Tiago Pires and Brett Simpson prevail in Round 2 of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach – Surfing News
Portugal’s Tiago Pires and America’s Brett Simpson claimed top honours in their respective Round 2 heats of Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach, second stop of the 2012 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour, which went down at Bells Beach in Victoria,
Australia, on Wednesday, April 4.
Pires managed to prevail over Australia’s Adrian Buchan in the ninth heat to confirm his place in the third round while removing his rival from the contention for the event title.
The 10th heat saw Australia’s Kieren Perrow succumb to Simpson, consequently sending the latter into the next round of the competition.
As the second day of the latest ASP elite tour event continued, the competition field kept getting trimmed, The elimination round sent the in-form surfers into the third round while bringing the competition to a premature end for those who failed to come
up with a winning performance for the second time in a row.
Pitted against Buchan in the ninth heat, Pires managed to adjust exceptionally well to the three-to-five foot waves that were on offer at the primary event site. The Portuguese surfer scoring a 7.43 off his first business-wave and went on to add an additional
7.50 to his account, finishing with a resultant heat-total of 14.93 points.
Buchan failed to get past his rival’s score after finishing with a heat-total of 13.30 points, which comprised of a 6.50 and 6.80-point way, thus allowing his rival to walk away with the win.
The tenth heat featured an impressive performance by Simpson as he took down Perrow to advance through into the next round.
The 27-year-oldAmerican scored a 7.67 off his first business-wave halfway through the heat and went on to add an additional 6.10 points to his account to finish with a heat-total of 13.77 points.
Perrow, the ASP World Tour veteran, scored a 4.50 and 7.17 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 11.67 points. As a result, he was forced to concede victory and thus the Round 3 spot to his rival.
“That was a crucial heat for me,” Simpson said. “This is my third year on tour and I’ve always felt like I’ve belonged here, but now that I have the confidence and experience, I expect results from myself. I feel like my surfing has been there for a while
and now it’s time for me to apply my experience at this level to my ability and really make a run at it. Super stoked to get through that heat and looking forward to the next one.”
Simpson will square off with his fellow countryman Damien Hobgood in the third round.
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