The Top 5 performers of 2011 ASP World Tour – Part 5
Taj Burrow
The 33-year-old Australian has consistently acted as one of the major threats to the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Title ever since his inception onto the elite ranks in 1998. Despite maintaining his status as a fierce competitor in the
ASP World Tour for the last 12 years, the World Championship title has always managed to evade Burrow, though he came pretty close in 1999 and 2007.
However, his brilliant performances and unprecedented ability to deliver regardless of the conditions he’s surfing in makes him one of the most respected and at the same time feared athlete in the sport. His aerials and stylish manoeuvres set him apart from
the rest of the pack and make him an inspiration for the younger generation of surfers.
In the latest season of ASP World Tour, Burrow has returned looking just as fearsome as ever.
The first stop of the season, Quiksilver Pro, saw Burrow take on the elite ASP surfers in his own backyard, Australia. The experienced ASP World Tour campaigner showed absolutely no mercy as he took down one after another of his opponents to make his way
through the initial rounds into the crucial stages of the competition. After dominating the quarter-final and semi-final heats, he eventually made his way into the final to face America’s legendary Kelly Slater.
With the form that Burrow was currently in, it was only somebody of Slater’s calibre who could have taken the raging beast down, which he eventually did, depriving Burrow of his first victory of the season.
Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach in Australia saw Burrow turn up as a completely different person. After making such a solid impact at the first stop, the Australian got off to a shaky start at Bell Beach and failed to find his rhythm in time, which got him eliminated
from the competition in just the second round. The 25th place was not something that was expected from somebody of Burrow’s calibre.
Burrow headed to Rio de Janeiro for the third stop on the 2011 ASP World Tour, Billabong Rio Pro. After a disappointing performance at the previous stop, Burrow was surely looking to redeem himself, which he did quite successfully with his performance at
the latest stop. He drilled through an extremely talented competition in the initial rounds and remained unstoppable in the quarter-finals as well as the semi-finals.
The final pitted him against the progressive Brazilian sensation, Adriano de Souza. Despite the difference in experience of the two athletes, it was the local surfer who managed to walk away with the win. For the second time in the season, Burrow saw victory
slip right through his fingers.
Billabong Pro Jeffreys Bay, the fourth stop of the season, brought the elite ASP surfers to South Africa. Burrow failed to kick things off confidently and ended up getting relegated to the second round. He did manage to bounce back to extend his life in
the event, but was forced out of the event by compatriot Josh Kerr in the third round.
Despite sitting in fifth place on the ASP World Tour Rankings, Burrow’s consistency seems to be of serious concern this season. Two runner-up finishes may have indicated that he is indeed a strong contender for the title, but his quick exits from two of
the four elite events makes his form somewhat unreliable.
Knowing Burrow, he would be putting in extra hours of training this very moment to remove the kinks from his form in order to improve the chances of him getting his hands on his first ASP World Championship title. Burrow would indeed be one of the surfers
to look out for during the rest of the season.
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