Miguel Pupo and Kelly Slater power into Round 4 of Rip Curl Pro Search – 2011 ASP World Tour
The third round of Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco continued at the Ocean Beach in San Francisco, America, on Wednesday, November 2, with Brazil’s Miguel Pupo taking on Australia’s Adrian Buchan in the fifth, while America’s Kelly Slater came face to face
with Australia’s Daniel Ross in the sixth heat.
The fifth heat turned out to be a real intense affair, with both the surfers putting up a determined fight. In the end, however, it was Pupo who got to walk away with top honours, confirming his place in Round 4 while removing Buchan from the contention
for the event title.
Ross put up a decent performance in the sixth heat, but it proved to be insufficient to keep Slater from clinching the win and advancing through into the next round, along with capturing his 11th ASP World Title. As a result of the loss, the Australian
got eliminated from the competition.
After a shaky performance on the first day of the competition the 19-year-old Pupo did quite well to make a come-back in his Round 2 heat and earn a place in the third round. However, his worries were far from over though as he got pitted against an in-form
Buchan in his latest heat. the Australian had done extremely well in his Round 1 heat and was expected to have a psychological advantage over his rival.
As the fifth heat of Round 3 kicked off, Pupo went to work immediately and caught a wave to score 6.17 points off it. Buchan responded with a 5.67-point wave to keep the Brazilian from gaining a threatening lead.
As the heat came got past the half-way stage, Buchan added an additional 5.83 points to his account, taking his heat-total to 11.50 points. However, Pupo rose up to the occasion and squeezed a 5.70 off his second business-wave, moving past the Australian
with a heat-total of 11.87 points and sealing the fate of the contest in his favour.
The sixth heat saw the 39-year-old Slater taking on Ross in a battle for survival. The heat was surrounded by a lot of hype as a successful result for Slater could make him the 2011 ASP World Tour Champion.
As the 30-minute bout got under-way, Ross got off to a solid start, posting a 7.70 on the score-board off his first wave. He soon added another 6.70 points to his account, moving to a heat-total of 14.40 points and putting his rival on the back-foot.
Getting off to a slow start, Slater gradually built momentum and eventually made his charge, earning a 7.53 off his first business-wave and following it up with a 7.60-point wave in the dying minutes of the heat to finish with a heat-total of 15.13 points.
Aside from earning him a place in the fourth round, the victory allowed the American to seal the deal and lift his 11th ASP World Title.
For more updates on Round 3 of Rip Curl Pro Search San Francisco, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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