Jay Thompson and Beyrick De Vries prevail in Round 5 at San Miguel Pro Zarautz
Australia’s Jay Thompson and South Africa’s Beyrick De Vries successfully made the Round 5 (Round of 16) cut at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star San Miguel Pro Zarautz after claiming top honours in their respective Round 4 (Round of
24) heats that went down at Zarautz in Basque Country, Spain, on Friday, August 31.
Australia’s Perth Standlick finished behind his rival Thompson in second place during the seventh heat to accompany the latter into the fifth round. Portugal’s Frederico Morais was eliminated from the competition after he failed to do any better than a third-place
finish.
The eighth heat saw De Vries walk away with the win, while Brazil’s Simao Romao claimed the runner-up place to successfully extend his life in the event. Brazil’s Luel Felipe was, however, forced to exit the contention for the event title after finishing
in third place.
The three-to-four foot waves accompanied by strong onshore winds were bound to put the skills of young surfing talent from around the globe to test.
Squaring-off with Standlick and Morais in the seventh heat, Thompson put on an impressive performance, earning a 6.67 off his business-wave and went on to back it up with a 6.73-point ride, thus finishing with a heat-total of 13.40 points. The score proved
sufficient to earn him top honours.
“It’s a little bit funky with the high tide, conditions change so much with the tide here, but I’m feeling good, I got a couple of ok ones and I got through so I’m stoked ! I had a year off last year due to injury and I guess it was the right time to take
a year off I was a little burned out. This year I’m just trying to feel it out again and make some heats, just get a little bit of momentum,” said Thompson after the heat.
Standlick made the Round 5 cut as well after finishing with a heat-total of 11.84 points, which included a 6.67 and 5.17-point ride.
Morais got eliminated from the competition after scoring a 4.63 and 5.53-point ride.
The eighth heat saw De Vries walk away with the win after scoring a 6.00 and 5.27 off his best-two waves to eventually finish with a heat-total of 11.27 points.
Romao accompanied him into the next round after finishing with a heat-total of 10.63 points, which included a 3.63 and 7.00 points.
Felipe was unable to make the Round 5 cut after finishing in third place with a heat-total of 10.40 points, which included a couple of scores in the five-point range.
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