Kai Otton and Jordy Smith surge into the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach Quarter-finals
Australia’s Kai Otton and South Africa’s Jordy Smith walked away with top honours from their respective Round 5 heats of the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, second stop of the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, which continued at Bells
Beach in Victoria, Australia, on Friday, April 6.
Otton got the better of America’s Brett Simpson in the third heat of Round 5 to advance through into the Quarter-finals while removing his rival from the contention for the event title.
The fourth heat featured the downfall of yet another American surfer as CJ Hobgood succumbed to Smith to get eliminated from the competition while sending the latter into the next stage of the latest ASP elite tour event.
With clean three-to-five foot waves on offer on what was most likely going to be the final day of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, the fans anticipated a heavy dose of thrilling action, which included intense encounters and exquisite performances by the best surfers
from around the world.
Squaring off with Simpson in the third heat of Round 5, Otton definitely had the scales tipping in his favour due to his local knowledge of the waves and support of the crowd behind him. However, it seemed that he was not willing to take any chances against
his American rival and stepped up quite early in the heat.
Locking his first business-wave, the Australian surfer posted an impressive 7.60 on the score-board. After a lengthy and determined search, he managed to find a 6.67-point ride which took him to a heat-total of 14.27 points.
Simpson put up an impressive fight, getting down to business as soon as the heat kicked-off. Despite his commendable effort, he had to settle for second place after finishing with a heat-total of 12.90 points, which included a 5.90 and 7.00-point wave. This
resulted in his elimination from the competition.
The fourth heat pitted an in-form Smith against Hobgood in a battle for the Quarter-final spot.
Smith went down to business right from the word go, drawing first blood by locking his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat to unload a series of stylish tricks, consequently posting an 8.00 on the score-board. He stepped up on his second
business-wave to earn an even more impressive 9.27 off it, taking his heat-total to 17.27 points.
Hobgood failed to come up with an adequate response to his rival’s onslaught and eventually finishing with a heat-total of 9.04 points, which comprised of a 5.17 and 3.87-point wave. The lacklustre performance forced him to surrender a convincing victory
to his South African rival.
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