Julian Wilson and Heitor Alves step into Rip Curl Pro Portugal Quarter-Finals – 2011 ASP World Tour
The 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour continued at the beach-break of Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal, on Tuesday, October 18, as Australia’s Julian Wilson took on his compatriot Chris Davidson in the first, while Brazil’s Heitor
Alves squared off with America’s Damien Hobgood in the second heat of Rip Curl Pro Portugal’s Round 5.
The opening heat turned out to be a low-scoring affair with both Wilson and Davidson having little luck with the waves. However, Wilson managed to collect enough points to prevail over the latter in the end, consequently moving into the Quarter-Finals while
eliminating Davidson from the competition.
The second heat featured a much more intense battle as Alves and Hobgood fought tooth and nail to extend their life in the competition. Alves eventually managed to walk away with top honours, securing his place in the Quarter-Finals while removing his rival
from the contention for the event title.
The latest day of the competition had kicked off in clean three-to-five foot waves and featured a series of high-scoring heats, with the surfers showcasing their stylish and innovative skills in the huge barrels. However, the opening heat of Round 5 turned
out to be pretty different from the rest of the heats and the two Australians competing in the heat had no luck in getting their hands on a good score throughout the entirety of the 30-minute bout.
As the first heat got underway, Davidson got his best score of 2.00 from his first wave and immediately posted his second-best of 1.50 on the score-board to finish with a heat total if 3.50 points. Despite the low target, it took the 22-year-old Wilson half
the heat to get his hands on his winning wave-score of 3.93. He eventually added another 2.90 points to his account to finish with a mediocre yet winning heat-total of 6.83 points.
The next heat turned out to be much better in terms of thrilling action and scores. The 29-year-old Alves collected a 5.67 in the early minutes of the battle, only to follow it up with an outstanding 9.73-point wave and moving to a heat-total of 15.40 points.
Hobgood remained quite unthreatening for most part of the bout, but suddenly showed off his aggressive side in the final minutes of the heat, earning an 8.07 and 5.67 off his last two waves. It seemed that the American had taken too long to make his move
and thus finished in a 1.66-point deficit. As a result, he was forced to step aside and let his Brazilian opponent, Alves, advance through into the Quarter-Finals.
For more updates on Round 5 of Rip Curl Pro Portugal, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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