Kerr, Slater Shine as Quarterfinals Set in Quiksilver Pro

Thursday saw the end of the third, fourth and fifth rounds at the Quiksilver Pro New York as the eight final surfers made their way into the quarterfinals with a series of incredible aerials and turns.

After the third round ended, surfers were placed into four groups of three for the fourth round, with the winner of each group getting an automatic bid to the quarterfinals. The second and third surfers in each heat would have to battle it out in the fifth round for the final spots in the quarterfinals.

The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals are all tentatively set for Friday starting at 7:30 a.m.

The highlight of the day came in the fourth round when Josh Kerr, Kelly Slater and Jadson Andre went up against each other in the most exciting heat of the competition so far. Top-ranked Slater looked like he had the heat won with a 9.37 alley oop, but Kerr came back with a 9.57 and a 9.70 to post the highest score of the competition.

Kerr and Slater will meet again in the second heat of the quarterfinals on Friday.

"There's so many people," Kerr told Quiksilver after his win. "The fans are insane."

Third Round Summaries

Heat 5: Josh Kerr (AUS) def. Raoni Monteiro (BRA) 13.33 - 10.83
Heat 6: Kelly Slater (USA) def. Bobby Martinez (BRA) Martinez disqualified from competition.
Heat 7: Fredrick Patacchia (HAW) def. Mick Fanning (AUS) 14.14 - 14.07
Heat 8: Alejo Muniz (BRA) def. Kieren Perrow (AUS) 14.37 - 8.33
Heat 9: Heitor Alves (BRA) def. Adrian Buchan (AUS) 16.43 - 9.67
Heat 10: Joel Parkinson (AUS) def. Kai Otton (AUS) 14.80 - 9.14
Heat 11: Julian Wilson (AUS) def. Brett Simpson (USA) 15.03 - 12.57
Heat 12: Owen Wright (AUS) def. C.J. Hobgood (USA) 18.67 - 11.77

Fourth Round Summaries

Round 4, Heat 1

Taj Burrow used a 8.70 run full of bottom turns and no aerials to edge out a similar run from Adriano de Souza and secure a spot in the fifth round. Burrow finished with a 14.93, de Souza with a 14.77 and Jeremy Flores finished in third with an 11.37.

Round 4, Heat 2

In one of the most anticipated heats of the day, the high-flying Kerr used to huge aerial maneuvers to fly past 10-time world champion Slater, who had used a massive 9.37 alley oop to propel himself into an early lead. Kerr put up two runs of 9.57 and 9.70 in a matter of two minutes -- the 9.70 featured an alley oop that dwarfed Slater's early maneuver. Kerr finished with a competition-high 19.27, Slater finished with a 12.79 after a late deduction and the Brazilian, Andre, finished with a 12.50.

Round 4, Heat 3

The scores dropped significantly in Heat 3, as Muniz only needed a total of 12.10 to advance to the quarterfinals. Muniz used a solid air reverse midway through the heat to boost his lead, while Patacchia had to settle for a 8.64 and Alves grabbed a total of 7.13.

Round 4, Heat 4

Wright rode the lip on a late wave which resulted in a heat-high 8.77 to secure a spot in the quarterfinals. Wright decisively defeated Wilson and Parkinson with a score of 16.37, compared to a 12.00 for Wilson and a 10.30 for Parkinson, respectively.

Fifth Round Summaries

Round 5, Heat 1

Despite de Souza's heat-high score of 7.43, the battle of Brazil went to Andre, who edged out de Souza after the two traded turn for turn and aerial for aerial. Andre reached the quarterfinals with a total score of 13.60 compared to de Souza's 12.93.

Round 5, Heat 2

Heat 2 started very slowly, but top-ranked Slater picked up the slack late and continued to impress as he used a total of 14.60 to knock off Flores, whose total was only a 6.67.

Despite the loss, Flores walked out of the water and was nice enough to hand his surfboard to a local youngster in the crowd.

Round 5, Heat 3

Parkinson rode one of the longest waves of the day to start the heat with a 7.67, but Alves overcame the early deficit with a late 7.90 to take out the Australian 13.57 to 13.00.

Round 5, Heat 4

Wilson hit a big air reverse and followed it up with a smaller air reverse on the same 8.00 run to sneak past Patacchia in the final heat of the day by a final score of 13.97 to 13.27.

Quarterfinal Match-Ups

Heat 1: Taj Burrow (AUS) vs. Jadson Andre (BRA)

Heat 2: Josh Kerr (AUS) vs. Kelly Slater (USA)

Heat 3: Alejo Muniz (BRA) vs. Heitor Alves (BRA)

Heat 4: Owen Wright (AUS) vs. Julian Wilson (AUS)