Kenta Hayashi and Heath Joske emerge triumphant in Round 2 of Hainan Classic
Japan’s Kenta Hayashi and Australia’s Heath Joske walked away with top honours during their Round 2 (Round of 32) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Hainan Classic that went down at Wanning, China, on Thursday, January 12.
With his win in the seventh heat, Hayashi forced America’s Chris Ward to settle for runner-up place. Both the surfers, however, qualified for Round 3 (Round of 16). Peru’s Miguel Tudela and America’s Keetin Devine, on the other hand, were ejected from the
competition due to their third and fourth-place finish respectively.
The eighth heat saw Joske confirm his place in the next round after taking an exciting win. South Africa’s Royden Bryson successfully extended his life in the competition as well after securing runner-up place. Australia’s Blake Thornton and Perth Standlick
finished in third and fourth place respectively, consequently getting removed from the contention for the event title.
If anyone was surprised with the surfing conditions that China had to offer on the first day of Hainan Classic, the conditions on Day 2 left them speechless. The surf had increased even more on Thursday, offering even more juice for the surfers to go for
the more technical manoeuvres lying in their bag of tricks.
As the second heat of Round 2 kicked off, Hayashi decided to show China what the Japanese surfer were capable of. After going through a series of average-score waves, the Japanese surfer locked a wave to unload a string of exquisite manoeuvres, earning a
9.67 for the effort. As the heat entered the final minutes, it turned out that Hayashi was not done yet and still had more to offer. Catching his second business-wave, he pulled off yet another combination of quick and stylish turns, thus adding another 8.93
points to his account. The resultant mammoth-sized heat-total of 18.60 points was never expected to go down early and as it turned out, Hayashi emerged victorious with a convincing margin.
Ward may have shown an intimidating form during Round 1, but surpassing the Japanese surfer’s heat-total was undoubtedly asking too much of him. The American talent, however, did secure runner-up place with a heat-total of 14.67 points, which comprised of
a 6.67 and 8.00-point wave, to keep himself alive in the competition.
Advancing into the second round with a victory in Round 1, Tudela’s performance on Thursday surely came as a disappointment. Struggling to catch waves throughout the entirety of the 30-minute heat, the Peruvian finished in third place with a heat-total of
12.03 points, which comprised of a 5.83 and 6.20-point wave.
Devine put on a pretty lacklustre performance before eventually finishing in fourth place with a heat-total of 8.16 points. The disappointing performance by the American led to his early elimination from the competition.
The eighth heat saw Joske continue to display a deadly form in the competition by collecting yet another win. Drawing first blood with a 6.00-point wave, the Australian went on to add another 8.00 points to his account to move to a heat-total of 14.00 points,
which remained unbeatable until the end.
Bryson put on a pretty impressive performance as well during the four-man battle to keep himself alive in the contention for the event title. He scored 7.27 and 6.27 points off his first and second business-wave respectively to finish with a heat-total of
13.54 points.
Thornton failed to make the Round 3 cut after finishing in third place with a heat-total of 12.00 points. His performance came as a real disappointment, considering the sort of impact that he had made during his Round 1 heat.
Also getting eliminated from the competition was Standlick, which finished in fourth place after finishing with a heat-total of 10.06 points, which comprised of a 3.83 and 6.23-point wave.
The ASP 4-Star Hainan Classic is the first ASP event in China and second event of Hainan Wanning Riyue Bay International Surfing Festival Presented by Quiksilver.
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