Owen Wright remains unbeaten in Round 4 of Hurley Pro – 2011 ASP World Tour
The iconic point-break of Lower Trestles in California continued to play host to the seventh stop of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Hurley Pro, as the third heat of Round 4 went down on Tuesday, September 20.
The third heat saw Australia’s Owen Wright showcase his outstanding form yet again to advance through to the quarter-finals. USA’s Damien Hobgood and Australia’s Adrian Buchan finished in second and third place respectively, consequently getting relegated
to the fifth round.
The 21-year-old Wright has been in the form of his life over the last months or so. He made it into the Final at Billabong Pro Tahiti, but succumbed to America’s Kelly Slater in the end. However, he carried the momentum from Tahiti to New York and once again
made his way through to the Finals, getting pitted against Slater yet again. This time, the young Australian managed to down the surfing legend and walk away with his first win of the season.
The initial rounds of the latest elite tour event saw Wright looking as dangerous as ever. Reaching Round 4 without as much as a scratch, he seemed more than ready to take Hobgood and Buchan on in a fight for the quarter-final spot.
As the battle kicked off, Wright got down to business right away and locked a juicy wave in the opening minutes to unload a series of impressive tricks, earning 8.40 points for the effort. After the first business-wave, the Australian seemed to have relaxed
a little while searching for another good score. He eventually caught another promising wave in the final minutes of the heat and utilised it to add an 8.33 points to his account, consequently moving to a heat-total of 16.73 points. The score remained unbeatable
throughout the entirety of the contest and eventually sealed the fate of the heat in his favour.
Despite the support of the local crowd behind him and local knowledge of the waves, Hobgood was unable to keep Wright from walking away with the win, though he surely put up a remarkable fight. Early in the heat, the American locked a wave to earn 7.27 points
off it and later picked up a 7.93-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 15.20 points.
Buchan got off to a slow start and was unable to build momentum till the end. He eventually finished with heat-total of 12.46 points, which included a 5.93 and 6.53-point wave, for third place.
Hobgood and Buchan were relegated to the fifth round, where they needed to come up with a winning performance in order to stay alive in the competition.
For more updates on Round 4 of Hurley Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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