Cristobal De Col and Joan Duru prevail in Round 2 of Hainan Classic
Peru’s Cristobal De Col won the fifth heat, whereas France’s Joan Duru claimed top honours in the sixth heat of the inaugural Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Hainan Classic’s Round 2 (Round of 32) that went down at Wanning, China, on Thursday,
January 12.
With his win in the fifth heat, De Col advanced through into Round 3 (Round of 16). He was joined by Australia’s Chris Friend who finished just one place below him in the heat. New Zealand’s Matt-Lewis Hewitt and Argentina’s Santiago Di Pace were forced
to step out of the contention for the event title after finishing in third and fourth place respectively.
The sixth heat saw Duru and an in-form Marc Lacomare from France make their way into the next round, with the former finishing in first place while the latter securing runner-up place. Peru’s Gabriel Villaran rounded out the third position, while America’s
Christian Saenz finished in fourth place. Both the surfers were consequently eliminated from the competition.
De Col had barely made it into the second round after securing runner-up place in his Round 1 heat. However, the Peruvian seemed determined to make a stronger impact in his Round 2 heat. Therefore, taking advantage of the excellent surfing conditions at
hand, De Col wasted no time in getting down to business during the fifth heat and drew first blood with an 8.00-point wave to immediately put his competitors under pressure. He soon added another 7.67 points to his account, thus moving to a heat-total of 15.67
points. The heat-total remained unbeatable until the end, consequently sealing the fate of the contest in his favour.
After proving as a formidable force in the three-to-five waves on the opening day of the competition, Friend was expected to be even deadlier in the improved surfing conditions. However, the Australian was unable to successfully challenge De Col’s score
after finishing with a heat-total of 14.06 points, which comprised of a 6.93 and 7.13-point wave. He did, however, advance through into the next round due to his runner-up finish.
Hewitt finished in third place with a heat-total of 11.60 points, while Di Pace rounded out the bottom position with a two-wave total of 9.56 points. With the bar set really high by De Col and Friend, the performances by the New Zealander and Argentinean
seemed pretty ordinary.
The sixth heat turned out to be the highlight of the day as an intense showdown took place between Duru and Lacomare. Both the surfers had been phenomenal during Round 1, but what they delivered in Round 2 was indeed memorable.
As the four-man battle got underway, Lacomare left everyone in attendance at the event site stunned with a perfect 10.00-point wave. Rather than giving in to the pressure that had been asserted by his fellow countryman, Duru rose to the challenge and collected
an 8.00-point wave to remain in contention for the heat win.
As the heat progressed, Lacomare struggled to find another competitive score. After a few hiccups, he managed to add a 5.23 to his account, taking his heat-total to 15.23 points. In the dying minutes of the battle, Duru successfully capitalised on the window
of opportunity that had been left open by Lacomare due to a rather modest second-wave score. Locking his second business-wave, Duru gave it his all to earn a 9.00 for the effort, thus moving to a decisive heat-total of 17.00 points and pushing his compatriot
to runner-up place.
Talking to a reporter about the heat afterwards, Duru said, “The conditions are perfect, and I was with Marc so I wanted us both to make it – then he started with a ten, and it was a sick wave. After I got my two good waves, we were just having fun outside;
we just wanted to surf, it was like a free-surf with just four people. It was amazing.”
Villaran finished in third place after finishing with a heat-total of 12.14 points, which comprised of a 6.27 and 5.87-point wave. Saenz rounded out the bottom position with a heat-total of 11.83 points. The two surfers remained hardly noticeable during
the 30-minute heat due to the gripping battle between Duru and Lacomare.
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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