Gabriel Medina and Joan Duru triumphant in Round 1 of Mr. Price Pro Ballito
The Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event, Mr. Price Pro Ballito, continued to deliver intense surfing action with heat 17 and 18 of Round of 96 (Round 1) at Surfers Beach in Ballito, South Africa, on Tuesday, July 5th.
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina dominated the 17th heat to clinch top honours, while Australia’s Heath Joske settled for runner-up place to stay alive in the event. Australia’s Jack Freestone finished in third position, while Japanese Masatoshi Ohno rounded
out the last position. As a result, Freestone and Ohno were eliminated.
In the 18th heat, France’s Joan Duru barely managed to deprive New Zealand’s Richard Christie of victory. However, both of them advanced to the Round of 48 (Round 2). Hawaii’s Dusty Payne and Brazil’s Tomas Hermes finished in third and fourth
positions respectively, getting ejected from the event-title race as a result.
Expectations were high from the Brazilian wonder-boy, Medina, who had emerged victorious in the Super Surf International Prime event in Santa Catarina, Brazil, last month. The 17-year-old did justice to his reputation during the 17th heat of the
latest ASP Prime event.
He impressed both, the crowd and judges, with his exciting barrel riding skills and open-faced turns. Almost midway through the heat, he locked a wave to score 7.60 points off it and soon added the highest single-wave score of the round, 8.83, to his account
to finish with a heat-total of 16.43. Unable to rise up to the challenge, his rivals were forced to surrender victory.
“I’m stoked to get through, I got two good rides and I’m happy for that,” Medina said during his post-heat interview.
Joske remained the second most impressive surfer during the four-way battle, scoring 6.73 and 6.57 off his two best waves to secure a place for himself in the next round of the competition.
Freestone fought hard to stay alive in the event-title race, but his efforts turned out to be in vain. Managing to earn a heat-total of 11.67, he had to settle for third position, getting his name added to the elimination list. He was joined in the list
by Ohno, who scored a mere 6.76 points from his two best waves.
The next heat featured an intense battle between Duru, Christie and Payne for top hours. The Hawaiian, Payne took an early advantage by collecting a 6.00-point wave in the heat. Christie relieved some pressure by earning 5.63 points off his first wave, but
Payne immediately increased the pressure by adding a 6.67 to his account and climbing to a heat-total of 12.67 points.
Apparently, the Hawaiian was sailing smoothly towards victory. However, a late charge by Duru took everyone by surprise. The French collected a 5.63-point wave in the final moments of the heat and immediately followed it up with a decisive 7.60-point wave
to edge past his rivals on the scoreboard and claim victory.
Christie also managed to add an additional 7.33 to his account to push Payne further down to third place, which led to the Hawaiian’s elimination from the competition. Hermes was also ejected from the current ASP Prime event after finishing in fourth with
a heat-total of 9.03 points.
For more updates on round of 96 of Mr. Price Pro Ballito, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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