Tai Burrow, Kelly Slater and Tanner Gudauskas advance to Round 4 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing
The exciting Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event action continued at Huntington Beach Pier, California, with the fourth, fifth and sixth heat of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing’s round of 24 (Round 3) on Thursday afternoon, August 4.
The fourth heat saw Australia’s experienced Taj Burrow win his head-to-head battle against America’s CJ Hobgood to secure a spot in the round of 12 (Round 4), while removing his rival from the competition.
America’s legendary surfer, Kelly Slater emerged triumphant in the fifth heat after besting Puerto Rico’s Dylan Graves with apparent ease. The outcome of the contest put Slater in Round 4, while eliminating Graves from the competition.
The sixth heat saw Tanner Gudauskas eliminate his own brother, Patrick Gudauskas, from the event to proceed further in the competition.
The difference between the experience of the 33-year old Burrow and Hobgood turned out to be the decisive factor in determining the fate of the fourth heat. Hobgood made use of the home advantage and utilised the local knowledge of the waves to catch a couple
of good waves, moving to a heat-total of 13.27 points. However, Burrow managed to edge past his rival with a winning total of 15.27 points.
The 39-year-old Slater took on Puerto Rico’s Graves in the fifth heat. Naturally, the American surfer was a heavy favourite, taking his vast experience and exceptional skills into account. To further tilt the scales in his favour, he was competing in his
own backyard, which meant local knowledge of the waves.
Slater went through a series of waves before locking his first business-wave to place his rival under pressure. He further increased the pressure with an impressive second wave, reaching a heat-total of 14.47 points. Graves searched for a couple of decent
scores desperately, but only managed to climb to a two-wave total of 10.93 points, consequently surrendering victory to his rival.
The sixth heat turned out to be a sibling war as the 25-year-old Tanner Gudauskas took on his younger brother, Patrick Gudauskas, in a head-to-head battle for a place in the fourth round. The older brother showed no mercy to his younger sibling and clinched
victory after collecting a couple of good waves to finish with a heat-total of 12.97 points against Patrick’s 10.86 points.
The conclusion of the sixth heat marked the end of day three of the event, leaving the event to resume on Friday with the remaining heats of Round 3.
For more updates on Round 3 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing, stay tuned to bettor.com
Tags: