Nathan Hedge and Ian Walsh emerge victorious in opening round at Vans World Cup of Surfing
Australia’s Nathan Hedge and Hawaii’s Ian Walsh made their way through into the second round (Round of 96) at the Vans World Cup of Surfing, second of three events on the 30th anniversary Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, after claiming top honours
in their respective Round 1 (Round of 128) heats that went down at Sunset Beach in Oahu, Hawaii, on Tuesday, November 27, 2012.
America’s Tim Reyes finished behind Hedge in second place during the fifth heat of Round 1, thus accompanying the latter into the next round of the competition. Hawaii’s Eala Stewart and his compatriot Kevin Sullivan rounded out the bottom-two positions,
which resulted in their elimination from the competition.
The sixth heat saw Hawaii’s Ezekiel Lau accompany Walsh into the second round after securing runner-up position. Hawaii’s Kiron Jabour finished in third place, while Australia’s Chris Friend had to settle for fourth place. Both the surfers found themselves
removed from the contention for the event title.
Taking on Reyes, Stewart and Sullivan in a four-man battle during the fifth heat, Hedge got off to a modest start, but continued to build momentum as the heat progressed.
The Australian surfer eventually locked his first business-wave to post a 6.67 on the score-board and went on to back it up with a 5.93-point ride, thus registering a heat-total of 12.60 points. The score kept him in the lead until the end to see him through
into the next round.
Reyes made the Round 2 cut as well after securing runner-up place through a heat-total of 9.70 points, which included a 5.67 and 4.03-point ride.
Stewart finished in third place with a heat-total of 6.63 points, while Sullivan, who struggled to adapt to the conditions on hand, eventually had to settle for fourth place with a heat-total of 0.97 points.
The sixth heat saw Walsh emerge triumphant after getting the better of Lau, Jabour and Friend in a four-man battle.
The local talent earned a 5.33 off his first business-wave and went on to back it up with a 5.23-point ride, thus registering a decisive heat-total of 10.56 points.
Lau was able to survive the opening round of the competition as well after getting to a heat-total of 9.10 points, which comprised of a 5.33 and 3.77-point ride.
Jabour finished in third place with a heat-total of 8.43 points, while Friend had to settle for a two-wave total of 4.33 points.
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