Kelly Slater and Taj Burrow bounce back in Round 2 of Oakley Pro Bali – Surfing news
America’s Kelly Slater and Australia’s Taj Burrow successfully made amends for their disappointing start at Oakley Pro Bali by claiming success in their respective Round 2 heats to make it into the third round.
Recommencing at the main reef of Keramas in Bali, Indonesia, on Wednesday, June 19, 2013, the fifth stop on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour featured the world’s best surfers taking each other on in one-on-one Round
2 battles in clean four-to-six foot waves.
With the pressure of elimination hanging over their heads, the surfers who failed to collect desirable results on day of the competition were expected come hard at each other during their latest outing.
Slater, an 11-time ASP World Champion and current no. 1 on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour rankings, got off to an uncharacteristic start at Oakley Pro Bali, suffering a defeat in his very first heat.
However, he did exactly what was expected of him during the opening heat of Round 2, which had him pitted against event wildcard Jack Robinson from Australia.
The 41-year-old Florida-based surfer got off to a solid start and show-off his power turns and forehand tube-riding prowess. Collecting a couple of scores in the nine-point range, the American surfer finished with a heat-total of 18.17 points to walk away
with a comprehensive win.
“There are some really good waves out there when they come,” Slater said. “Still though, I’m two for two on slow heats. The waves are fun when they come through, but there just weren’t a lot in mine. I was happy to get a couple of good waves at the start
and that really put the pressure on Jack (Robinson).”
Robinson failed to make any sort of impact in the heat and ended up with a heat-total of 3.43 points, which comprised of a 2.23 and 1.20-point ride.
The next heat saw Burrow make amends after putting on an ordinary performance in his Round 1 heat.
Locking horns with Hawaii’s Bruce Irons, the Australian surfer made some pretty decent wave selections to put on a 7.83 and 5.67 on the score-board for a heat-total of 13.50 points.
Irons, on the other hand, struggled to find his momentum throughout the entirety of the heat and only managed to collect a 1.77 and 1.37 off his best-two waves, thus registering a dismal two-wave total of 3.14 points. As a result, he was forced to make a
premature exit from the competition.
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