Lau, De Vries and Huscenot advance to Round 2 at Mr Price Pro Ballito – Surfing news
Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau, South Africa’s Beyrick De Vries and France’s Maxime Huscenot walked away with top honours from their respective Round 1 (Round of 96) heats at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime Mr Price Pro Ballito, which kicked off
at the main event site of Ballito in South Africa on Tuesday, July 2, 2013.
With his victory in the 10th heat, Lau advanced to the second round (Round of 48). Australia’s Mitchel Coleborn, who finished in second place, accompanied him. South Africa’s David Van Zyl and America’s Cory Arrambide finished in third and fourth place respectively,
which resulted in their elimination from the competition.
The 11th heat saw De Vries walk away with the win to secure his place in the next round. Portugal’s Marlon Lipke finished in second place to successfully extend his life in the event as well. Hawaii’s Torrey Meister and South Africa’s Dale Staples rounded
out the bottom-two positions, which consequently led to their ejection from the contention for the event title.
South Africa’s Jordy Smith finished behind Huscenot in second place during the 12th heat to accompany the latter into Round 2. America’s Nathan Yeomans finished third, while South Africa’s Slade Prestwich finished in fourth place. The bottom-two position
resulted in their elimination from the competition.
The challenging conditions on offer at the main event site presented the exciting surfing talent from around the globe with an opportunity put both their skills and experience on display, as they took each other on in four-man battles for survival.
Locking horns with Coleborn, Van Zyl and Arrambide in the 10th heat, Lau put on an impressive performance despite the tough conditions. He locked his first business-wave to collect a 7.20 off it and then went on to add an additional 8.37 points to his account,
thus registering a two-wave total of 15.57 points. The score remained unbeatable until the end to see him through to victory.
“The whole heat I was having a rough one, I had to keep catching waves to find my own rhythm,” Lau said. “We have a lot of waves like this at home, its bumpy but I felt good and I’m glad I got through.”
Coleborn secured second place with a solid two-wave total of 15.17 points to make it through into the next round as well. Van Zyl and Arrambide finished with a heat-total of 10.37 and 10.23 points respectively, which consequently resulted in their elimination
from the competition.
The 11th heat saw De Vries score a 7.83 off his first business-wave and then back it up with a 5.90-point ride soon after to register a decisive heat-total of 13.73 points.
Lipke accompanied the South African into the next round by grabbing second place through a heat-total of 13.44 points. Meister finished in third place with a heat-total of 12.77 points, while Staples had to settle for a two-wave total of 12.43 points, thus
getting ejected from the contention for the event title.
Huscenot managed to claim victory in the 12th heat after opening his account with a 6.67-point ride soon after the battle got underway. He continued to build momentum as the heat progressed and eventually added an additional 8.73 points to his account, thus
finishing with a winning heat-total of 15.40 points.
Smith managed to extend his life in the event as well after registering a heat-total of 13.50 points, which proved good enough to take him through into the next round.
Yeomans finished in third place with a heat-total of 13.00 points, while Prestwich finished fourth after registering a two-wave total of 8.80 points. Both the surfers were consequently forced to make a premature exit from the competition.
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