Hiroto Arai and Jason Harris take control in Round 1 of ASP 4-Star Vans Pier Classic – Surfing News
Japan’s Hiroto Arai and America’s Jason Harris emerged triumphant in their respective Round 1 (Round of 144) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Vans Pier Classic that continued at Huntington Beach Pier in California, America,
on Wednesday, March 28.
Arai and Harris advanced through into the second round (Round of 128) of the event after their success in the first round. Accompanying them in the next round were Travis Southworth and Matt Myers who finished in runner-up place in the third and fourth heat
respectively to go through into the next round.
The clean two-to-four foot waves on offer at Huntington Beach set up a promising stage for a series of exciting battles. However, the low frequency of good waves turned out to be a bane for the surfers, putting their skills and experience to a test.
Pitted against Southworth, Ezra Sitt and Taishi Kawabata in the third heat, Arai managed to put on a spectacular performance to take the win. The Japanese surfer drew first blood with a 6.00-point wave and went on to back it up with a 7.67-point wave to
finish with a winning heat-total of 13.67 points.
Southworth did not have much luck with the waves, but still managed to make the Round 2 cut after collecting a 3.03 off his first business-wave and later adding a 5.10 to his account to finish with a resultant heat-total of 8.13 points.
Sitt and Kawabata were forced to make a premature exit from the competition after putting on lacklustre performances. Sitt finished third with a heat-total of 5.34 points, whereas the latter rounded out the bottom position with a heat-total of 5.27 points.
The fourth heat saw the Huntington Beach local Harris down Myers, Dean Randazzo and Lucas Santamaria to claim top honours and get himself added to the Round 2 line-up.
The 23-year-old Californian surfer opened his account with a 5.83-point wave and went on to back it up with a 5.33-point wave in the final minutes of the heat to finish with a heat-total of 11.16 points. The score turned out to be a decisive one, sealing
the fate of the four-man battle in his favour.
Myers successfully extended his life in the event as well after scoring a 3.93 and 6.93 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 10.86 points.
Randazzo and Santamaria got eliminated from the competition after scoring a heat-total of 10.17 and 6.50 points.
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