Jamie O’Brien and Gabe Kling make the Round 3 cut at Vans World Cup of Surfing
Hawaii’s Jamie O’Brien and America’s Gabe Kling successfully made earned themselves top honours in their respective Round 2 (Round of 96) heats at the Vans World Cup of Surfing, second of three events on the 30th anniversary Vans Triple Crown
of Surfing, which went down at Sunset Beach in Oahu, Hawaii, on Friday, November 30, 2012.
While O’Brien clinched victory in the third heat, Ireland’s Glenn Hall finished just below him in second place. Both the surfers qualified for the third round (Round of 64) as a result. Australia’s Mitch Crews and Brazil’s Peterson Crisanto, however, got
eliminated from the competition following their bottom-two finish.
The fourth heat saw America’s Chris Ward just behind Ward in second place to accompany the latter into the next round. Brazil’s Alex Ribeiro finished third, while his fellow countryperson Jano Belo had to settle for fourth place. Both the surfers found themselves
removed from the contention for the event title as a result.
The challenging waves gracing the main event site on the latest day of the competition could best be described as wild and thus required to be handled with utmost care. Of course, the surfers in contention for the coveted prize money and Association of Surfing
Professionals (ASP) ranking points that are on offer were expected to take the challenge head on and deliver exquisite performances.
The third heat pitted O’Brien against Hall, Crews and Crisanto in a four-man battle for the Round 3 spot.
The Hawaiian surfer did not look at ease during the course of the battle, but eventually managed to get to a heat-total of 10.83 points, which included a 6.50 and 4.33-point ride. The score kept him in the lead until the end to see him through to victory.
Hall made the Round 2 cut as well after registering a heat-total of 7.60 points, which comprised of a 4.43 and 3.17-point wave.
Crews finished third with a heat-total of 5.30 points, while Crisanto had to settle for fourth place after registering a two-wave total of 2.23 points.
The fourth heat saw Kling claim victory over Ward, Ribeiro and Belo.
The American surfer adjust to the demanding conditions quite nicely, holding his own in waves that had troubled majority of the surfers since the start of the day. Getting to a heat-total of 13.04 points, which included a 6.67 and 6.37-point ride, Kling
emerged victorious.
Ward put on a pretty decent performance as well, scoring a couple of scores in the six-point range to eventually register a two-wave total of 12.60 points, a score that was just enough to take him through into the next round.
Ribeiro took third place with a heat-total of 11.73 points, while Belo registered a heat-total of 4.53 points.
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