Kelly Slater and Julian Wilson qualify for Round 4 at 2012 Hurley Pro
America’s Kelly Slater and Australia’s Julian Wilson put on an impressive performance to claim top honours in their respective Round 3 heats at the 2012 Hurley Pro, the sixth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, which went down at the primary event site of Lower Trestles in California, America, on Wednesday, September 19.
Slater got the better of Australia’s Matt Wilkinson the opening heat of Round 3 to secure his place in the fourth round while bringing the competition to a premature end for his rival.
The second heat saw Brazil’s Alejo Muniz failing to keep Wilson from walking away with the win, getting eliminated as a result while sending his rival into the next round.
The latest day of the elite tour event saw four-to-six foot glassy waves breaking at the contest site, setting up a nice stage for the best surfers from around the globe to show what they are capable of.
Pitted against Wilkinson in the first heat, Slater was clearly the favourite to win. The 40-year-old 11-time reigning ASP World Champion was never expected to take it easy on his rival and that is exactly what was seen during the course of the battle for the Round 4 spot.
Slater got down to business right from the start of the heat, locking his first business-wave in the opening minutes to grab an early lead with an excellent 8.00-point ride. Maintaining his momentum as the heat progressed, the Floridian surfer added another 7.70 points to his account, thus reaching a two-wave total of 15.70 points.
Wilkinson struggled to find his rhythm during the first half of the heat, scoring a mere 2.83 off his first business-wave. However, he stepped up a little towards the end of the bout to squeeze a 7.17 off his second business-wave, but that only served to take him to a heat-total of 10.00 points, thus forcing him to concede victory to his rival.
The second heat saw Wilson and Muniz battle it out for survival. There was much at stake during their encounter, so a thrilling contest was expected.
As the heat got underway, Muniz locked a decent wave to earn a 5.67 off it, but soon lost the lead to Wilson, who had managed to get his hands on a 6.00-point ride.
The lead shifted back to the Brazilian surfer after he scored a 6.67 off his second business-wave, but once again could not hold on to it as his rival shifted to a higher gear in the final minutes of the battle to score an 8.03 off his second business-wave to get to a winning heat-total of 14.03 points.
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