Adriano de Souza, Jordy Smith and Nat Young emerge triumphant in Round 3 at Mr Price Pro Ballito
Brazil’s Adriano de Souza, South Africa’s Jordy Smith and America’s Nat Young emerged triumphant in their respective Round 3 (No-Loser Round of 24) heats at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime Mr Price Pro Ballito that went down at Willard Beach in KwaDukuza, South Africa, on Friday, July 6.
Despite the absence of the risk of elimination, the top local and international talent were not expected to hold back during their three-man battles that could give them a direct ticket into the fifth round (Round of 16). Powerful one-metre waves breaking at the primary event site appeared to be a perfect canvas to allow the surfers to really let loose and put on an exciting show.
The fourth heat saw De Souza, current ASP World No.4, take in America’s Patrick Gudauskas and Puerto Rico’s Brian Toth in a three-man battle for the Round 5 spot.
The Brazilian powerhouse unleashed his huge array of technical manoeuvres during the course of the battle and eventually took control of the heat completely with a 7.83 and 8.04-point ride, which eventually allowed him to finish with a winning heat-total of 15.87 points.
“It was so tough going up against the defending champion,” De Souza said. “I just had luck on my side and chose the best two waves. I’ve been watching the positioning and wave selection from the local guys, especially Jordy Smith and I’ve tried to incorporate that into my surfing. I enjoy these waves here and hopefully I keep going.”
Gudauskas and Toth finished with a heat-total of 10.63 and 8.40 points respectively, consequently getting relegated to the fourth round (Round of 24).
The next heat saw Smith, current No.8 on the ASP World Championship Tour rankings, get the better of America’s Nathan Yeomans and Brazil’s Alex Ribeiro. Making an effective use of his local knowledge of the waves, the South African phenom collected a couple of relatively juicy waves to eventually seal the deal in his favour with a two-wave total of 14.83 points.
Yeomans finished with a heat-total of 13.94 points, while Ribeiro rounded out the bottom-position with a two-wave total of 10.30 points. Both the surfers were forced to take a trip to Round 4 to surf again for their place in the fifth round.
The sixth heat saw the Californian sensation Young prevail in a tough contest against Basque Country’s Hodei Collazo and Brazil’s Peterson Crisanto.
Collazo enjoyed an upper-hand for most part of the heat with a heat-total of 12.50 points, but Young managed to turn the tables on his rival in the final minutes of the three-man battle with 6.83 and 7.23-point ride, consequently finishing with a heat-total of 14.06 points.
Crisanto scored a heat-total of 7.30 points, thus finishing in third place. Both Crisanto and Collazo got relegated to the fourth round as a result.
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