Adam Melling and Nat Young pass through Round 2 of Burton Toyota Pro without a scratch
Australia’s Adam Melling and America’s Nat Young walked away with top honours from the second round (Round of 96) of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest at a heavily-crowded Merewether Beach in New South
Wales, Australia, on Wednesday, March 14.
The successful Round 2 heats carried both Melling and Young into Round 3 (Round of 48). Chile’s Manuel Selman and America’s Even Geiselman managed to keep themselves alive in the contention for the event-title as well after taking first runner-up positions
in the fifth and sixth heat respectively.
The two-to-three foot waves on offer at the primary event site on the third day of the competition set up a pretty nice stage for the surfers to step on and prove their class. Talent from around the globe had gathered at Merewether Point to battle it out
for the coveted prize money and ASP rating points that the ASP 6-Star event had on offer and the decent surfing conditions was bound to elevate the intensity of the action that was promised.
Pitted against Selman, Brazil’s Andre Silva and New Zealand’s Billy Stairmand in the fifth heat, Melling put on a remarkable show to put the crowd and judges in awe. Utilising his local knowledge of the waves, the Australian surfer selected a couple of juicy
waves to make his charge, with the first one earning him a 7.60 while the latter adding an 8.33 to his account to take him to a heat-total of 15.93 points. The score turned out to be a decisive one, earning him top honours and putting him in the next round.
Selman advanced through into the next round as well after clinching runner-up place with a heat-total of 12.33 points, which included a 5.50 and 6.83-point wave.
Silva and Stairmand got ejected from the contention for the event-title after finishing with a heat-total of 12.14 and 11.97 points respectively.
Young, a promising talent from California, put on a superb performance in the sixth heat to take down his compatriot and friend Geiselman, Australia’s Thompson and Japan’s Teppei Tajima.
As the heat got underway, Young got down to business right away, locking his first business-wave to post a 6.67 on the score-board and backing it up with a 7.33-point wave for a heat-total of 14.00 points.
Geiselman had to settle for runner-up place after collecting a couple of scores in the six-point range for a heat-total of 13.17 points.
Thompson finished third with a two-wave total of 12.30 points, while Tajima rounded out the bottom-position with a heat-total of 11.83 points.
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