Matt Banting and Thomas Woods advance to Championship Moves Open Quarter-finals
The opening heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 1-Star Championship Moves Open’s Round 3 (Round of 16) saw Australia’s Matt Banting and Thomas Woods clinch top honours to advance through into the Quarter-finals at Jan Juc beach in Victoria,
Australia, on Saturday, January 7.
The first heat of Round 3 featured an intense showdown as Banting squared off with his compatriots Jordin Watson, Oscar Scanes and Rory Jenkins.
As the battle got underway, Banting received a strong challenge from Watson throughout the entirety of the contest. Both the surfers fought tooth and nail for the coveted Quarter-final spot, not willing to settle for anything less than the win.
Despite getting off to a slow start, Banting recovered superbly to post a 6.35 on the score-board before throwing a huge air-reverse to add an additional 9.25 points to his account, consequently moving to a heat-total of 15.60 points.
“I got down there late and all the boys got the inside position, so I didn't get off to the best start,” said Banting after the heat. “But I knew with this little wind I could pull of an air if I needed to. In my last heat I got a 7.00 (out of a possible
10) for an air, so I knew I could do that if I needed to. Everything came together, it was good. I watched Gabriel Medina (Brazil) a few years ago at King Of The Groms and knew I needed to bring those kinds of airs into my game, so that's what I've been working
on.”
Watson scored 5.75 points off his first business-wave and later collected an impressive 7.75-point wave to get to a heat-total of 13.50 points. Despite a determined effort, the local surfer was unable to improve his score and had to eventually settle for
runner-up place. The result was sufficient to carry him through into the Quarter-final though.
Scanes finished in third place with a heat-total of 9.60 points, while a heat-total of 8.35 points put Jenkins in fourth place. The lacklustre performances by the two surfers led to their elimination from the competition.
The second heat saw Woods take on his fellow countrymen Shane Holmes, Chris Friend and Jake Sylvester.
The four-man battle turned out to be an intense affair as three of the four surfers fought tooth and nail for top honours until the end. Woods eventually capture the win with a heat-total of 11.00 points, which comprised of a 5.00 and 6.00-point wave.
The Central Coast-based Holmes recovered from a bad start in the dying minutes of the heat. Sitting behind the number 1 seed, Friend, in third place, Holmes caught a 4.75-point wave before unloading a series of sharp turns to earn 6.10 points, moving to
runner-up place and thus making the Quarter-final cut.
Friend finished in third place with a heat-total of 10.75 points, while Sylvester rounded out the fourth position with 8.10 points. Both the surfers got eliminated from the competition as a result.
With the conclusion of the second heat, two more heats were left in Round 3 to determine the remaining four Quarter-finalists.
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