Josh Kerr and Jordy Smith dominate their Round 2 heats at Australian Open of Surfing – Surfing News
Australian Josh Kerr and South Africa’s Jordy Smith dominated their respective Round 2 (Round of 96) heats at the Australian Open of Surfing that went down at Manly Beach in New South Wales, Australia, on Thursday, February 16.
While Kerr took top honours in the 12th heat to advance through to Round 3 (Round of 48), a runner-up finish allowed Brazil’s Alan Jhones to extend his life in the event as well. Portugal’s Vasco Ribeiro and Australia’s Jay Thompson rounded out
the third and fourth place, consequently getting eliminated from the competition.
With Smith walking away with the win in the 13th heat, Australia’s Matt Banting was forced to settle for second place. Both the surfers qualified for the third round. Australia’s Thomas Woods and Brazil’s Krystian Kymerson were forced to make
a premature exit from the competition after finishing in third and fourth place respectively.
The crowd in attendance at Manly Beach expected Kerr to put on a thrilling performance in the two-foot waves. The Australian surely did not let the crowd down and justified the hype that surrounded his heat by putting on a spectacular show. Half-way through
the heat, he caught a wave to earn an 8.77 off it and soon backed it up with a 9.50-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 18.27 points. The score remained unbeatable until the end to eventually seal the fate of the heat in his favour.
Jhones managed to go through into the next round as well after opening his account with a 6.00-point wave and later adding a 6.23 to it to secure runner-up place.
Ribeiro and Thompson finished with a heat-total of 11.67 and 11.33 respectively, consequently find themselves out of contention for the event title.
The 13th heat featured yet another outstanding performance, this time from the South African sensation Smith. He went down to business right away, posting a 7.07 on the score-board and backing it up with an 8.07 to finish with a heat-total of
15.14 points. His onslaught remained the highlight of the heat and served to earn him victory.
Banting attempted to challenge the South African surfers, though his efforts turned out to be in vain. Scoring a 6.00 and 7.20 off his top-two waves, the Australian successfully clinched second place to advance through to Round 3.
Woods and Kymerson got eliminated from the competition after finishing with a heat-total of 12.80 and 12.03 points respectively.
The exciting surfing action was to continue at Manly Beach with the remaining heats of Australian Open of Surfing’s Round 2.
Tags: