Shane Dorian and Adam Melling qualify into Round 3 of Billabong Pipe Masters – 2011 ASP World Tour
The North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, continued to play host to the final stop of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour and Van’s Triple Crown of Surfing, Billabong Pipe Masters, on Thursday, December 8, as Hawaii’s Shane Dorian squaring
off with America’s Brett Simpson in the seventh heat, whereas Australia’s Adam Melling took on Hawaii’s Mason Ho in the eighth heat of Round 2.
Simpson got completely undone by the mammoth-sized waves once again and ended up conceding an easy victory to Dorian in the seventh heat. As a result, the latter advanced through into Round 3 while Dorian got eliminated from the competition.
The eighth heat turned out to be an intense affair as Melling and Ho fought for survival until the last minute. In the end, however, the Australian surfer managed to clinch the win and secure his place in the third round while bringing the competition to
a premature end for Ho.
As the seventh heat got underway, the 39-year-old Dorian selected a wave to pull off a flurry of quick turns to open his account with 6.00 points. He soon added another 4.50 points to his account to finish with a heat-total of 10.50 points.
Simpson failed to offer any challenge to his rival and only managed to earn a 1.23 and 0.67 off his two business waves to finish with a disappointing heat-total of 1.90 points. As a result, he was forced to concede victory to the Dorian and get eliminated
from the competition.
The eighth heat turned out to be much more intense as both Melling and Ho seemed to have entered the waves with a much better strategy than before.
As the battle kicked off, the 39-year-old Melling got off to a slow start and was only able to score a 1.97 off his first business wave. As the heat progressed, he gained more confidence and eventually went on to lock a huge barrel to unload a string of
exquisite manoeuvres, earning 7.67 points for the effort.
Ho had absolutely no intention of letting his rival walk away with the win without putting up a fight and therefore put up a determined fight, though the effort turned out to be in vain. Collecting a 5.17 off his first business wave and soon following it
up with a 3.67-point wave, the local surfer finished with a heat-total of 8.84 points. The 0.80-point deficit forced him out of the race for the event title while moving Melling into the next round.
For more updates on Round 2 of 2011 Billabong Pipe Masters, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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