Taj Burrow and Kai Otton survive the second round of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach – Suring News
Australia’s Taj Burrow and his fellow countryperson Kai Otton successfully made it through the relegation Round 2 of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach that went down at Bells Beach in Victoria, Australia, on Wednesday, April 4.
Burrow got the better of his compatriot Davey Cathels in the first heat to make the Round 3 line-up, eliminating the latter from the competition in the process.
The second heat saw Australia’s Julian Wilson succumb to his fellow countryman Otton, thus making a premature exit from the competition while sending the latter through into the next round of the competition.
The clean three-to-five foot waves on offer at the primary event site turned out to be pretty promising, giving the world’s best surfers in attendance at Bells Beach to put on epic performances, much to the delight of thousands of fans.
Burrow, current ASP World Tour No.1, was determined to bounce back after a disappointing result in his Round 1 heat a day earlier. Pitted against Cathels in a battle for survival, the 33-year-old Australian got off to a superb start, scoring an 8.60 off
his first business-wave and managed to add an additional 8.93 to his account in the final minutes of the heat to finish with a two-wave total of 17.53 points.
Cathels failed to come up with an adequate response and eventually conceded victory to his rival after scoring a heat-total of 11.17 points, which included a 5.17 and 6.00-point wave.
“That was a lot of fun,” Burrow said. “I actually don’t mind surfing Round 2 as it’s another opportunity to get some waves and test out some equipment. I just didn’t feel like I got in a rhythm yesterday and it feels great to iron out the kinks today and
stoked to get through to Round 3.”
The second heat of Round 2 saw the 2011 ASP Rookie of the Year Wilson bow out to Otton.
The 32-year-old old Otton made use of his experience to catch the best waves of the heat, scoring a 7.33 off the first one while adding a 9.57 to his account in the final minutes to finish with a heat-total of 16.90 points.
Wilson responded with a heat-total of 13.10 points, which included a 7.17 and 5.93-point wave, to finished 3.80 points short of his rival’s score. As a result, he was forced to concede victory and thus the Round 3 spot to his rival.
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