Nat Young and Kekoa Bacalso win Round 3 heats at Vans World Cup of Surfing
America’s Nat Young and Hawaii’s Kekoa Bacalso made the Round 3 (Round of 64) cut at Vans World Cup of Surfing, second of three events on the 30th anniversary Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, after claiming victory in their respective Round 2 (Round
of 96) heats that went down at Sunset Beach in Oahu, Hawaii, on Friday, November 30, 2012.
Brazil’s Ricardo Dos Santos finished behind Young in second place during the 11th heat to advance alongside the latter into the next round. Australia’s Matt Banting finished third, while America’s Evan Geiselman had to settle for fourth place.
The bottom-two finish resulted in their elimination from the competition.
The 12th heat saw Bacalso walk away with the win, while France’s Joan Duru finished in second place. Both the surfers advanced to the next round as a result. Hawaii’s Hank Gaskell finished in third place, while Brazil’s Hizunome Bettero finished
fourth. The bottom-two finish resulted in their removal from the contention for the event title.
The competition field was full of talented surfers from around the world, but a significant amount of excitement was associated with the deadly conditions that they had to conquer. Intimidating waves with faces of up to 15 feet greeted them during their
four-man battles for the Round 3 spot.
Young, a budding Californian sensation, managed to tame the conditions just enough to prevail over Dos Santos, Banting and Geiselman in the 11th heat.
The American surfer scored a 6.17 off his first business-wave and went on to back it up with a 5.27-point ride, thus registering a decisive heat-total of 11.44 points.
Dos Santos made the Round 3 cut as well after securing second place through a heat-total of 9.00 points, which included a 7.00 and 2.00-point ride.
Banting and Geiselman found themselves getting prematurely eliminated from the competition after finishing with a heat-total of 8.67 and 3.86 points respectively.
The 12th heat saw Bacalso get the better of Duru, Gaskell and Bettero to secure his place in the next round.
The local talent put on a solid 7.50 on the score-board off his first business-wave and later backed it up with a 6.83-point ride, which carried him to a winning two-wave total of 14.33 points.
Duru survived the heat as well after clinching second place with a heat-total of 13.14 points, which comprised of an 8.27 and 4.87-point ride.
Gaskell finished third with a heat-total of 12.84 points, while Bettero had to settle for fourth place after registering a heat-total of 11.30 points.
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