Travis Logie and Chris Davidson advance to Round 4 of Billabong Pro Tahiti – 2011 ASP World Tour
The intense surfing action continued at Teahupo’o in Taiarapu, Tahiti, with the seventh and eighth heat of Billabong Pro Tahiti’s Round 3 on Sunday, August 28, where Travis Logie and Chris Davidson came out on top.
South Africa’s Travis Logie created the biggest upset of the day by defeating his in-form compatriot Jordy Smith in the seventh heat, advancing to Round 4 while eliminating his opponent from the competition in the process.
The eighth heat saw Australia’s Chris Davidson prevail over Portugal’s Tiago Pires to secure his place in the next round while removing the latter from the contention for the event title.
With eight-to-ten foot waves gracing the primary event site on Sunday, the stage was set for an epic showdown between the world’s best surfers as they competed on the greatest stage in surfing, the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Tour.
Logie, who was a last-minute replacement for America’s Dane Reynolds, had made quite an impact in the competition so far, justifying his inclusion in the line-up comprising of the elite ASP surfers. He continued to show his good form on Sunday morning as
he took on Smith, who was a heavy favourite to win the Round 3 bout.
As the heat kicked off, the 32-year-old Logie got himself an early lead by locking a wave to score 7.00 points off it. After a few minutes, he increased his lead further by adding an additional 7.93 points to his account, moving to a heat-total of 14.93
points.
Smith patiently hunted for a decent wave and eventually found one to earn 7.10 points off it. However, he was unable to follow it up with another good score and eventually had to settle for a 5.33-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 12.43 points. As
shocking as it was, Smith had conceded victory to Logie and no longer remained in contention for the event title.
The eighth heat saw Davidson take on the ‘Portuguese Tiger’, Pires, in a battle for survival. Both the surfers seemed a bit uncomfortable in the mammoth-sized swell and struggled to remain in control.
After a determined effort, Davidson was able to collect a 6.00 and 5.77-point wave in the later stages of the 30-minute heat to finish with a heat-total of 11.77 points. While the two-wave total hardly seemed like a winning one, it turned out to be enough
to carry him off to victory and hence the next round.
Pires searched long and hard for a good score but was only able to add a 4.83 and 6.03 to the scoreboard, consequently finishing with a heat-total of 10.86 points. The inadequate score left him deprived of victory and removed him from the event-title race.
For more updates on Round 3 of Billabong Pro Tahiti, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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