Muscroft downs Burrow to advance to Round 3 of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach alongside Slater on day 1
Australia’s Nic Muscroft won the fifth heat, whereas America’s Kelly Slater took top honours in the sixth heat of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach’s Round 1 that went down at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, on Tuesday, April 3.
Both Muscroft and Slater advanced directly into the third round following their successful result in the first round of the competition.
America’s Kolohe Andino finished second while Australia’s Taj Burrow was forced to settle for third place in the fifth heat, consequently getting relegated to Round 2.
The sixth heat saw America’s Brett Simpson and Australia’s Davey Cathels finish in second and third place respectively, which led to their relegation to the second round.
The latest stop of the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour saw clean three-to-four foot waves grace the primary event site, setting up an ideal stage for a series of enthralling battles between the best surfers from around the globe.
The 29-year-old Muscroft created the biggest upset of the day by getting the better of the current ASP World No.1 Burrow and young Californian sensation Andino in the fifth heat.
Despite getting off to a modest start, Muscroft managed to find a 7.40 and an 8.67-point ride in the final minutes of the three-man battle to finish with a heat-total of 16.07 points, consequently grabbing top honours.
Andino scored a 6.83 and 7.23 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 14.06 points, whereas the 33-year-old Burrow finished third with a heat-total of 11.10 points, which comprised of a 5.60 and 5.50-point wave. Both Andino and Burrow headed into the
second round to try and earn their place in Round 3.
The sixth heat featured one of the biggest attractions of the event, reigning 11-time ASP World Champion Slater. The Floridian surfer managed to prevail in what turned out to be a wave-starved heat by scoring a 9.50 and 4.20 off his final-two rides in the
30-minute battle.
“It was interesting out there as I really did all the work in the last four minutes,” Slater said. “I felt like I was out of rhythm the whole heat, but really there just weren’t waves with a lot of scoring potential. Bells has that characteristic though
and the door was left open just enough for me to get one in at the end.”
Simpson and Cathels succumbed to the conditions and consequently got relegated to the second round after finishing with a heat-total of 10.33 and 9.77 points respectively.
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