| Super Kelly Slater ignites the 2011 US Open of Surfing |
| Saturday, 06 August 2011 16:44 |
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Kelly Slater stormed the 2011 US Open of Surfing after scoring a combined total of 18.77 out of 20 to advance directly through to the Quarterfinals. The 10-time world champion only surfed three waves, at Huntington Beach Pier. His worst wave was scored in the 8th level. The Floridian icon drove through a clean barrel before punting a gigantic frontside no-grab air. “I saw some barrels before my heat so I went out there to try and find some and I wanted the airs because the wind is perfect for the airs on those rights,” Slater said. “There are some fun peaks. You try not to peak too early in these events and if you have a really good heat like I just had, you kind of readjust and know that you can’t always go to that level of scores.” Dusty Payne was another elite ASP Top 34 campaigner to lead the day’s events. The Maui-based surfer was responsible for the highest-single-wave score of competition of 9.67 out of 10 when he found a wedgy righthander and delivered a crisp hack and followed up with a big air-reverse to confirm his spot in the Quarterfinals. “That 9.67 was just a wedgy right and I didn’t want to do just one move so I tried to squeeze in a little snap before I did the air and luckily I pulled it off,” Payne said. “The waves are fun, it’s pretty consistent and there are a bunch of waves coming through and you get some opportunity and get to mess around a bit. It was fun to mess around and not have the nerves of maybe only having one wave come in your heat.” Yadin Nicol has been on the cusp of qualification for the elite ranks over the last few seasons and moved one step closer of achieving his goal by defeating current No. 8 on the ASP World Title Series, Bede Durbidge, in the Round of 24. “This is a huge event for me,” Nicol said. “It’s the last event with big points and every heat from here is a bonus. All of these PRIME events, making this Round of 12 is pretty much your benchmark. It’s over 2,000 points, so from here on out it’s all a bonus.” John John Florence was another young Hawaiian to ignite the high-performance peaks on offer at Huntington Beach to take his Round of 24 heat over Brazilian talent Miguel Pupo, 19. “I was super-stoked to get through that Round of 24 heat because Miguel (Pupo) is so gnarly,” Florence said. “I was definitely pretty nervous going into that heat, but I just got lucky. There are so many fun waves out there.” Florence, who is also on the verge of qualification for the ASP World Title Series at the midway mark in the season, is hoping to maintain his form at the Nike US Open of Surfing to continue to climb the ASP World Ranking. “That was a big heat for me to get through to try and qualify,” Florence said. “That’s my goal to get to the World Tour, I’d be so stoked, I’ve put in a lot of hard work and so far it looks pretty good.” Royden Bryson continued his giant-killing campaign when he defeated ASP World Title campaigner Jadson Andre in the Round of 24 and followed up by moving directly to the Quarterfinals when he won his non-elimination Round of 12 heat. “I had two 6s in the bank, so it was anybody’s game because but as we saw in the heat before guys can throw 8s at any moment,” Bryson said. “I was just lucky to get through that heat, I didn’t have any exceptional waves. I only had two 6s so I’m stoked to get through and get a good result here.” Nike US Open of Surfing Round of 12 Results: |
