Taylor Knox secures victory in Round 1 of Hurley Pro – 2011 ASP World Tour
The opening round of the seventh stop of the 2011 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, Hurley Pro, saw America’s Taylor Knox take a thrilling come-from-behind win in the seventh heat that went down at Lower Trestles in California, America,
on Sunday, September 18.
The 40-year-old American took the win by defeating Brazil’s Raoni Monteiro and Australia’s Bede Durbidge to move directly to Round 3. Monteiro finished in second place, while Durbidge rounded out the third position.
The current season of the ASP World Tour has not exactly been a memorable one for Knox as he remains in a seriously deficit of successful results. However, if anyone was under the impression that the ASP Tour veteran no longer had it in him to make a solid
impact at the world stage, the American sure proved them wrong and reminded everyone why he is considered among the greatest surfers in history even at the age of 40.
As the seventh heat kicked off, Knox got down to business right away, locking a wave to score 6.17 points off it, setting himself up for a decent two-wave total. The search for the next good wave turned out to be a lengthy one and at one time it seemed that
he may not be able to add another score on the scoreboard at all. Just when it seemed that he would be getting relegated to Round 2, Knox caught a wave to throw down a string of impressive manoeuvres, earning 7.53 points off it and moving to a heat-total
of 13.70 points. The score kept him in the lead and eventually sealed the fate of the heat in his favour.
Monteiro’s performance during the three-man battle was nothing short of impressive and it seemed that he was well on his way to victory with a 6.50 and 7.00-point wave. However, a late-charge by his American rival took him by surprise, pushing him down to
second place.
Durbidge finished in third place after scoring 5.17 points off a wave in the opening minutes of the 30-minute heat and immediately following it up a 5.63-point wave.
Monteiro and Durbidge were safe from elimination during the first round of Hurley Pro, but they cannot afford to settle for anything less than a first-place finish in Round 2 if they wish to remain in contention.
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