Glenn Hall and Alejo Muniz jump into Round 5 at Mr Price Pro Ballito
Ireland’s Glenn Hall and Brazil’s Alejo Muniz moved directly into the fifth round (Round of 16) at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime Mr Price Pro Ballito after claiming top honours in their respective Round 3 (No-Loser Round of 24) heats that went down at Willard Beach in KwaDukuza, South Africa, on Friday, July 6.
With powerful one-metre waves breaking at the primary event site on the latest day of the competition, the stage seemed ideal for the local and international surfers to put their technical tricks on display while competing for a direct place in the fifth round without having to surf in Round 4 (Round of 24). There was no pressure of elimination hanging over their heads, but could hardly be expected to give them any reason to hold back.
The seventh heat pitted Glenn against New Zealand’s Jay Quinn and Brazil’s David do Carmi in a three-man battle for the Round 5 spot.
As the battle got underway, all three surfers got off to a slow start, apparently struggling to find their rhythm and build rhythm. As the heat progressed, Hall managed to break free of the shackles and posted a couple of decent scores on the score-board to finish with a heat-total of 11.50 points. The score held up until the end to see him through to victory.
Quinn finished in second place with a heat-total of 10.67 points, while Do Carmo had to settle for a third-place finish with a two-wave total of 6.00 points. Both the surfers were consequently relegated to the fourth round, having to surf again for a place in the fifth round.
The final heat for Round 3 featured a phenomenal performance by Muniz as he got the better of Australia’s Jack Freestone and Hawaii’s Sebastien Zietz.
Muniz did not get off to the best of starts, but eventually managed to build momentum and began navigating his wave through the one-metre waves exceptionally well to eventually post an 8.17 on the score-board. He soon backed it up with an even better 8.93-point wave, thus reaching a heat-total of 17.10 points.
“I had a really good heat, I was kinda slow and fell on a couple of good waves at the start but I enjoy those heats where you don’t stop paddling and you never give up,” Muniz said. “I like to come from behind in a heat but I was also pretty lucky to get those two waves.”
Freestone, former ASP World Junior Champion, fought put up a strong fight, but to no avail. He eventually had to settle for a heat-total of 15.20 points, consequently getting relegated to the fourth round. Zietz accompanied him to the next round after finishing third with a heat-total of 11.67 points.
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