Kolohe Andino and Junior Faria triumph in Round 1 heats of Mr. Price Pro Ballito
Surfing action continued at the Surfers Beach in Ballito, South Africa, on Monday, July 4th, with the third and fourth heat of Mr. Price Pro Ballito’s round of 96 (Round 1).
America’s Kolohe Andino completely dominated the third heart in the morning to clinch top honours. America’s Patrick Gudauskas successfully made it through to the next round as well after securing runner-up place. New Zealand’s Billy Stairmand took third
position, while Brazil’s Luel Felipe did not compete and rounded out the fourth position. Both were ejected from the competition as a result.
Brazil Junior Faria advanced to the next round after emerging triumphant in the fourth heat. South Africa’s Dale Staples extended his life in the event after taking second position. America’s CJ Hobgood and Brazil’s Bernardo Miranda were ousted from the
competition after finishing third and fourth respectively.
The seventeen-year-old Andino completely stole the show with his flawless performance in the third heat. The surfer remained on a rampage throughout the heat after getting off to an outstanding start, earning 8.27 points off his very first wave. In the final
minutes of the heat, he rode deep inside a barrel to show his class, earning a perfect 10 for the effort and making the crowd go wild.
Talking about the wave after the event, Andino said, “That wave was amazing, I wasn’t sure if I would make it out but I made that first section, pumped hard and made t he second one. That wave was so good I was freaking out. I cannot believe I made it!”
After Andino’s performance, the other two surfers in the three-way battle could only aim for the second position in order to avoid elimination. The weak performance by Stairmand made is extremely easy for Gudauskas to clinch second position and advance to
the next round. He scored 13.67 points from his two best waves against the New Zealander’s heat-total of 4.57 points.
The next heat turned out to be a low scoring contest, with Faria’s heat-total of 10.34, which included a 4.17 and 6.17-point wave, proving to be more than sufficient to seal the fate of the battle.
The local favourite, Staples, earned 5.50 points off his very first wave and only required an additional 4.85 to take the win. However, instead of the required score, he only managed to earn 4.23 off his second wave. Still, the result was enough to keep
him alive in the event.
Hobgood was unable to do justice to his reputation and finished in bottom-two after scoring 5.33 points off his first wave and 3.60 off his second. Miranda remained the least impressive, scoring 6.36 off his two best waves.
For more updates on Round 1 of Mr. Price Pro Ballito, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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