Gabriel Medina and Richard Christie emerge triumphant in Round 2 of Mr. Price Pro Ballito
Mr. Price Pro Ballito continued at the Surfers Beach in Ballito, South Africa, with the ninth and tenth heat of round of 48 (Round 2) on Wednesday, July 6th.
Brazil’s Gabriel Medina continued his domination during the 9th heat to advance to Round 3 of the event. His compatriot, Jano Belo, finished in second position to secure a place in the next round as well. South Africa’s David Van Zyl and France’s
Joan Duru rounded out the bottom-two positions, getting ejected from the event as a result.
The tenth heat saw New Zealand’s Richard Christie walk away with top honours, while Australia’s Heath Joske rounded out the runner-up position. Brazil’s Willian Cardoso and Australia’s Matt Wilkinson finished in third and fourth positions respectively, consequently
getting eliminated from the competition.
Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World No. 17, Medina, asserted his excellent form and stole the show with his aerials and top-to-bottom surfing. His risky free-surf performance left both, the crowd and judges, in awe. Scoring 8.33 points off a
wave early in the heat, he placed his opponents under immense pressure. An additional 7.67 points in his account got him to a heat-total of 16.00 and carrying him off to victory.
“There were no air sections out there today so I just tried to find the best waves and pack some power into my turns,” Medina said in a post-heat interview. “I think the judges were looking for commitment out there so I tried to show them that today.”
Belo did not have a good time in the sea, evidently struggling to catch waves and pulling off tricks. He did, however, manage to get to runner-up place after collecting 3.27 and 5.33 points off his two best waves.
Zyl and Duru finished with a heat-total of 6.03 and 5.80 respectively. The poor performances brought their latest ASP Prime event campaign to a premature end.
The next heat featured Christie and Joske in an intense battle for the first place. The latter scored 4.50 and 7.67 off his two best waves halfway through the heat to put the New Zealander under pressure. However, a late charge by the Australian allowed
him to earn a 6.60 and 6.67 in the final minutes of the heat, moving him to the top of the scoreboard.
Cardoso had gotten off to a good start, earning 6.17 points off his first wave, but was unable to follow it up with another decent score and finished in third place after adding an additional 3.67 points to his account to reach a heat-total of 9.84 points.
Wilkinson looked out of sorts during the heat and finished last, scoring a total of 6.53 off his two best waves and consequently getting removed from the contention for event title.
For more updates on Round 2 of Mr. Price Pro Ballito, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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