Maxime Huscenot and Keanu Asing prevail in Round 1 of the 2011 Reef Hawaiian Pro
The first stop of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, the Reef Hawaiian Pro, continued at the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, on Monday, November with the third and fourth heat of the Round of 128 (Round 1). France’s Maxime Huscenot took on Peru’s Gabriel Villaran, Hawaii’s Dylan Goodale and his compatriot Alex Smith in the third heat, whereas Hawaii’s Keanu Asing squared off with his countryman, Chris Foster, along with Reunion Island’s Adrian Toyon and America’s Austin Ware in the fourth heat.
The third heat turned out to be pretty intense, but it was Huscenot who walked away with top honours as the dust settled, consequently advancing through into the Round of 96 (Round 2). Goodale finished in runner-up place to successfully extend his life in the competition. Smith and Villaran rounded out the third and fourth positions respectively, which resulted in their elimination from the competition.
Asing secured a convincing victory in the fourth heat to confirm his place in Round 2. Following him into the next round was Toyon, who finished in second place to remain alive in the event. Ware and Foster rounded out the third and fourth positions respectively, consequently getting removed from the contention for the event title.
After a wait of nine days, the Reef Hawaiian Pro was finally able to get underway in clean head-high waves. The conditions were still not ideal for surfing, but the event organisers were more than happy with what was on offer and decided to get on with the first round.
As the third heat of Round 1 kicked off, the 19-year-old Huscenot got off to a strong start, locking a wave in the opening minutes to collect 6.17 points off it. However, he seemed to be out of luck as he searched for another decent score to take a dominant position in the battle.
Goodale took advantage of the situation and posted a 4.50 and 6.10 on the score-board to take the lead, putting his French rival under immense pressure. With hardly any time left for the buzzer to go off, Huscenot made one last effort to get something significant off it and successfully added a 6.40 to his account, taking his heat-total to a decisive 12.57.
Smith struggled to adjust to the demanding conditions on offer and only managed to get to a heat-total of 8.04 points, while Villaran was only able to get a 2.17 and 2.57 off his top-two waves to finish in last place. The disappointing performances by the two surfers got them eliminated from the competition.
The fourth heat saw the 18-year-old Asing comfortably clinch honours after getting off to a great start. He locked a wave in the opening minutes to post a 7.33 on the score-board and soon followed it up with a 6.73-point wave to move to a heat-total of 14.06 points.
Toyon earned his ticket into the next round as well after securing the runner-up place through an impressive performance. He finished with a heat-total of 12.13 points, which comprised of a 6.00 and 6.13-point wave.
The two-wave total of 10.06 points put Ware in third place, while Foster finished at the bottom with 7.86 points. The disappointing performances by the two surfers lead to their elimination from the competition.
For more updates on Round 1 of the Reef Hawaiian Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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