Taj Burrow and Owen Wright claim victory in Round 3 at Billabong Pro Tahiti
Australia’s Taj Burrow and his fellow countryperson Owen Wright made it through into the fourth round at Billabong Pro Tahiti, the latest stop on the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour after walking away from top honours
from their respective Round 3 heats that took place at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti, on Sunday, August 26.
Burrow managed to get the better of his compatriot Kai Otton in the third heat to advance to the next round of the competition while removing the latter from the contention for the event title.
The fourth heat saw Brazil’s Miguel Pupo put on a great performance, but it just was not enough to get him past Wright on the scoreboard, consequently getting eliminated from the competition while sending his rival into the next round.
After remaining in a state of hold for almost a week, the latest elite tour event got underway in promising three-to-five foot waves. The canvas was definitely there for the skilful surfers to paint through their exquisite performances.
Burrow found himself pitted against Otton in a man-on-man battle for the Round 4 spot during the third heat of Round 3. Both the Australians had faced each other on a number of occasions and were well aware of each other’s styles, leaving it completely to
a battle of wits.
As the contest got underway, Burrow wasted very little time to stamp his authority in the heat. Locking his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat, he posted a 7.67 on the scoreboard and went on to add an additional 6.37 points to his account,
thus finishing with a heat-total of 14.04 points.
Otton failed to come up with a solid response. Scoring a 4.73 and 6.27 off his best-two waves, the Australian surfer finished with a heat-total of 11.00 points.
The fourth heat saw Wright and Pupo square-off for survival in a one-on-one battle for the Round 4 spot.
Wright got off to an excellent start, scoring a 9.17 off his first business-wave and ended up posting a 9.13 on the scoreboard in the final minutes of the heat to finish with a heat-total of 18.30 points.
Pupo put on a remarkable performance of his own, getting a couple of waves in the eight-point range to eventually finish with a heat-total of 17.50 points. The Brazilian surfer consequently ended up in a 0.80-point deficit, which resulted in his elimination
from the competition.
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