Gabe Kling and Kevin Sullivan power into Round 2 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro – ASP Prime Event
Exciting surfing action continued at Praia de Santa Barbara in Sao Miguel, Portugal, with the second heat of Billabong Azores Islands Pro’s Round of 96 (Round 1) that went down on Wednesday, September 28.
America’s Gabe Kling came up with an impressive performance during the second heat to clinch top honours and secure his place in the Round of 48 (Round 2). Accompanying him into the next round was Hawaii’s Kevin Sullivan, who managed to get his hands on
the runner-up place in the final minutes of the battle. Hawaii’s Mason Ho and Brazil’s Flavio Nakagima rounded out third and fourth positions respectively, consequently exiting from the competition.
The 31-year-Kling was looking to dominate the four-man battle from the start and made this intent quite clear in the opening minutes of the heat. He got down to business as soon as the heat got underway and locked a juicy wave that came his way to unload
a combination of impressive tricks, collecting 8.60 points for the effort.
The Florida-based surfer continued to hunt for another good score and eventually locked a wave in the final minutes of the heat to throw down a couple of huge hacks to earn a near perfect 9.87 points for the outstanding effort. His heat-total of 18.47 served
to seal the fate of the battle in his favour.
During his post-heat interview, Kling said, “It was some of the funnest waves I have had all year. It was looking a little suspect but the wind turned and the tide ped and it was fun. I got two good ones and then that left came in. It is not often you get
three really good waves in a heat. With 30-minute heats you can kink of sit back and wait for them to come to you. It seemed like there were a lot of scores and a lot of waves all round.”
Sullivan remained quite impressive throughout the second heat as well, and put up a determined fight to challenge Kling. While he was unable to threaten his American rival, he did clinch second position by scoring 7.87 points off his first business-wave
and 8.03 points off his second in the dying minutes of the heat to reach a two-wave total of 15.90 points. The commendable effort served to extend his life in the event by guaranteeing his place in Round 2.
Ho had been well on his way to Round 2 after sitting at a heat-total of 15.67 points, which included an 8.17 and 7.50-point wave. However, a last-minute charge by his compatriot pushed him down to third place. Ho, along with Nakagima who finished in fourth
place after merely getting to a disappointing heat-total of 6.60 points, were eliminated from the competition.
For more updates on Round 1 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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