Evan Geiselman and Alex Ribeiro power into Round 4 at Australian Open of Surfing – Surfing News
America’s Evan Geiselman and Brazil’s Alex Ribeiro emerged triumphant in the opening heats of Round 3 (Round of 48) at the Australian Open of Surfing that went down at Manly Beach in New South Wales, Australia, on Friday, February 17.
With two-foot waves on offer at the primary event, the surfers began their pursuit for the Round 4 (Round of 24) spot on the third day of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star men’s division at the Australian Open of Surfing.
The opening heat saw Geiselman take on Australia’s Joel Parkinson, Reunion Island’s Medi Veminardi and America’s Nathaniel Curran in a four-man battle.
Geiselman got down to work early in the heat and posted an impressive 7.67 on the score-board to take the lead. Almost halfway through the heat, he paddled towards a juicy wave to score an 8.67 off it and took his heat-total to 16.34 points. The spectacular
performance earned him a comprehensive victory to send him through to the next round.
The 2011 ASP World Title runner-up Parkinson opened his account with a 5.67-point wave and later collected a 6.20-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 11.87 points. The two-wave total earned him second place, keeping him alive in the event.
Veminardi finished third with a heat-total of 10.67 points, while Curran rounded out the bottom position with a two-wave total of 8.13 points. Both the Reunion Island surfer as well as the American surfer got eliminated from the competition as a result.
The second heat featured an intense battle between Ribeiro and Andino. Both the surfers were determined to take top honours and converted this determination into a spectacular performance.
Brazil-based Ribeiro drew first blood with a 6.17-point wave and went on to add an impressive 8.00 to his account, taking his heat-total to 14.17 points.
The young Californian sensation Andino had no intention of letting Ribeiro walk away with an easy victory and challenged him with a 6.13 and 7.83-point wave. He needed to improve his heat-total by only a little, but failed to do that and thus finished in
a 0.21-point deficit to settle for runner-up place.
Australia’s Heath Joske and Cooper Chapman finished with a heat-total of 11.87 and 11.56-points respectively, consequently getting eliminated from the competition.
There was still plenty of action to come as the Australian Open of Surfing continued with men’s Round 3.
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