Brandon Jackson and Glenn Hall surge into Round 3 of Hainan Classic
South Africa’s Brandon Jackson and Ireland’s Glenn Hall advanced through into Round 3 (Round of 16) of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Hainan Classic by claiming top honours in their respective heats during Round 2 (Round of 32) that
went down at Wanning, China, on Thursday, January 12.
With Jackson taking the win in the third heat, Brazil’s Messias Felix had to settle for runner-up place, a good enough result to take the latter into the next round. America’s Nathaniel Curran finished in third place, while his compatriot Gabe Kling rounded
out the bottom position. The bottom-two finish led to the elimination of both the surfers from the competition.
The fourth heat saw Hall walk away with the win, while Brazil’s Tomas Hermes finished in runner-up place to join the Irish in the next round. Argentina’s Santiago Muniz and Leandro Usuna made a premature exit from the competition after finishing in third
and fourth place respectively.
With conditions continuously getting even more ideal with every passing minute, the Round 2 battles promised to be nothing short of thrilling.
As the third heat got underway, Jackson wasted no time in making the most of the conditions at hand and immediately got down to business. He locked a juicy wave in the opening minutes of the four-man battle to post a 7.17 on the score-board, only to immediately
follow it up with a 7.23-point wave. The resultant heat-total of 14.40 points remained unbeatable, consequently earning him top honours.
Felix had put on a great show for the crowd on the first day and did not fail to impress on Day 2 of the competition either. Opening his account with a 7.73-point wave, the Brazilian moved into the lead temporarily before losing it to Jackson. He added a
6.20 to his account in the dying minutes of the heat to finish with a heat-total of 13.93 points. The two-wave total served to get him into the next round by putting him in runner-up place.
Curran had put on a solid performance during his Round 1 heat to take the win, but failed to survive Round 2 after finishing in third place with a heat-total of 12.90 points, which comprised of a 6.60 and 6.30-point wave.
The American talent, Kling, failed to make much of an impact during the 30-minute heat and merely finished with a heat-total of 7.24 points, thus rounding out the fourth position.
The fourth heat saw Hall clinch a convincing victory after getting off to a good start, utilising a wave in the opening minutes of the four-man battle to post a 6.77 on the score-board. Though he struggled to follow it up with a competitive score for most
part of the heat, he managed to add an additional 7.03 to his account before the buzzer went off to seal the deal.
Hermes got off to a slow start, struggling to find a good score early on, but suddenly went all out on a wave near the mid-way stage to unleash a string of impressive tricks. Earning an 8.00 for the effort, the Brazilian set himself up for the win, but failed
to go all the way after struggling to find another decent score. With the second best wave-score of 3.00, Hermes was forced to settle for runner-up place.
Muniz finished in third place after scoring 7.33 points off his first business-wave and merely adding another 3.57 points to his account to finish with a heat-total of 10.90 points.
Usuna struggled to find competitive scores throughout the entirety of the battle as well. With his best wave-scores of 5.57 and 4.77, the Argentinean finished in fourth place with a heat-total of 10.34 points.
The ASP 4-Star Hainan Classic is the first ASP event in China and second event of Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival Presented by Quiksilver.
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