Nat Young and Asher Nolan head into the Quarter-finals at ASP 4-Star Vans Pier Classic
America’s Nat Young and his compatriot Asher Nolan walked away with top honours from their respective Round 5 (Round of 32) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Vans Pier Classic that continued to deliver a heavy dose of high-intensity
action to the crowd gathered at the Huntington Beach Pier in California, America, on Saturday, March 31.
Both Young and Nolan made their way into the Quarter-finals after clinching success in their Round 5 heats. Hawaii’s Joel Centeio and his compatriot Gavin Gillette got their names added to the Quarter-finals line-up as well after taking first runner-up place
in the fifth and sixth heat of the fifth round respectively.
A large crowd was present at the primary event site on the latest day of the competition, eager to support their local talent while capitalising on the opportunity to watch the international surfers in action. The competition field kept getting trimmed as
the event gradually moved towards the Quarter-final stage.
The fifth heat of Round 5 saw Young put on a spectacular performance to get the better of his compatriot Matt Pagan, Hawaii’s Joel Centeio and his fellow countryman Ezekiel Lau.
Young got down to business as soon as the four-man battle start, locking his first business-wave to unload a string of impressive tricks to post an 8.17 on the score-board. Almost half-way through the heat, he added an additional 7.77 points to his account,
taking his heat-total to 15.94 points as a result. The score held up until the end to earn him the win.
Centeio followed Young into the Quarter-finals after collecting a couple of waves in the six-point range for a heat-total of 12.67 points, which proved sufficient to put him in runner-up place.
Lau finished third with a heat-total of 10.77 points, whereas Pagan rounded out the bottom-position with a two-wave total of 8.76 points. The lacklustre effort led to the removal from the competition field.
In a low-scoring Heat 6, Nolan scored a 6.00 off his first business-wave and backed it up with a 4.67-point wave to finish with a heat-total of 10.67 points. The modest heat-total proved adequate to earn him victory and thus sent him through into the next
stage of the competition.
Gillette made the Quarter-finals as well after finishing behind Nolan with a heat-total of 9.80 points, which comprised of a 5.30 and 4.50-point wave.
America’s Eric Geiselman finished just 0.20 points behind Gillette and thus had to settle for third place, whereas France’s Romain Cloitre finished with a heat-total of 8.17 points for fourth place. The competition came to a premature end for both the surfers
due to their bottom-two finish.
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