Jesse Mendes and Granger Larsen qualify for Australian Open of Surfing Quarter-finals – Surfing News
Brazil’s Jesse Mendes and Hawaii’s Granger Larsen put on solid performances at Manly Beach, Australia, on Saturday, February 18, to confirm their place in the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Australian Open of Surfing Quarter-finals.
The competition field had been trimmed down to contain only the in-form surfers in contention for the event title. This only served to make the battles more intense as the surfers took each other on in two-foot waves with slight on-shore winds prevailing
at the event site to remain alive in the competition.
Squaring off with his fellow countryman Peterson Crisanto in the seventh heat of Round 5 (Round of 16), Mendes had a tough battle at hand. Both the Brazilians had been displaying a solid form over the last few days of the event, compelling the fans to expect
their face-off to be full of fire-works.
As the battle kicked off, Crisanto began his charge from the word go and locked his first business wave in the opening minutes of the heat to post a 5.50 on the score-board. He soon followed it up with a 6.50-point wave to take his heat-total to 12.00 points.
Mendes had no intention of allowing his compatriot to have an easy time in the heat and responded strongly with a 5.77-point wave to announce himself as a threat. Not quite down yet, he managed to collect a 6.67 off his second business-wave later in the
heat to move to a heat-total of 12.44 points, consequently depriving Crisanto of the Quarter-final spot.
The final heat of Round 5 pitted Larsen against his compatriot Keanu Asing. Considering the level of performances that they had put on in the previous rounds, the stage was set for an exciting face-off.
As the battle got underway, Asing drew first blood with a 5.50 off his first business wave. Larsen responded with a 4.83-point wave.
The frequency of waves was quite low, making it quite difficult for the surfers to find good scores. After a long and desperate hunt, Asing added a 2.50 to his account to take his heat-total to 8.00 points. Larsen managed to collect a 6.67 off his third
wave to take his heat-total to 11.50 points and thus claim victory.
With their win in the fifth round on Saturday, Larsen advanced through into the Quarter-finals of Australian Open of Surfing where he will face Mendes in a battle for the Semi-final slot.
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