Matt Banting and Rory Jenkins remain solid in Round 2 of Championship Moves Open
The second round of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 1-Star Championship Moves Open opened up with Australia’s Matt Banting and Rory Jenkins clinching top honours in the first and second heat respectively, which went down at the Jan Juc beach in
Victoria, Australia, on Saturday, January 7.
The surfing conditions at the beach turned out to pretty close to ideal, with slight onshore winds and three-foot waves, promising a day full of thrilling action as the surfers battled it out for survival.
The day kicked off with the first heat of Round 2 (Round of 32), featuring a four-man battle comprising of Banting and his fellow Australians Chris friend, Harrison Mann and Jack Scollard.
Banting, who had been quite sensational on the first day of the competition, continued the momentum going in Round 2. From the word go, the local surfer asserted his dominance in his latest heat to push his competitors on the back foot. He posted a 6.00
on the score-board off his first business-wave in the opening minutes of the heat and soon added another impressive score of 7.75 to his account to take his heat-total to 13.75 points. The two-wave total served him to grab a convincing victory and carried
him to Round 3 (Round of 16).
Friend extended his life in the event as well by securing runner-up place to advance through into the next round. He finished with a heat-total of 10.95 points, which included a 5.35 and 5.60-point wave.
Mann finished third with 9.20 points, while Scollard, who had been outstanding in his Round 1 heat, failed to put up another solid performance and rounded out the bottom position after a total of 5.60 points off his best-two waves. The lacklustre performances
by the two surfers brought the competition to a premature end for him.
The second heat saw Jenkins put on a decent performance to get the best of his competitors. He scored a 5.00 off his first business-wave and later added another 5.50 points to his account to finish with a heat-total of 10.50 points.
Holmes had showcased outstanding skills on the first day of the competition, but failed to carry his form into Round 2. Scoring a couple of fours in the final minutes of the heat, he finished with a heat-total of 8.60 points. The score, whoever, proved to
be sufficient to put him in runner-up place and add him to the Round 3 line-up.
James finished in third place with a heat-total of 8.15 points, while Longhurst rounded out the bottom position with a two-wave total of 7.00 points. Failing to capitalise on the great conditions at hand, both the surfers were ejected from the competition.
Looking to make the best of the favourable surfing conditions on hand, the event organisers plan on going through the second and third round of Championship Moves Open before the end of the day.
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