Flavio Nakagima and Jonathan Gonzalez surge into second round of Burton Toyota Pro – Surfing News
Brazil’s Flavio Nakagima and Chinese Yuan’s Jonathan Gonzalez emerged triumphant in their respective Round 1 (Round of 144) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest at Merewether Beach in New
South Wales, Australia, on Tuesday, March 13.
Nakagima and Gonzalez advanced through into the second round (Round of 96) after their success in their Round 1 heats, while Australia’s Chris Friend and Alexandre Chacon made the Round 2 cut as well after clinching runner-up place in the 19th
and 20th heat respectively.
The tricky two-foot waves breaking at the primary event site challenged the talented surfers from around the globe, though there was an adequate frequency of waves that gave the surfers a chance to post a good score.
Nakagima did good to make use of the opportunities on offer while facing Friend, his compatriot Jesse Adam and New Zealand’s Matt-Lewis Hewitt in the 19th heat.
The Brazilian surfer wasted no time in getting down to business and opened his account with a 7.50-point wave. He went through a series of average-scores before collecting an 8.00 off his second business-wave to finish with a heat-total of 15.50 points.
None of his competitors were able to outscore him, consequently conceding a comprehensive victory to Nakagima.
Friend took runner-up place with a 9.77-point wave, which included a 5.67 and 4.10-point wave, which served to take him through into the next round.
Adam finished in third place with a heat-total of 7.53 points, while Hewitt rounded out the bottom-place with a two-wave total of 7.47 points. The bottom-two finish resulted in the ejection of both the surfers from the competition.
The 20th heat featured an intense battle between Gonzalez and Chacon for top honours. Both the surfers fought tooth and nail for victory, keeping each other on his toes until the very last second.
Gonzalez took a relatively early advantage after scoring a 6.30 off his first business-wave and soon backed it up with a 6.07-point wave to get to a heat-total of 12.37 points.
Chacon continued to breathe down his rival’s neck, stepping up in the final minutes of the heat to post a 6.00 off his first business-wave. He needed to score a 6.37 off his second business-wave to take the win, but managed to score 6.30 off it instead,
consequently finishing 0.07-points short of the required score.
Wood and Perillo were forced to make a premature exit from the contention for the event title after finishing with a heat-total of 11.60 and 11.50 points respectively.
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