Kai Otton and Mick Fanning advance to Round 4 of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach – Surfing News
Australia’s Kai Otton and his fellow countryperson Mick Fanning prevailed in their respective Round 3 heats of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, second stop of the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title Series, which continued at Bells Beach
in Victoria, Australia, on Thursday, April 5.
Otton created one of the biggest upsets of the event by downing his fellow countryman Taj Burrow in the seventh heat to advance through into the fourth round while removing the latter from the contention for the event title.
The eighth heat saw Brazil’s Raoni Monteiro succumb to Fanning, consequently getting eliminated from the competition while sending the latter into the next round.
The best surfers from around the world continued their campaign for the coveted ASP World Title on day 3 of the competition. The surfing conditions prevailing at the event site turned out to be pretty demanding, keeping the surfers on their toes throughout
the 30-minute battle for the Round 4 spot.
The seventh heat saw the current ASP World Tour No.1 Burrow take on his compatriot Otton in clean four-to-six waves.
As the man-on-man battle got underway, Otton locked his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat to post a 5.33 on the score-board. He managed to back it up with a 6.50-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 11.83 points.
Burrow, winner of Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast, was one of the favourites to win the latest event. However, he succumbed to the surfing conditions on Thursday, scoring a mere 2.97 and 3.57 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 6.54 points. As
a result, he was forced to concede victory and thus the Round 4 spot to his rival.
The eighth heat saw the former-two Australian surfer Fanning get the better of Brazilian sensation Monteiro to make his way into the next round of the event.
The 33-year-old Australian went to work early in the heat. Locking his first business-wave, he unloaded a series of exquisite tricks to post a 9.43 on the score-board. Keeping the momentum going, he added another 9.03 points to his account to finish with
a heat-total of 18.46 points.
Monteiro had no intention of letting his rival get away with an easy win and push himself hard during his hunt of a couple of big scores. However, he finished short of his rival by 3.26 points after scoring a heat-total of 15.20 points, which included a
6.00 and 9.20-point wave. This resulted in his elimination from the event while sending Fanning into the fourth round.
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