Charlie Brown and Adam Melling survive Round 3 at Australian Open of Surfing – Surfing News
Brazil’s Charlie Brown and Australia’s Adam Melling prevailed in Round 3 (Round of 48) of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Australian Open of Surfing at Manly Beach in New South Wales, Australia, on Friday, February 17.
Brown took top honours in the fifth heat of the second round to advance through to Round 4(Round of 24), while his compatriot Alan Jhones accompanied him after claiming runner-up place. Australia’s Chris Friend finished third while New Zealand’s Jay Quinn
rounded out the bottom position. As a result, they both got eliminated from the competition.
The sixth heat saw Melling clinch a comprehensive win to move into the next round. His compatriot Mitch Crews finished in second place, successfully advancing through to Round 4 as well. Australia’s Josh Kerr and Ty Watson rounded out the bottom two positions,
consequently getting eliminated from the competition.
Despite being unfamiliar with the waves breaking at Manly Beach, Brown managed to adapt to the conditions quite superbly and collected a 7.33 and 5.77-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 13.10 points.
Jhones did not have much luck with the waves but still managed to clinch runner-up place after scoring a 4.97 off his first business-wave and backing it up with a 5.23-point wave in the final minutes of the four-man battle.
Friend finished in third place with a heat-total of 9.84 points, while Quinn rounded out the bottom position with 6.57 points.
The all-Australian sixth heat featured one of the biggest upsets of the day as Kerr failed to ensure his survival in the event after finishing in third place with a heat-total of 11.43 points. He was expected to offer a solid challenge during the course
of the heat, but he failed to deliver and thus paid a huge cost for it.
Melling, on the other hand, did not disappoint the crowd. Putting on one of the most spectacular performance of the day, the in-form Australian posted an 8.33 and a 7.87 on the score-board to finish with a decisive heat-total of 16.20 points.
Crews remained pretty impressive as well, collecting a 6.57 off his first business-wave and later backing it up with a 7.27-point wave. The commendable effort allowed him to remain alive in the competition.
Watson joined Kerr on the elimination list after finishing with a heat-total of 10.73 points.
The surfing action continued at Manly Beach with the remaining Round 3 heats of the men’s division at Australian Open of Surfing.
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