Alexandre Chacon and Dale Staples prevail in Round 3 of Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest
Australia’s Alexandre Chacon and South Africa’s Dale Staples qualified for the fourth round (Round of 24) of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest by winning their respective Round 3 (Round of 48)
heats at that went down at Merewether Beach in New South Wales, Australia, on Friday, March 16.
Australia’s Chris Friend and Brazil’s Hizunome Bettero also made the Round 4 cut after prevailing in the ninth and tenth heat of Round 3 respectively.
As the competition resumed on the fifth day of the latest ASP 6-Star event, the world’s best surfers continued their pursuit of the event title in clean two-foot waves. The conditions were relatively tougher than the previous days, though the frequency of
good waves appearing at the primary event site was enough to give the surfers ample opportunity to post good scores on the score-boards.
The ninth heat of Round 3 turned out to be an intense affair as both Chacon and Friend fought tooth and nail for top honours. The two Australian surfers were quite familiar with the conditions and very little difference between their skills kept them at
each other’s heels throughout the heat.
Friend posted an 8.00 on the score-board to take an early lead, but Chacon responded with an 8.00-point wave. As the heat progressed, the latter posted an additional 7.43 points to his account, moving to a heat-total of 15.43 points. Friend made a desperate
effort on his second business-wave to find a good score, but ended up short after posting a 7.20 on the score-board to finish with a heat-total of 15.20 points, consequently settling for runner-up place.
Brazil’s Ian Gouveia and France’s Joan Duru got added to the elimination list after finishing with a heat-total of 12.90 and 7.50 points respectively.
Pitted against Bettero, America’s Cory Lopez and Cayman Islands’ Jonathan Gonzalez in the 10th heat, Staples clearly had his work cut out for him. His heat-mates had been exhibiting a good form and were expected to put up a solid fight for the
win.
However, Staples managed to best his competitors after opening his account with a heat-total of 6.93 points before backing it up with an 8.00-point wave for a heat-total of 14.93 points.
Bettero successfully extended his life in the event after securing runner-up place through a heat-total of 13.50 points, which included a 6.50 and 7.00-point wave.
Lopez finished third with a heat-total of 12.00 points, while Gonzalez rounded out the bottom-position with a two-wave total of 9.87 points.
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