Jean Da Silva and Romain Cloitre clinch success in Round 4 at Quiksilver Saquarema Prime
Brazil’s Jean Da Silva and France’s Romain Cloitre made their way through into the fifth round at Quiksilver Saquarema Prime presented by Coca-Cola after claiming top honours in their respective Round 4 (Round of 24) heats at the point-break of Itauna Beach
in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday, May 24.
Da Silva got the better of America’s Chris Ward in the third heat to advance into the next round while removing the latter from the competition field in the process.
America’s Nat Young succumbed to Cloitre in the fourth heat, sending the latter into the fifth round while finding himself removed from the race for the event title.
The latest day of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) PRIME event saw heads being cut off as the surfers competed in man-on-man Round 4 battles. The pressure was high as there was no room for error. Determined to get their hands on the coveted
rewards that were on offer, the surfers held nothing back and unleashed a series of memorable performances in two-to-three foot waves throughout the day, keep the huge crowd in attendance at the event site thoroughly entertained.
Failing to make a solid impact during their previous heat, Da Silva and Ward found themselves facing each other in the third heat of Round 4 with the pressure of elimination hanging over their heads.
As the heat kicked-off, Da Silva utilised his local knowledge of the surfing conditions at hand to get himself into an early lead through a 7.00-point ride. Keeping the momentum going, he added an additional 7.20 points to his account, thus moving to a heat-total
of 14.20 points.
Ward was unable to find his rhythm throughout the course of the battle and only managed to score a 4.63 and 6.17 off his best-two waves, consequently finishing with a heat-total of 10.80 points. As a result, he was forced to concede victory to his Brazilian
rival.
The next battle featured a clash between Cloitre and Young. The American sensation wasted very little time in putting his French rival under pressure through a 7.10-point ride in the opening minutes of the heat. Adding another 6.83 points to his account,
Young moved to a heat-total of 13.93 points, clearly in control.
However, Cloitre stepped up in the dying minutes of the heat to post a 6.93 and 7.53 on the score-board, thus finishing with a heat-total of 14.46 points. The last-minute effort took him 0.53 points head of his rival, thus sealing the fate of the battle
in his favour and carrying him through into the fifth round.
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