Josh Kerr and CJ Hobgood smoothly sail through Round 1 of Volcom Fiji Pro – Surfing news
Australia’s Josh Kerr and America’s CJ Hobgood walked away victorious from their respective Round 1 heats of Volcom Fiji Pro, the fourth of ten stops on the 2013 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Championship Tour which continued at Cloudbreak
in Tavarua, Fiji, on Tuesday, June 4, 2013.
Kerr got the better of compatriot Adam Melling and Brazil’s Filipe Toledo in the ninth heat to advance to the third round, forcing his two rivals to take a trip of the relegation round in the process.
The 10th heat saw Hobgood finish on top of Ireland’s Glenn Hall and French Polynesia’s Michel Bourez to secure his place in Round 3. Both Hall and Bourez were consequently relegated to Round 2.
The first active day of the competition featured plenty of upsets, with some of the surfing heavy-weights failing to hold their own in the four-to-six foot waves that were on offer at the primary event site.
Kerr was among the many surfers who were competing in the three-man Round 1 heats to jump straight into the third round without surfing in Round 2.
Pitted against Melling and Toledo in the ninth heat, he had his work cut out.
As the battle got underway, Kerr did not wait too long to stamp his authority over his rivals. The Australian surfer locked his first business-wave to post a 9.73 on the score-board and went on to back it up with a 7.93-point ride, thus finishing with a
heat-total of 17.66 points.
Melling started-off pretty impressively, scoring a 9.63 off his first business-wave, but he failed to support it with another solid score and eventually finished with a heat-total of 13.36 points.
Toledo offered no serious threat to Kerr’s two-wave total either and only managed to get to a heat-total of 13.27 points, which comprised of a 7.17 and 6.10-point ride.
The 10th heat saw Hobgood collect a comprehensive win over Hall and Bourez, who were competing with him for a place in the third round.
The American surfer opened his account with an 8.67-point ride and backed it up with a 7.67-point ride to register a heat-total of 16.34 points.
The score remained unbeatable until the end, as Hall and Bourez finished with a heat-total of 13.67 and 10.63 points respectively.
The event is all set to resume at Cloudbreak with the remaining Round 1 heats of Volcom Fiji Pro.
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