Kieren Perrow and Dusty Payne survive Round 2 of Billabong Pipe Masters – 2011 ASP World Tour
The surfing action continued at Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii, on Thursday, December 8, as Round 2 of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour and Van’s Triple Crown of Surfing series, Billabong Pipe Masters, continued to narrow down
the field. The ninth heat saw Australia’s Kieren Perrow take on America’s Tanner Gudauskas, whereas Hawaii’s Dusty Payne battled it out with America’s Kolohe Andino in the tenth heat.
Perrow pretty much stole the show during the ninth heat with his exquisite performance to eventually walk away with a confident win into Round 3, consequently eliminating his competitor Gudauskas from the competition.
The tenth heat saw Payne emerge triumphant to successfully extend his life in the event through confirming his spot in the third round. Andino, on the other hand, found his rookie season of the ASP World Tour wrapping up with a disappointing heat performance.
Perrow had looked rather shaky during his Round 1 heat earlier in the day, but returned to the waves looking in a far better rhythm in Round 2. The battle for survival was expected to be quite testing for him as his competitor, Gudauskas, was not someone
to be taken lightly.
However, the 34-year-old Australian dominated American rival during the 40-minute battle. As the battle kicked off, Perrow, got off to a slow start, but gradually built momentum to eventually post an 8.00 on the score-board. He soon added another 6.50 points
to his account to take his heat-total to 14.50 points.
Gudauskas looked as troubled by the 15-to-20 foot waves as he was during his Round 1 heat and yet again failed to collect competitive scores. He eventually finished with a heat-total of 5.90 points, which included a 2.77 and 3.13-point wave, thus allowing
a comfortable victory to Gudauskas.
Talking about the mammoth-sized waves and the challenge that they offered, Gudauskas said, “It's as gnarly as Pipe gets. I was super nervous watching, so many gnarly wipe-outs. I just wanted to make it down the wave face but then I didn't on one wave. It
happens so fast in the moment that you don't think about it. I'm just glad to be back on the beach.”
The next heat saw the 22-year-old Payne send the young Californian sensation, Andino, packing after defeating him with a convincing margin. The demanding conditions kept both the surfers on the back-foot, but the local-favourite Payne managed to utilise
a couple of waves to squeeze a 5.50 and 3.70 off them, allowing him to finish with a heat-total of 9.20
Andino failed to hold his own in the challenging waves and eventually finished with a heat-total of 6.57 points, which comprised of a 4.17 and 2.40-point wave. The successive lacklustre performance led to his elimination from the competition.
For more updates on Round 2 of the 2011 Billabong Pipe Masters, stay tuned to bettor.com.
Tags: