Kai Otton and CJ Hobgood triumph in Round 1 of Billabong Pro Tahiti – 2011 ASP World Tour
Billabong Pro Tahiti continued to treat the fans to thrilling action with the seventh and eighth heat of Round 1 on Saturday, August 20, at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti.
Australia’s Kai Otton emerged triumphant in the seventh heat to move directly into Round 3. Brazil’s Heitor Alves and Australia’s Owen Wright rounded out the second and third positions respectively, consequently getting relegated to Round 2.
The eighth heat saw America’s CJ Hobgood completely dominate the three-man battle with an incredible performance to jump into the third round. Australia’s Joel Parkinson finished second, while his compatriot Adam Melling rounded out the third position. Both
the surfers were relegated to Round 2.
The seventh heat turned out to be a low-scoring contest despite ideal conditions at the primary event site. Otton remained the most impressive of the three surfers in the three-man battle despite struggling to catch waves. Scoring 6.87 and 4.60 points off
the first two waves that he caught in the opening minutes of the heat, he held onto the lead for the entire course of the heat and eventually walked away with top honours.
Alves collected a 4.83 and 5.70-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 10.53 points. Wright got off to a good start, earning 6.50 points off his first wave, but failed to follow it up with another good score and eventually finished in third place with
a heat-total of 10.33 points.
The 32-year-old Hobgood completely stole the show during the eighth heat with his mesmerising performance. He left his two opponents helpless through an onslaught that featured a near-perfect 9.50 and an even better 9.87-point wave in the later stages of
the heat, to finish with an outstanding heat-total of 19.37 points.
During his post-heat interview, Hobgood said, “The wind got good which allows you to push it a little further up the point and the waves turned on. I’d like to take a little bit of credit, but the ocean did a lot of work out there. Joel [Parkinson] had a
wave that could have been a 10 if he had come out so they’re definitely out there.”
Commenting on the surfing conditions, the American said, “There’s a lot going on out in the barrel at Teahupo’o and the trick is to slow everything down as much as possible. I guess at that point, you rely on instinct to get you through. Very happy to get
through that heat and I’ll focus on Round 3.”
Parkinson remained pretty impressive during the heat as well, but was completely overshadowed by his rampaging rival. Scoring 7.30 points early in the heat and later adding an additional 8.30 points to his account, he finished in second place with a heat-total
of 15.60 points.
Melling failed to meet the standards set up by his two rivals and ended up finishing in third place with a rather disappointing performance, collecting 4.33 and 6.00 points off his two best waves.
Parkinson and Melling will have to survive the sudden-death Round 2 in order to stay in the competition.
For more updates on Round 1 of Billabong Pro Tahiti, stay tuned to bettor.com
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