Luke Davis and Conner Coffin power into Round 5 of ASP 4-Star Vans Pier Classic – Surfing News
America’s Luke Davis and his fellow countryman Conner Coffin claimed top honours in their respective Round 4 (Round of 64) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Vans Pier Classic that continued to deliver a heavy dose of thrilling action at Huntington Beach in California, America, on Friday, March 30.
The successful result in their Round 4 heats served to carry both Davis and Coffin into the fifth round (Round of 32). Hawaii’s Jesse Merle-Jones and Venezuela’s Francisco Bellorin made their way through into the next round as well after securing runner-up position in the 15th and 16th heat of Round 4 respectively.
The surfing conditions prevailing at the Huntington Beach Pier seemed to have improved by late afternoon. The frequency of the medium-sized waves had increased slightly, offering more opportunities to the surfers to post a decent score on the score-board.
Taking on Merle-Jones, his compatriot Kekoa Bacalso and Japan’s Nobuyuki Osawa in the 15th heat, the 19-year-old Davis came up with a solid performance to finish the highest on the score-board.
The Capistrano Beach-resident utilised his local knowledge of the waves to lock a 6.83 and 7.83-point ride, thus finishing with one of the day’s highest two-wave totals, 14.66. The score served to earn him a convincing victory, carrying him through into the next round.
“That was fun and I’m excited to get that first heat out of the way,” Davis said. “I wasn’t nervous, but just more anxious because I wanted to get a heat under my belt. I’m surfing the Juniors too, but I’m starting to focus more on the men’s events and I’m looking to make a bunch of heats and do well in this event.”
Merle-Jones made the Round 5 cut as well after scoring a 5.67 and 3.63 off his best-two waves for a heat-total of 9.30 points.
Osawa and Bacalso got ejected from the competition field after finishing with a heat-total of 8.00 and 3.47 points respectively.
The 16th heat pitted Coffin against his fellow American surfers Evan Geiselman and Crane, along with Venezuela’s Bellorin in a battle for the Round 5 slot.
Coffin collected a couple of scores in the six-point range to finish with a heat-total of 13.04 points, consequently walking away with the win.
Bellorin snatched runner-up place with a heat-total of 11.73 points to secure his place in the next round as well.
Geiselman finished third with a heat-total of 10.84 points, whereas Crane rounded out the bottom-position with a two-wave total of 10.00 points. Both the surfers got eliminated from the competition as a result.
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