Dion Atkinson and Glenn Hall head into Hainan Classic Quarter-finals
Australia’s Dion Atkinson and Ireland’s Glenn Hall put on yet another standout performance in their respective Round 3 (Round of 16) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Hainan Classic at Riyue Bay in Wanning, China, on Friday,
January 13, to advance through into the Quarter-finals.
With Atkinson taking the win in the first heat of Round 3, Brazil’s Tomas Hermes settled for runner-up place to go through into the Quarter-finals as well. France’s Romain Cloitre and Brazil’s Messias Felix had to face the disappointment of getting eliminated
from the competition after finishing in third and fourth place respectively.
Japan’s Masatoshi Ohno finished behind Hall in the second heat to make the Quarter-final cut as well. Australia’s Nic Muscroft finished in third place, while South Africa’s Brandon Jackson rounded out the bottom position. Both the surfers were consequently
removed from the contention for the event title.
Atkinson was undoubtedly on a roll for the last two days, winning his heats with convincing margins to confidently advance in the event. He kept the momentum going on the third day of the competition with yet another spectacular performance in the opening
heat of Round 3.
As the heat kicked off, Atkinson collected a 6.33 off his first business-wave before going through numerous waves to search for another competitive score. His persistence eventually paid off as he locked his second business-wave in the dying minutes of the
battle to post an 8.17 on the score-board, thus moving to a resultant heat-total of 14.50 points. The score served to seal the fate of the contest in his favour.
Hermes had gotten off to solid start, drawing first blood with a 7.93-point wave. However, he failed to follow it up with another competitive score and finished in runner-up place after merely adding another 4.50 points to his account. The two-wave total,
however, was sufficient to put him in runner-up place.
Cloitre had been really impressive on Day 2 of Hainan Classic, clinching a confident win to make his way into the third round. However, he failed to pull off another stunning performance and eventually had to settle for third place after finishing with a
heat-total of 12.10 points, which comprised of a 6.63 and 5.47-point wave.
Felix, who had been quite impressive on the opening day of the competition, finished in fourth place after scoring 6.50 and 5.57 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 12.07 points.
Hall stole the spotlight during the second heat while facing three in-form surfers in a four-man battle for the Quarter-final spot.
The Ireland-based surfer got down to business immediately as the heat kicked off, locking a wave to collect 7.17 points off it. After going through a series of average-score waves, he eventually added another 6.93 points to his account to finish with a heat-total
of 14.10 points. The heat-total remained unbeatable until the end, consequently earning him top honours.
Ohno did not have much luck with catching waves, though he did manage to make the most of the ones that he locked. Earning a couple of sixes off his top-two waves, the Japanese surfer finished in second place with a heat-total of 12.20 points, successfully
moving into the Quarter-finals.
Muscroft finished in third place with a heat-total 10.40 points, while Jackson, who had been one of the standout performers just a day earlier, failed to survive his latest challenge after finishing with fourth place with a heat-total of 8.16 points.
The inaugural ASP 4-Star Hainan Classic is the second event of the Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival Presented by Quiksilver.
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