to victory.
Not one to give up till the very end, Slater urgently searched for an adequate response to his rival’s scores, but the determination ended up clouding his better judgement and led him to commit interference. This resulted in a penalty, leaving the American
to settle for a heat-total of 12.79 points.
Andre remained the weakest performer during the 30-minute heat, scoring 5.00 and 7.50 points off his top-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 12.50 points. This resulted in his relegation to Round 4 as well.
Commenting on the heat afterwards, Kerr said, “I can't believe it just happened like that. I didn't expect to make that varial and when I did I thought, 'it's time to go now.' Then I got one straight after it. I couldn't have planned it any better. The fans
are really cool and it's great to be in New York with everyone screaming, it's great. I definitely gained confidence from that heat. I've never beaten Kelly [Slater] and I'm just so stoked right now.”
It surely required something special to defeat an in-form Slater and that is exactly what Kerr managed to deliver in order to further his campaign for the ASP World Title.
For more updates on Round 4 of Quiksilver Pro New York, stay tuned to bettor.com
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