Tanner Gudauskas and Adam Melling surge into Round 4 of Reef Hawaiian Pro 2011
Haleiwa, the famed North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, continued to host the first stop of Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, the Reef Hawaiian Pro, on Tuesday, Wednesday 22, as the Round of 64 pitted America’s Tanner Gudauskas against Australia’s Adrian Buchan, France’s
Romain Cloitre and Tanner Hendrickson in the 11th heat, while Australia’s Adam Melling found himself in contention with America’s Brett Simpson, France’s Vincent Duvignac and Hawaii’s Torrey Meister in the 12th heat.
The 11th heat saw Gudauskas comfortably walk away with top honours to advance through into the Round of 32 (Round 4). Buchan extended his life in the competition as well after securing second place to confirm his place in the next round. Cloitre
and Hendrickson failed to make the Round 4 cut after rounding out the third and fourth positions respectively.
The 12th heat featured an intense battle between Melling, Simpson and Duvignac as the three surfers fought tooth and nail for top honours. Once the dust settled, it was Melling who stood victorious, while Simpson finished as runner-up to qualify
for the fourth round as well. Duvignac and Meister got eliminated from the competition after finishing in third and fourth positions respectively.
As the 11th heat got underway, the 23-year-old Gudauskas wasted no time in gaining control of the heat with an impressive 7.17-point wave in the opening minutes of the four-way battle. He further cemented his lead with a superb 8.10-point wave,
which featured a combination of quick turns and aerials, which took him to a heat-total of 15.27 points. The score sealed the fate of the battle in his favour and consequently carried him into the next round.
Buchan remained quite impressive during the 20-minute battle as well and finished in second position with a heat-total of 13.44 points, which included a 6.17 and 7.27-point wave.
Cloitre made a determined effort to find a place in the safe zone, but eventually missed out after finishing with a heat-total of 12.10 points and was forced to settle for third place instead. Hendrickson rounded out the bottom position with a heat-total
of 9.46 points.
The 12th heat turned out to be an intense affair as the 26-year-old Melling found himself engaged in a nail-biting contest with Simpson and Duvignac in a four-man battle. All three surfers went hard at whatever waves they could get a lock on as
they searched for competitive scores.
In a desperate attempt to get off to a quick start, Melling ended up getting called for interference on his first wave, which put him in a bit of a handicap. However, he soon posted a 6.57 and 7.40 on the score-board to finish with a heat-total of 10.69
points, which proved sufficient to earn him victory.
Simpson finished in second place after collecting a 6.33 and 4.00 off his two best waves for a heat-total of 10.33 points. The runner-up finish carried him into Round 4 as well, extending his life in the event.
Duvignac and Meister finished with a heat-total of 9.83 and 6.53 points respectively, which led to their elimination from the competition.
For more updates on Round 3 of the Reef Hawaiian Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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