Marlon Lipke and Alan Jhones survive the opening round of San Miguel Pro Zarautz
Germany’s Marlon Lipke and Brazil’s Alan Jhones were able to secure their place in the second round (Round of 96) at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star San Miguel Pro Zarautz after clinching the win in their respective Round 1 (Round of
144) heats that went down at Zarautz in Basque Country, Spain, on Tuesday, August 28.
America’s Magnum Martinez and Australia’s Ty Watson were able to extend their life in the event as well after securing runner-up place in their respective Round 1 heats.
With clean one-to-two foot waves breaking at the primary event site and some of the most promising surfing talent from around the globe, the day promised to deliver a series of enthralling performances. The conditions were not easy, thus the contests were
expected to be quite intense as the young-guns attempted to best the demanding waves and each other while aiming to survive the day.
The 13th heat saw Lipke pitted against Martinez, Mexico’s Dylan Southworth and French Polynesia’s Steven Pierson in a four-man battle for the Round 2 spot.
As the battle got underway, Lipke wasted absolutely no time to stamp hi authority over his rivals, locking a juicy wave early in the opening minutes to post an impressive 6.17 on the score-board. He kept the momentum going to eventually add an additional
7.17 points to his account, thus finishing with a heat-total of 13.34 points.
Martinez accompanied his German rival into the next round after registering a couple of scores in the four-point range on the score-board to finish with a heat-total of 8.40 points.
Southworth and Pierson were unable to make the Round 2 cut following their bottom-two finish, owing to a heat-total of 7.10 and 5.90 points respectively.
The next heat saw Jhones square-off with and successfully get the better of Watson, America’s Christian Saenz and France’s Edouard Delpero.
The Brazilian surfer earned a 6.50 off his first business-wave and went on to back it up with a 4.67-point ride, thus ending up with a decisive heat-total of 11.17 points.
A heat-total of 10.70, comprising of a 4.77 and 5.93-point wave, proved sufficient to carry Watson into the next round as well.
Saenz finished in third place with a heat-total of 7.33 points, while Delpero had to settle for a two-wave total of 5.96 points. The lacklustre performances led to the elimination of both the surfers from the competition.
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