Nat Young and Travis Logie surge into Round 2 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro – ASP Prime Event
The ninth Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime event of the year, Billabong Azores Islands Pro, kept the exciting surfing action going with the 19th and 20th heat of Round of 96 (Round 1) at Praia de Santa Barbara in Sao Miguel, Portugal, on Thursday, September 29.
America’s Nat Young collected a convincing victory in the 19th heat to advance through to the Round of 48 (Round 2), while Australia’s Dion Atkinson accompanied him by clinching the runner-up position. America’s Evan Geiselman and Cory Arrambide rounded out the third and fourth position respectively, consequently getting expelled from the competition.
The 20th heat saw South Africa’s Travis Logie walk away with top honours to secure his place in the next round. CNY’s Gonzalez also managed to extend his life in the competition by finishing in second place and getting through to Round 2. Japan’s Nobuyuki Osawa and Brazil’s Tomas Hermes finished in third and fourth places respectively, which resulted in their elimination from the competition.
As the 19th heat got underway, the 20-year-old Young got-off to an energetic start, locking a wave in the opening minutes of the four-man battle to post a 7.00 on the score-board. He later added another 7.10 points to his account and reached a heat-total of 14.10 points, which remained unbeatable until the end to seal the fate of the contest in his favour.
During his post-heat interview, Young said, “The tide got kind of too high and I could feel it was peaking out. I started out with a 7 so I got to sit back on that and get a little back up score to make the heat. The guys were moving around back and forth but I don’t think there was a certain spot where the waves were breaking on. It was all over the place so I kept moving with it and lucked into a couple.”
Atkinson managed to collect a 5.50 and 5.43 off his best-two waves to finish with a heat-total of 10.93 points. This earned him the runner-up place and allowed him to make the Round 2 cut.
Geiselman finished third after getting to a heat-total of 10.73 points, while Arrambide scored 4.97 points in total off his two-top waves to finish in fourth place. The disappointing performances led to the elimination of both surfers from the competition.
The challenging surfing conditions continued to trouble surfers as the day progressed, but that did not keep the 32-year-old Logie from clinching victory in the 20th heat. As the four-man battle got underway, the South African went through a series of mediocre waves before catching one to earn 5.67 points off it. He soon followed it up with a 6.33-point wave to reach a heat-total of 12.00 points. The score proved sufficient to carry him off to a convincing victory and send him through to Round 2.
Gonzalez clinched a 5.27-point wave early on and later added another 5.70 points to his account to reach a heat-total of 10.97 points. The score earned him the runner-up spot, giving him the passage to the next round as well.
Osawa finished in third place after scoring 9.47 points in total from his top-two waves, while Hermes rounded out the fourth position with a heat-total of 6.76 points. Both surfers were ousted from the competition due to their disappointing performances and inability to acquire the necessary scores.
For more updates on Round 1 of Billabong Azores Islands Pro, stay tuned to bettor.com.
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