Owen Wright and Kelly Slater power into the Quarter-finals at Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach
Australia’s Owen Wright and America’s Kelly Slater claimed top honours in their respective Round 4 heats of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, the second stop of 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, which went down at Bells Beach in Victoria,
Australia, on Thursday, April 5.
The first heat saw Wright get the better of Hawaii’s John John Florence and Brazil’s Adriano de Souza to advance through into the Quarter-finals, sending his rival into the relegation Round 5 in the process.
Slater prevailed over Australia’s Josh Kerr and France’s Jeremy Flores in the second heat to confirm his place in the Quarter-finals while forcing his rivals to take a trip into the fifth round.
The condition of the waves breaking at the primary event site had improved considerably on Thursday afternoon. The world’s best surfers capitalised on the improved surfing conditions to step up their surfing and put on even more exquisite performances, much
to the delight of the fans.
The first heat pitted the 22-year-old Wright had his work cut out for him as he took on an in-form Florence and De Souza in a three-man battle.
The Australian surfer made use of his local knowledge of the waves to open his account with an 8.60-point wave and went on to add an additional 7.27 points to his account in the dying minutes, finishing with a heat-total of 15.87 points as a result.
Florence continued to look impressive in his latest event, collecting a 6.00 and 9.00-point wave off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 15.00 points. However, the 0.87-point deficit led to his relegation to the fifth round.
De Souza was surprisingly relegated to the fifth round as well after finishing with a heat-total of 14.93 points, which included a couple of scores in the seven-point range.
The second heat featured Slater in a three-man battle with Kerr and Flores for the coveted Quarter-final slot.
The 40-year-old Floridian reminded everyone why he had 11 ASP World Title to his name by showcasing his talent through an outstanding performance. Scoring a 9.67 off his first business-wave after replacing his broken surfboard with a new one halfway through
the heat, he continued the momentum to add an additional 8.83 points to his account to finish with a heat-total of 18.50 points.
Kerr and Flores got relegated to the fifth heat after finishing with a heat-total of 13.10 and 12.94 points respectively. Both the surfers had a chance to make it to the Quarter-finals by coming up with a better effort in their Round 5 heat.
Tags: