David Van Zyl and Filipe Toledo claim victory in Round 3 of CHIKO Pro Junior at Newcastle’s Surfest
South Africa’s David Van Zyl and Brazil’s Filipe Toledo continued their excellent run of form in Round 3 (Round of 64) of CHIKO Pro Junior at Newcastle’s Surfest that kept delivering exciting surfing action at Merewether Beach in New South Wales, Australia,
on Friday, March 9.
The $20,000 prize money and Association of Surfing Professionals Junior (ASP) rating points on offer at the 4-star ASP Men’s Junior Qualifying event had resulted in a huge field of surfers, coming from all parts of the world.
The surfing conditions at the primary event site were not the best, though the second day of the event had turned out to be far better with four-to-five foot waves, making it relatively easier for the surfers to catch waves and unload their tricks.
As the 13th heat of the competition got underway, Van Zyl adapted to the conditions exceptionally well to put on a spectacular performance. The South African locked his first business-wave to post an 8.50 on the score-board and later backed it
up with a 6.50-point wave to get to a heat-total of 15.00 points. The effort kept him above his rivals on the score-board to eventually seal the fate of the heat in his favour, carrying him through into Round 4 (Round of 32).
Australia’s Jordin Watson got off to a slow start, but continued to build momentum as the heat progressed. In the final minutes of the heat, he posted an 8.25 on the score-board and immediately followed it up with a 4.75-point wave to move to a heat-total
of 13.00 points. The score earned him runner-up place and consequently moved him into the next round.
Australia’s Nik Hoskin and Brock Jeffery-Warren rounded out the bottom-two positions after finishing with a heat-total of 10.45 and 5.10 points. Both the surfers were consequently forced to make a premature exit from the competition.
The 14th heat pitted Toledo against Portugal’s Vasco Ribeiro, Australia’s Soli Bailey and New Zealand’s Alex Dive.
It turned out to be an intense battle for top honours, though Toledo managed to eventually outperform and thus outscore his rivals to claim top honours. The Brazilian opened his account with a near-perfect 9.50-point wave and backed it up with a 7.00 to
finish with a heat-total of 16.50 points.
Ribeiro successfully made it to the next round by securing runner-up place through his heat-total of 14.50 points, which included a 6.50 and an 8.00-point wave.
Bailey and Dive got eliminated from the competition after rounding out the bottom-two positions, with the former scoring a heat-total of 6.40 points, while the latter finished with a heat-total of 8.55 points.
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