Alex Ribeiro and Charles Martin advance to Round 2 of Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest
Brazil’s Alex Ribeiro and Guadeloupe’s Charles Martin walked away with top honours from their respective Round 1 (Round of 144) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest at Merewether Beach in
New South Wales, Australia, on Monday, March 12.
Ribeiro and Martin both advanced through into the second round (Round of 96) due to their successful result Australia’s Jordin Watson and South Africa’s Beyrick De Vries also managed to extend their life in the event after securing runner-up place.
The tricky three-foot waves on offer at the primary event site were not exactly ideal, but they still offered the surfers adequate opportunity to collect big scores to keep themselves alive in the contention for the event-title.
Ribeiro adjusted exceptionally well to the surfing conditions while facing Watson, French Polynesia’s Steven Pierson and South Africa’s Michael February in the 15th heat.
The Brazilian surfer went through a series of average scores before collecting his first business-wave to post a 7.00 on the score-board. He followed it up with an outstanding 8.00-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 15.00 points, which served to earn
him the win and send him through into the next round.
Watson secured the runner-up place with a heat-total of 12.97 points that included a 6.67 and 6.30-point wave, consequently making the Round 2 cut.
Pierson finished in third place with a heat-total of 10.93 points, while February rounded out the fourth position with a two-wave total of 9.74 points. Both the surfers were consequently eliminated from the competition.
The 16th heat saw Martin put on an impressive show to get the better of De Vries, Australia’s Tim Wrench and Brazil’s Luel Felipe.
The Guadeloupian surfer opened his account with a 6.27-point wave and soon followed it up with a spectacular 8.50-point wave for a heat-total of 14.77 points, taking an early lead. His score held up until the end to eventually seal the deal in his favour.
De Vries finished as first runner-up after scoring a 5.53 and 6.67 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 12.20 points.
Wrench and Felipe got eliminated from the competition after scoring a heat-total of 10.47 and 5.27 points respectively.
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