Mitch Crews and Chris Ward prevail in opening round at Vans World Cup of Surfing
Australia’s Mitch Crews and America’s Chris Ward claimed victory in their respective Round 1 (Round of 128) heats at the Vans World Cup of Surfing, second of three stops on the 30th anniversary Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, which got underway
at Sunset Beach in Oahu, Hawaii, on Tuesday, November 27, 2012.
Both the surfers advanced to Round 2 (Round of 96) following their success in the opening round of the competition.
Brazil’s Jano Belo and his fellow countryperson Peterson Crisanto secured their place in the next round as well after taking runner-up position in their respective Round 1 heats.
The swell gracing the main event site on the first active day of the competition set up a very exciting and challenging state for the four-man battles between the top surfing talent from around the globe to take place on. The conditions were not easy in,
but the fans expected the athletes to adapt to the demanding waves on offer.
The third heat of Round 1 saw Crews, Belo, Hawaii’s Nathan Carvalho and Australia’s Davey Cathels struggling to hold their own in the tough surfing conditions.
Crews, however, managed to eventually to get just enough points on the score-board, a 6.50 and 3.47 to be more precise, to claim victory with a heat-total of 9.97 points.
Belo successfully made the Round 2 cut as well after collecting a couple of scores in the four-point range to register a heat-total of 9.27 points.
Carvalho concluded the heat on a heat-total of 6.86 points, while Cathels had to settle for bottom position after registering a heat-total of 2.67 points. The bottom-two finish resulted in their ejection from the event.
The fourth heat pitted Ward against Crisanto, Hawaii’s Tanner Hendrickson and his compatriot Chris Foster in a four-man battle for the Round 2 spot.
The American surfer made a couple of decent wave selections to earn himself a 6.67 and 5.83-point ride. The combined wave-total of 12.50 points proved sufficient to keep him in the lead until the end, thus allowing him to confidently make his way through
into the next round.
Crisanto secured his place in the next round as well after finishing with a heat-total of 8.83 points, which included a 4.83 and 4.00-point wave.
Hendrickson finished third with a heat-total of 7.43 points, while a two-wave total of 3.00 points put Foster in fourth place, resulting in the elimination of both the surfers from the competition.
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