Nathan Carvalho, Fisher Heverly and Enrique Ariitu survive Round 2 at Quiksilver Surf Open Acapulco
Hawaii’s Nathan Carvalho, America’s Fisher Heverly and French Polynesia’s Enrique Ariitu qualified for Round 3 (Round of 64) at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) 4-Star Quiksilver Surf Open Acapulco after walking away with top honours from their
respective Round 2 (Round of 96) heats that went down at Playa Revolcadero in Acapulco, Mexico, on Wednesday, July 18.
America’s Colt Ward, his compatriot Hunter Lysaught and Brazil’s Alan Saulo were also successful in extending their life in the event by securing runner-up positions in their respective Round 2 heats.
With promising two-to-four foot waves on offer at the primary event site on the second day of the competition, the battles for survival were expected to be nothing short of intense.
The 11th heat of Round 2 saw Carvalho squaring off with Ward, his compatriot Keto Burns and local talent Adan Hernandez.
None of the four surfers appeared to be at ease during the course of the battle, apparently struggling to hold their own in demanding surfing conditions. Carvalho, however, managed to clinch victory by reaching a heat-total of 10.17 points.
Ward finished just behind the Hawaiian surfer in second place with a heat-total of 9.50 points, consequently moving into the next round as well.
Burns finished third with a heat-total of 7.17 points, while Hernandez succumbed to the conditions on hand completely and only managed to get to a heat-total of 5.16 points. The lacklustre performances led to the elimination of the two surfers from the event.
The 12th heat featured an impressive performance by Heverly as he got the better of Saulo, Mexico’s Aldahir Cruz and Costa Rico’s Anthony Abarca Fillingim in the four-man battle for the Round 3 spot.
The American surfer navigated his way through the waves to get hold of two juicy opportunities and effectively utilised them to register a heat-total of 13.00 points. The score kept him well ahead of his rivals until the end to see him through to victory.
Saulo made the Round 3 cut as well after finishing behind his American rival with a two-wave total of 9.17 points. Cruz and Fillingim were forced to leave the competition field after they rounded out the bottom-two positions following a heat-total of 5.17
and 4.62 points respectively.
The Tahiti-based Ariitu was one of the few international surfers to turn heads on the second day of the competition. Battling against Lysaught, Costa Rico’s Danny Bishko and Mexico’s Roberto Olguin in the 13th heat, the French Polynesian surfer
posted a 6.67 on the score-board and soon backed it up with an 8.00-point ride, courtesy of a massive front-side air reverse, thus finishing with a decisive heat-total of 14.67 points.
“It’s all you could to on the waves out there, to do airs,” Ariitu said. “It worked for me in that heat. It’s my first time to Mexico and I’m trying to do some comps and get some results.”
Lysaught extended his life in the competition as well after finishing with a heat-total of 7.56 to secure runner-up place. Bishko and Olguin had to exit the race for the event title after finishing with a heat-total of 6.20 and 4.40 points respectively.
The surfing action continued at Playa Revolcadero on Wednesday with the remaining heats of ASP 4-Star Quiksilver Surf Open Acapulco’s round 2.
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