Gabe Kling and Matt Banting prevail in Round 2 of Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest
America’s Gabe Kling and Australia’s Matt Banting kept themselves alive in contention at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest by prevailing in the 11th and 12th heats of Round
2 (Round of 96) respectively that went down at Merewether Beach in New South Wales, Australia, on Wednesday, March 14.
Brazil’s Jano Belo and Australia’s Adrian Buchan also managed to make the Round 3 (Round of 48) cut after securing runner-up place in their respective heats.
The surfing talent gathered at the primary event site to pursue the coveted prize money and ASP rating points was nothing short of huge. Surfers from all around the world had arrived in New South Wales to take each other on in promising surfing conditions,
which were good though far from ideal.
As the 11th heat kicked-off, Kling adjusted to the two-to-three foot waves pretty nicely and converted his comfort to a good two-wave total. The American surfer wasted no time in getting down to business and locked his first business-wave in the
opening minutes of the battle to unload a series of exquisite tricks, posting an 8.27 on the score-board. After a few minutes of patience, he went on to add an additional 5.27 points to his account to move to a heat-total of 13.54 points. The score turned
out to be a winning one, taking him through into the next round.
Belo remained on the heels of his American rival throughout the course of the battle. Opening his account with a 6.17-point wave, the Brazilian created an opportunity for himself to take the win. However, he failed to capitalise on the opportunity after
scoring a 7.00 off his second business-wave, consequently finishing with a heat-total of 13.17 points. The score did turned out to be adequate to put him in runner-up place and thus add him to the Round 3 line-up.
Australia’s Sam Wrench finished in third place with a heat-total of 11.60 points, while Brazil’s Wiggolly Dantas rounded out the bottom-position with a heat-total of 10.77 points. Both the surfers were consequently eliminated from the competition.
The 12th heat saw Banting put on an impressive performance to get the better of Buchan, Dale Lovelock and Garrett Parkes in what turned out to be an all-Australian heat.
Banting opened his account with a 7.17-point wave and managed to add an additional 6.93 to his account, finishing with a heat-total of 14.10 points as a result.
A two-wave total of 12.67 points served to earn Buchan the runner-up place, taking him through into the next round of the competition.
Lovelock and Parkes found themselves exiting the competition field after finishing with a heat-total of 8.23 and 3.43 points respectively.
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