David Vlug and Nathaniel Curran prevail in Round 1 of Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest
Australia’s David Vlug and America’s Nathaniel Curran clinched successful results in their Round 1 (Round of 144) heats at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest that continued at the renowned Merewether
Point in New South Wales, Australia, on Tuesday, March 13.
With their victory in their respective Round 1 heat, both Vlug and Curran made their way through into the second round (Round 2), accompanied by Australia’s Cahill Bell-Warren and Brazil’s Ricardo Ferreira who took first runner-up positions in the 21st
and 22nd heat respectively.
With some of the best surfers from around the world in contention for the event title, a heavy dose of surfing action was being given to the fans gathered at the event site. The clean two-foot waves breaking at Merewether Point could hardly be considered
ideal, though there were ample opportunity for the surfers to showcase their surfing skills and style.
Pitted against Bell-Warren, Hawaii’s Chris Foster and Argentina’s Leandro Usuna in the 21st heat, Vlug managed to post the highest score on the podium to clinch the win.
The local talent went through a series of mediocre-scores before locking his first business-wave to post a 5.67 on the score-board. Continuing his momentum, he followed it up with a 5.47-point wave to move to a heat-total of 11.14 points. The score held
him in the lead until the end to earn him victory.
Bell-Warren successfully made it through into the second round as well after securing runner-up place through a heat-total of 11.03 points, which comprised of a 4.93 and 6.10-point wave.
Foster finished in third place with a heat-total of 8.87 points, while Usuna rounded out the bottom-position after scoring an over-all wave-total of 8.20 points. Both the surfers were eliminated from the event after making a bottom-two finish.
The 22nd heat featured a pretty impressive performance by Curran as he downed his fellow countryman Eric Geiselman, Brazil’s Ricardo Ferreira and his compatriot Sidney Guimaraes in the four-man battle.
Curran collected a 7.17 off his first business-wave and soon added an additional 5.17 to his account to finish with a heat-total of 12.34 points.
Ferreira was forced to settle for runner-up place with a heat-total of 10.10 points, scoring a 4.00 and 6.10 off his top-two waves.
Guimaraes finished third with a heat-total of 9.00 points, while Geiselman rounded out the bottom-position with a heat-total of 6.33 points to finish fourth. Both the surfers got eliminated from the competition as a result.
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