John John Florence and Kai Otton emerge triumphant in Round 3 of Mr. Price Pro Ballito
The Round of 24 (Round 3) of Mr. Price Pro Ballito wrapped up with the 11th and 12th heat on Thursday, July 7th, at the Surfers Beach in Ballito, South Africa.
The 11th heat saw Hawaii’s John John Florence bring Brazilian’s Messias Felix’s competition to a premature end and advance to the Round of 12 (Round 4).
Australia’s Kai Otton walked away with top honours from the 12th heat after defeating Northern Spain’s Aritz Aranburu, consequently confirming his place in the next round.
The big waves and slight onshore winds at the main event site had been putting the big-wave skills of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) athletes to an ultimate test over the last few days and the conditions had hardly changed on Thursday. Big
waves of over nine feet were gracing the beach-break during the final two heats of Round 3.
Hawaii’s Florence adjusted quite well to the conditions during his battle against Brazil’s Felix for the coveted Round 4 spot. Both the surfers had made their good forms quite evident during the last couple of rounds and their face-off was expected to be
an intense one.
However, it turned out to be a completely one-man show, with Florence dominating his rival in the battle. Locking a wave in the final minutes of the heat, he scored 5.67 points off it and immediately followed it up with an impressive 7.17-point wave to get
to a heat-total of 12.84 points.
Felix, who completely seemed out of rhythm during the heat, was unable to put up any decent fight and finished with a heat-total of 6.43 points, which comprised of a 3.33 and 3.10-point wave. The disappointing response caused him to surrender the victory
to his Hawaiian rival and step out of contention for the event title.
The final heat of Round 3 pitted Australia’s Otton against Northern Spain’s Aranburu in a battle for survival. The crowd witnessed a real nail-biting contest between the two surfers, with both the surfers coming up with almost equally impressive performances.
As the heat kicked off, Otton got down to business right away, catching the first wave that came his way to thrown down a string of impressive tricks and earning a 7.67 for the effort. Aranburu refused to let his rival have an upper hand and responded with
an outstanding 8.23-point wave to take the lead.
The Australian added another 6.50 points to his account in the final moments of the heat to move to a heat-total of 14.17. The Basque Country-resident only required a 5.94-point wave to take the win, something that did not seem like a lot after his first
wave. However, he missed out on the opportunity after only managing to score 4.23 points off his second wave and finishing in a 1.71-point deficit.
With Otton moving to the next round, the field for Round 4 was completed. 12 surfers were going to complete in four three-man battles, with the winner going straight to the quarter-finals while the second and third place finishers would have to earn their
place in the quarter-finals by surviving Round 5.
For updates on Round 4 of Mr. Price Pro Ballito, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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