Kelly Slater defeats Taj Burrow in Quiksilver Pro New York semi-final – 2011 ASP World Tour
The latest stop of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Quiksilver Pro New York, continued to treat the fans to a heavy dose of thrilling action with the first semi-final on Friday, September 9, at Long Beach, New York.
After a real electrifying contest, America’s Kelly Slater managed to guarantee his place in the Final by defeating Australia’s Taj Burrow.
The 39-year-old Slater had been looking extremely formidable for the last few weeks. After a successful result at the previous stop of the ASP World Tour in Tahiti, the American had brought his form to New York and went through the initial rounds of the
competition like a bullet train. With his exceptional form and local knowledge of the waves, he seemed to be headed towards another victory.
On the other hand, Burrow was not a surfer who could be underestimated. His ability to perform under any conditions had placed him among the ranks of the greatest surfers that the sport of surfing had ever seen. His consistent performance over the last few
days had allowed him to confidently make his way into the semi-final to face the surfing icon, Slater.
As the semi-final kicked off, Burrow got off to an exceptional start, locking a wave to display a series of tail-busting power-turns and opening his account with 9.30 points. Slater immediately responded with his own set of exquisite tricks, earning 9.07
points for the effort and staying close to his rival on the scoreboard.
As the heat progressed, both the surfers continued to catch waves and earn good scores, but the hunt for an even better score never stopped.
In the later stages of the heat, Burrow caught a wave to add an additional 9.03 off it, moving to an impressive heat-total of 18.33 points. Had there been some other surfer, the outcome of the contest would have been pretty much decided. However, with Slater
in contention, nothing could be said with conviction.
Requiring a near-perfect score to overtake his rival on the scoreboard, Slater locked his final wave to pull off a gigantic front-side full-rotation slob grab. The mesmerising aerial earned him a perfect 10, moving him to a heat-total of 19.07 points, 0.74
points ahead of Burrow.
Burrow admitted that Slater’s last minute aerial trick was the best aerial that he had ever witnessed. However, he was disappointed that such a trick was unleashed against him at such a crucial stage and contributed to his removal from the competition.
With his victory in the first semi-final, Slater moved into the Final to take a shot at his third event-win of the season and cement his place on the top in the ASP World Title Rankings.
For updates on the second semi-final of Quiksilver Pro New York, stay tuned to bettor.com
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