Jack Freestone and Stu Kennedy power into Round 2 of Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest
Australia’s Jack Freestone and Stu Kennedy collected top honours in their respective Round 1 (Round of 144) of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest that went down at Merewether Beach in New South
Wales, Australia, on Tuesday, March 13.
Both Freestone and Kennedy went into the second round (Round of 96) of the event after winning their Round 1 heats. Brazil’s Alan Jhones and his fellow countryman Bruno Rodrigues also made the Round 2 cut after clinching runner-up place.
The latest ASP 6-Star event offered a coveted winning prize plus ASP rating points that attracted talented surfers from around the world. The battles for survival turned out to be nothing short of thrilling as the surfers tried to best each other and the
clean two-foot waves on offer on day 2 of the competition.
Freestone, the 2010 ASP World Junior Champion, found himself facing Jhones, Australia’s Rhys Bombaci and Germany’s Nic Von Rupp in the 23rd heat.
Utilising his local knowledge of the waves, Freestone put on the most spectacular performance of the day, which featured a number of aerials and snaps, to put the crowd and judges in awe. Earning an 8.83 off his first business-wave and backing it up with
a 7.00-point wave, the Australian surfer grabbed the lead early in the heat and held on to it until the end to walk away with the win.
“That heat was alright because the waves were fun,” Freestone said. “When I woke up this morning and checked the surf it looked kind of bad, but it pulsed in my heat and it was fun. I surfed my little groveller board for doing airs. It was a close heat so
I’m happy to get through it.””
Jhones managed to keep his head from getting cut from the competition field after earning a 5.17 and an 8.00 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 13.17 points.
Bombaci finished third with a heat-total of 11.50 points, while Rupp rounded out the bottom-position with a heat-total 10.17 points. Both the surfers were forced to step out of the contention for the event title as a result.
The last heat of Round 1 pitted Kennedy against his compatriot Michael Spencer, Brazil’s Bruno Rodrigues and Hawaii’s Gavin Gillette.
Kenny managed to walk away with the win after earning a couple of scores in the six-point range to finish with a heat-total of 12.50 points.
Rodrigues took runner-up place after scoring a 6.27 and 4.40 off his top-two waves for a heat-total of 10.67 points, consequently advancing through into the next round as well.
Spencer and Gillette got eliminated from the competition after finishing with a heat-total of 9.57 and 6.33 points respectively.
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