Tanner Gudauskas and Taj Burrow advance to 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing quarter-finals
The Huntington Beach Pier, California, continued to feature high-intensity surfing action with the opening heats of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing’s knock-out Round of 12 (Round 5) on Saturday, August 6.
America’s Tanner Gudauskas came up with a superior performance while competing against New Zealand’s Richard Christie in the first heat, eventually walking away with top honours to guarantee his place in the quarter-finals.
The second heat saw Australia’s Taj Burrow prevail over America’s Even Geiselman, though just barely, to make his way through to the quarter-finals, while removing his rival from the competition.
The first heat of Round 5 kicked off in clean two-to-four foot waves at the event site. It seemed like a good day for surfing, though the head-to-head battle between Gudauskas and Christie made it look otherwise.
Once the heat commenced, both the surfers apparently struggled to find good scores. However, after a long and patient hunt, the 25-year-old Gudauskas eventually caught a decent wave to earn 5.50 points off it. He immediately followed it up with a much more
impressive 6.50-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 12.00 points.
Christie found his top-two waves in the later stages of the heat as well, collecting 4.33 and 4.93 points off them to finish with a two-wave total of 9.26 points. The 2.74-point deficit forced him to surrender victory to his American rival and make an exit
from the event.
The second heat pitted Burrow against Florida’s 17-year-old Nike US Open of Surfing Wildcard, Geiselman. Despite the huge difference in the experience of the two surfers, it turned out to be a real close finish.
After going through a series of waves, the 33-year-old Burrow added 6.17 points to his account to move into the lead. Despite a desperate hunt, he was only able to follow it up with a second-best wave-score of 4.93, getting to a heat-total of 11.10 points.
The young American, Geiselman, was not having a great time in the waves either and was finding it hard to come across a good score. He eventually collected a 5.60 off a wave in the later stages of the heat and only required an additional 5.51 to earn the
quarter-final spot.
However, he failed to get the necessary score and finished in a 0.20-point deficit after collecting 5.30 points off his second business-wave, thus allowing his rival to walk away with the win.
For more updates on Round 5 of 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing, stay tuned to bettor.com.
Tags: