Dion Atkinson and Romain Cloitre continue winning momentum in Round 2 of Hainan Classic
Australia’s Dion Atkinson and France’s Romain Cloitre continued to display a threatening form on Day 2 of the inaugural Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Hainan Classic after securing a convincing victory in the first and second heat of Round
of 2 (Round of 32) respectively to confirm their place in Round 3 (Round of 16) on Thursday, January 12, at Wanning, China.
Japan’s Masatoshi Ohno finished just behind Atkinson in the first place and thus advanced through into the next round as well. Germany’s Marlon Lipke and South Africa’s Dale Staples, however, were forced to make a premature exit from the competition after
rounding out the third and fourth position respectively.
The second heat also sent the runner-up, Australia’s Nic Muscroft, into Round 3, whereas his compatriot Jerome Forrest and Japan’s Yujiro Tsuji finished in third and fourth place respectively, consequently getting eliminated from the competition.
The conditions at the primary event site seemed to be improving with every minute. The surf was increasing in size, thus presenting the surfers with a greater opportunity to unleash some of the more technical tricks from the arsenal.
After making a solid impact in the first round, Atkinson continued to exhibit a deadly form in the opening heat of Round 2. He got off to a decent start, scoring a 6.93 off his first business-wave, before eventually locking his second business-wave half-way
through the heat to pull off a series of exquisite manoeuvres for 8.50 points. Finishing with a heat-total of 15.43 points, the Australian eventually claimed the win.
Talking about the conditions after the heat, Atkinson said, “It’s just getting better and better the bigger it gets and it’s just pretty much unreal for four guys to have a heat out there at the moment, especially for half an hour. Every ride is almost too
long, your arms are pretty done by the end of [the paddle back out].”
Ohno put on a pretty impressive performance as well to secure runner-up place. The Japanese earned a 7.60 off his first business-wave and soon added another 7.17 points to his account to finish with a heat-total of 14.77 points.
Lipke apparently put up a determined effort to make it into the top-two, but barely conceded the runner-up place to Ohno after finished with a heat-total of 14.27 points, which included a 5.77 and an 8.50-point wave.
Staples had been exceptional in the first round but failed to repeat the feat on Day 2 of the competition and finished in fourth place after finishing with a rather disappointing heat-total of 10.20 points.
Cloitre successfully carried his momentum from the first round to Round 2. Facing three formidable opponents in a four-man battle, the Frenchman successfully took the win in the second heat after scoring a 7.10 and an impressive 8.37 off his two business-waves
to finish with a resultant heat-total of 15.47 points.
Talking to a reporter after the heat, Cloitre said, “During my heat I was watching the point and I saw all the guys getting barrels so after my heat I gave [the beach marshals] my singlet and ran back up the point and just got a couple.”
Muscroft was nothing short of phenomenal during the second heat either. Scoring a 7.00 off a wave early in the heat, the Australian set himself up for getting to a pretty competitive heat-total He later added an 8.00 to his account to move to a heat-total
of 15.00 points. The score was not enough to get him ahead of Cloitre, but surely proved sufficient to carry him into the next round.
Forrest finished in third place after scoring 3.50 and 5.13 points off his best-two waves, while the Japanese Tsuji finished in fourth place with a heat-total of 7.09 points, which included a penalty for getting an interference call on his final wave of
the heat.
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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