Connor O’Leary and Steven Pierson advance to Round 3 at Sooruz Lacanau Pro
Australia’s Connor O’Leary and French Polynesia’s Steven Pierson emerged triumphant in their respective Round 2 (Round of 128) heats at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 5-Star Sooruz Lacanau Pro that went down at Grande Plage in Lacanau, France,
on Tuesday, August 14.
With O’Leary claiming top honours in the seventh heat, France’s Ugo Robin finished behind him in second place to accompany the former into the third round (Round of 96). Netherland’s Yannick De Jager and Sweden’s Timothy Latter finished in third and fourth
place respectively, which led to their elimination from the competition.
The eighth heat saw Pierson and France’s Romain Laulhe finished in first and second position respectively, consequently advancing to the next round of the competition. Portugal’s Francisco Alves and Australia’s Jerome Forrest were forced to exit the contention
for the event title after finishing in third and fourth positions respectively.
O’Leary made the most of the three-to-four foot waves on offer at the primary event site to get the better of Robin, De Jager and Latte in the seventh heat. The Australian surfer earned a 6.50 off his first business-wave and went on to back it up with another
6-point wave to reach a heat-total of 12.50 points. The score held up until the end to see him through to victory.
“I had the opening round nerves but it was fun the waves were really good this morning and they’re still fun out there,” O’Leary said. “I surfed this morning before the wind came up and got a couple barrels it’s pretty cool! I’m just coming from Newquay
where I had a pretty good result seeing as it’s pretty much my first Star Tour season this year and I’m happy to make it through this round here too! This is my first time here in France, and I love it! The food, the waves it’s all good.”
Robin managed to extend his life in the competition as well after earning a couple of scores in the four-point range to finish with a heat-total of 9.37 points, which proved adequate to put him in runner-up position.
De Jager finished in third place with a heat-total of 6.94 points, while Latter had to settle for a two-wave total of 6.37 points.
The eighth heat featured an impressive performance by Steven Pierson as he downed Laulhe, Alves and Forrest. The French Polynesian surfer got off to a slow start, but continued to build momentum as the heat continued. With only a few minutes left for the
buzzer to go off, Pierson scored a 7.33 off his first business-wave and went on to add an additional 6.30 points to his account, thus finishing with a resultant heat-total of 13.63 points.
Laulhe scored a 5.33 and 6.40 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 11.73 points, which earned him runner-up place and took him through into the next round of the competition.
Alves finished with third place with a heat-total of 9.16 points, while Forrest had to settle for fourth position after registering a heat-total of 5.20 points.
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