Taj Burrow and Kelly Slater move into Semi-Finals at Rip Curl Pro Portugal – 2011 ASP World Tour
After a series of exciting battles, Rip Curl Pro Portugal reached the crucial Quarter-Finals stage, with Australia’s Taj Burrow taking on his compatriot Julian Wilson in the first Quarter-Final, while America’s Kelly Slater faced Brazil’s Heitor Alves in
the second Quarter-Final at Supertubos in Peniche, Portugal, on Tuesday, October 18.
The crowd witnessed a memorable battle between the two Australians in the first Quarter-Final, which eventually concluded in Burrow’s favour, sending him through into the Semi-Finals while removing Wilson from the contention for the event title.
The second Quarter-Final turned out to be completely one-sided as Slater dominated Alves throughout the 30-minute bout to advance further in the competition while removing the latter from the competition in the process.
The clean three-to-five foot waves gracing the banks of the primary event site offered enough juice and opportunities to the surfers to tempt them into pulling out the technical tricks from their arsenal, much to the joy of the fans. With only the in-form
surfers in the Quarter-Finals line-up, the battles were expected to take intensity to an entirely new level.
The 33-year-old Burrow took on the young Australian prodigy, Wilson, in the first Quarter-Final. Despite the huge difference in their experience, the two countrymen found themselves engaging in an extremely thrilling contest.
As the battle kicked off, Burrow immediately got himself in a dominant position with a 9.37-point wave. Wilson managed to shake off the pressure to some extent by responding with a 7.50-point wave, though he still had a lot of work to do.
The desperate hunt for another big score went on for a while, until Wilson sent the crowd and judges in awe with a spectacular stunt, compelling the judges to give him a perfect 10 for the effort. The last minute effort had suddenly moved the young Australian
in the dominant position and put Burrow on the back-foot. However, the 33-year-old ASP World Tour veteran immediately locked a wave and gave it his all. His desperate effort on the last wave made the difference by earning him an 8.57 and putting him ahead
of his opponent with a heat-total of 17.94 points, thus deciding the fate of the match.
The second Quarter-Final saw the 39-year-old Slater complete steal the show with his outstanding performance. Alves failed to offer any challenge and allowed the iconic American surfers to have a smooth sailing.
As the heat got under-way, Slater locked a wave to earn a near-perfect 9.70 off it and soon added another 9.00 to his account, finishing with a heat-total of 18.70 points. The score was an extremely competitive one and was bound to challenge Alves.
Much to the dismay of the crowd who were hoping to see a nail-biting contest, Alves failed to threaten Slater at any stage of the heat and seemed to have completely succumbed to pressure. He eventually finished off with a heat-total of 7.67 points, which
included a 6.00 and 1.67-point wave, thus surrendering victory to Slater.
For more updates on the Rip Curl Pro Portugal Quarter-Finals, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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