Brett Simpson and Dane Reynolds advance to Round 7 of the ASP PRIME Nike Lowers Pro
America’s Brett Simpson and his fellow countryperson Dane Reynolds advanced into the seventh round (Round of 16) of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME Nike Lowers Pro after claiming victory in their respective Round 6 (Round of 24) that
continued at the point-break of Lower Trestles in San Clemente, California, on Friday, May 4.
Australia’s Daniel Ross and Brazil’s Heitor Alves were forced to make a premature exit from the competition after second-place finish in the fifth and sixth heat respectively.
The competition field now comprised of only the most in-form surfers, thus raising the expectations for even more intense battles and exciting action. The sixth round of the competition was expected to be even more gripping as it gave the losers of Round
5 to bounce back and extend their life in the event. The glassy two-to-four foot waves breaking at the point-break offered plenty of potential scoring opportunities to the surfers, promising to make the battle for survival an enthralling one.
The fifth heat of Round 6 saw Simpson pitted against Ross in a battle for the one Round 7 spot on offer. Both the surfers had faltered in their previous heat and thus were sitting at a point where another stumble meant elimination.
As the battled got underway, Simpson got down to business right away, locking his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat to post a 6.83 on the score-board. He soon backed it up with an 8.67-point ride to move to a heat-total of 15.50 points.
Ross came up with a decent response, scoring a 5.50 and 8.00 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 13.50 points. However, that was not enough to get him past his rival on the score-board and thus led to his elimination from the competition.
The sixth heat saw the American legendary surfer Reynolds redeem himself after a Round 5 disappointment. Taking on the Brazilian surfer Alves, the 26-year-old Ventura-based surfer put on a superb show for the local crowd. Locking his first business-wave
in the opening minutes of the heat, he unloaded a series of powerful turns and carves to post an 8.00 on the score-board. Backing with up with a 4.00-point wave immediately Reynolds finished with decisive heat-total of 12.00 points.
Alves failed to offer an adequate response to his rival’s performance, scoring a 5.50 and 4.67 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 10.17 points.
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