Kelly Slater and Yadin Nicol emerge triumphant in Round 3 at Billabong Pipe Masters
America’s Kelly Slater and Australia’s Yadin Nicol made it through into the fourth round at the Billabong Pipe Masters, the tenth and final stop on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after claiming victory in their
respective Round 3 heats that went down at the Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii, on Sunday, December 9, 2012.
Slater put on a mesmerising performance to get the better of Hawaii’s Billy Kemper in the ninth heat to secure his place in the next round, while bringing the competition to a premature end for his rival in the process.
The 10th heat saw a huge upset as Australian powerhouse Taj Burrow fell to his compatriot Nicol, consequently getting eliminated from the competition while sending the latter through into the next round.
The six-to-eight foot waves at the Banzai Pipeline had been serving as a great stage for thrilling battles throughout the day and were still pumping, thus promising to deliver plenty of more adrenaline-pumping action before the end of the day.
Pitted against Kemper in the ninth heat, the 11-time ASP World Champion Slater made it known why he loves surfing in the demanding waves of the Pipeline so much.
The 40-year-old Floridian got off to a solid start and continued to navigate the Pipeline and Backdoor with utmost precision throughout the course of the heat.
Earning a near-perfect 9.73 off his first business-wave and backing it up with an 8.90-point ride, the American surfer ended up posting the highest heat-total of the day, 18.63 points, on the score-board.
Kemper put up some fight to challenge his rival, but his efforts only managed to get him to a heat-total of 15.50 points, which comprised of an 8.67 and 6.83-point ride, thus causing him to surrender victory.
The next heat featured one of the biggest upsets of the day as Burrow, a formidable force in surfing, failed to hold his own against Nicol in the battle for the Round 4 spot.
Burrow got off to a confident start, posting a 7.83 on the score-board off his first business-wave, before backing it up with an ordinary 3.83-point ride to get to a heat-total of 11.66 points.
Nicol, however, managed to score an 8.00 and 4.83 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 12.83 points, thus moving into the lead and holding onto it until the end to seal the deal.
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