Patrick Gudauskas and Brian Toth prevail in Round 1 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing
The eighth Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event of the year, 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing, continued to deliver exciting surfing action with the ninth and tenth heat of round of 96 (Round 1) on Tuesday, August 2, at Huntington Beach in
California, America.
America’s Patrick Gudauskas came up with an exceptional performance in the ninth heat to clinch top honours, while his younger brother, Tanner Gudauskas, took runner-up place to advance to the round of 48 (Round 2) as well. Brazil’s Leonardo Neves and Caio
Ibelli rounded out the third and fourth positions respectively, making an early exit from the event.
The tenth heat saw Puerto Rico’s Brian Toth emerge triumphant to make his way confidently to the next round. Brazil’s Alejo Muniz survived his first round heat as well despite a rather shaky performance. Australia’s Dion Atkinson finished third, while Spain’s
Gony Zubizarreta rounded out the fourth place to get eliminated from the competition.
The 25-year-old San Clemente-resident, Gudauskas, stole the show in the ninth heat with his backhand surfing. Almost halfway through the heat, he caught a wave to earn an impressive 7.50 off it. A few minutes later, he locked another wave and unleashed a
string of tail-drifting turns on a juicy three-foot wave, earning an 8.83 for the effort and moving to a heat-total of 16.33 points. The score eventually earned him a convincing victory.
His 23-year-old brother Patrick finished right behind him to go through to the next round as well. Almost halfway through the heat, the younger Gudauskas collected a 7.00 and 7.93 off two juicy waves to climb to a heat-total of 14.93 points.
Commenting on the outcome of the heat, the elder Gudauskas said, “I don’t think we teamed up against those guys. We were looking at the heat draw and it was a bummer that we were in the same heat. You’re hoping to be in the Finals together maybe, but not
Round 1. Those guys are such good surfers and there were so many waves being ridden that you couldn’t really team up.”
Brazil’s Neves and Ibelli apparently struggled to adjust to the challenging surfing conditions that were prevailing at the event site and only managed to collect a heat-total of 10.56 and 10.00 respectively.
During the tenth heat, Puerto Rican Toth remained the highlight of the 30-minute battle due to his impressive performance despite demanding conditions. Collecting two impressive waves, he finished with a heat-total of 14.03 to prevail over his competition.
Brazil’s Muniz took second place after earning a two-wave total of 11.06 to advance to the next round. Atkinson and Zubizarreta earned a combined-total of 10.10 and 9.34 points respectively, failing to make the Round 2 cut as a result.
For more updates on Round 1 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing, stay tuned to bettor.com
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