Maxime Huscenot and Ian Gouveia advance to Round 3 at Australian Open of Surfing – Surfing News
French Maxime Huscenot, Brazilian Ian Gouveia and Australian Taj Burrow prevailed in their respective Round 2 (Round of 96) heats in the men’s division at Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 6-Star Australian Open of Surfing on Thursday, February
16, at Manly Beach in New South Wales, Australia.
In the 22nd heat, Huscenot took on Brazil’s Jesse Mendes, Australia’s Leigh Sedley and America’s Ian Crane in a battle for survival. The Frenchman collected a couple of six off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 12.00 points. The
score proved to be a decisive one, sealing the fate of the heat in his favour and adding him to the Round 3 (Round of 48) line-up.
Mendes successfully extended his life in the event as well after finishing with a heat-total of 11.77 points for runner-up place.
Sedley finished in third place with a heat-total of 11.56 points, while Crane rounded out the bottom position with 10.77 points.
Gouveia walked away with top honours in the 23rd heat after scoring a 7.67 and 6.87 off his top-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 14.54 points. The win allowed him to advance through into the next round.
Hawaii’s Granger Larsen finished behind Gouveia after scoring a 6.50 off his first business-wave and backing it up with a 6.57-point wave. As a result, he made the Round 3 cut as well.
Brazil’s Alan Donato finished in third place with a heat-total of 12.26 points, while Australia’s Mitchel Coleborn rounded out the bottom position with a two-wave total of 12.17 points.
The final heat of Round 2 saw Burrow post an impressive 8.17 and 6.33 on the score-board with his signature fins free turns on a couple of double ups to finish with a heat-total of 14.50 points. None of his three competitors even came close to his score,
thus allowing him to walk away with an easy victory into the next round.
“You mind surf every waves before you go out for a heat, and I was surfing a lot better from the beach,” Burrow said. “I'm just finding my feet for the first heat of the event, and I've been waiting all day so it felt good to finally get in the water. I've
got some good memories of Manly, I had a great time last time I competed here. I love the US Open and I'm stoked we've now got one here in Australia and I'm here to win it.”
Australia’s Creed McTaggart advanced to Round 3 as well after scoring a 4.57 and 5.13 off his top-two waves.
Brazil’s Andre Silva finished third with a heat-total of 8.80 points, while Australia’s Parrish Byrne finished in fourth place with a two-wave total of 6.90 points. Both the surfers got eliminated from the competition as a result.
With the conclusion of the 24th heat, the second round of Australian Open of Surfing men’s division wrapped up. The competition will resume with Round 3 on Friday.
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