Owen Wright and Josh Kerr advance to Round 3 of Rip Curl Pro Portugal
Australian phenom Owen Wright and his fellow countryperson Josh Kerr secured their place in the third round of Rip Curl Pro Portugal, the eighth of ten stops on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour, after claiming top honours in their respective Round 1 heat that went down at Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal, on Saturday, October 13.
Wright earned his success in the seventh heat, beating his compatriots Bede Durbidge and Yadin Nicol to relegate them into the second round, where they were to surf again to stay alive in the competition.
Kerr defeated America’s Taylor Knox and Brazil’s Heitor Alves in the eighth heat to advance straight to the third round, while leaving both his rivals to surf in Round 2 to extend their life in the contention for the event title.
The three-to-five foot waves on offer at the event site seemed perfect, causing the huge crowd in attendance to anticipate thrilling performances and intense battles.
The seventh heat turned out to be a one-man show, with Wright putting on a spectacular show to get the better of his two rivals.
The Australian surfer opened his account with a 6.83-point ride to take an early lead and later backed it up with an outstanding 9.43-point ride to reach a heat-total of 16.26 points.
Durbidge finished in second place with a heat-total of 11.94 points, which included a 5.17 and 6.77-point ride, whereas Nicol finished third after finishing with a heat-total of 7.65 points.
The eighth heat saw Kerr get the better of Knox and Alves after drawing first blood with a 6.03-point ride and later added an additional 4.67 points to his account, thus finishing with a decisive heat-total of 10.70 points.
Knox evidently struggled find his rhythm throughout the course of the heat and eventually finished with a heat-total of 7.43 points, which included a 5.20 and 2.23-point wave.
Alves also put on a pretty lacklustre performance, failing to make much of an impact and only managing to earn a 1.60 and 3.93 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 5.53 points.
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