Owen Wright and Jordy Smith fall to the Hawaiian talent in Round 3 of 2011 Billabong Pipe Masters
The latest edition of Billabong Pipe Masters in Memory of Andy Irons kept entertaining the surfing fans during Round 3, treating them to gripping battles between the heavy-weights of surfing from across the globe as they sought to keep their 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour campaign alive on Friday, December 9, at the Banzai Pipeline in Oahu, Hawaii. The ninth heat saw Hawaii’s Evan Valiere take on Australia’s Owen Wright, while another Hawaiian talent, Shane Dorian, took on South Africa’s deadly force Jordy Smith in the tenth heat.
Valiere and Wright went at each other with they had got and fought tooth and nail in what was truly an unforgettable showdown. The fate of the battle got decided in the dying minutes of the heat, with Valiere creating the biggest upset of the day by eliminating Wright from the competition while securing a place in the next round.
The tenth heat featured yet another upset as Dorian took a convincing victory over Smith to advance through into the fourth round while eliminating the latter from the competition in the process, much to the surprise and joy of the local crowd.
The deadly barrels at Banzai Pipeline had not shown any mercy to the surfers on the first day of the competition and kept on challenging them on the second day as well, firing 10-foot waves in the battlefield.
The local talent, Valiere, had succumbed to the demanding waves during his Round 1 heat, but done extremely well to bounce back strongly in the second round. He brought his form into the third round, where he faced the 21-year-old Wright.
The Australian prodigy had proved to be formidable force to be reckoned with over the last few months and was expected to put forward a determined effort to extend his life in the current ASP Dream Tour event.
As the battle kicked off, Valiere pushed Wright on the back-foot by locking his first business-wave early in the heat to post a 7.67 on the score-board. The Australian took a while before taking the lead through an 8.17-point wave.
However, Valiere managed to move ahead of his rival one again after adding an additional 8.47 points to his account, taking his heat-total to 16.14 points. Wright made a desperate effort on his last wave to find the necessary score, but only managed to squeeze 7.50 points off it, consequently finishing 0.47 points behind his rival. Despite a commendable effort, the Australian sensation got eliminated from the competition while Valiere took a much-deserved win. The local surfer had managed to hold on to his form yet again and the extra bit of confidence that he gained by defeating the in-form Wright was indeed a huge asset for him as he made his way into the next round.
The 10th heat featured a huge upset as Dorian, who was being tipped as the underdog in the competition, came up with an impressive performance to remove the South African prodigy, Smith, from the competition, much to everyone’s surprise.
As the battle got underway, Dorian collected an early 4.67, while Smith responded with a mediocre 2.23-point wave. As the heat progressed, the South African added an additional 3.43 points to his account, taking his heat-total to 5.66 points and clinching a rather volatile lead.
Dorian performed the coup de grace on his rival with final wave, which earned him 6.57 points and moved him to a heat-total of 11.24 points. The determination and persistence displayed by the local talent was indeed commendable and led to positive speculations regarding his future in the competition.
Smith had been simply sensation during the first half of the ASP World Tour season, making a strong impact at nearly every stop. An injury forced him out of a few elite tour events, though he made his return to the competition stage over a month ago to resume his ASP Dream Tour campaign. While he had looked as promising as ever, things just had not gone his way. Despite all this, he finished at No.7 spot on the ASP World Title rankings.
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