Nathan Hedge and Nathaniel Curran emerge triumphant in Round 1 heats at Mr Price Pro Ballito
Australia’s Nathan Hedge and America’s Nathaniel Curran walked away with top honours from their respective Round 1 (Round of 96) heats of Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime Mr Price Pro Ballito that continued at the Willards Beach in KwaDukuza,
South Africa, on Tuesday, July 3.
South Africa’s Shaun Joubert finished just behind Hedge in the fifth heat of accompany the latter into the next round (Round of 48) of the event. Australia’s Adam Melling and his fellow countryperson Perth Standlick got added to the elimination after rounding
out the third and fourth position respectively.
The sixth heat saw Hawaii’s Olamana Eleogram successfully extend his life in the event by finishing in second place, consequently advancing into the next round with Curran. Brazil’s Ricardo Dos Santos and Hawaii’s Kevin Sullivan finished in the bottom-two
positions respectively, consequently getting eliminated from the competition.
The competition field for the latest ASP Prime event of the year comprised of some of the best surfing talent from around the world, as well as a handful of promising local talent. There were plenty of ASP ranking points to be won, along with a handsome
prize cheque. The crowd expected to get treated to nothing short of an exhilarating action.
The fifth heat saw Hedge take on Joubert, Melling and Standlick in a four-man bout for the Round 2 spot. The former ASP World Tour campaigner was returning to the prime stage after 18 months and immediately made an impressive impact. Finishing with a heat-total
of 12.70 points, he secured his place in the next round.
“I’m so grateful to be back in a Prime event,” Hedge said. “It’s just incredible to be back surfing this tour again.”
Joubert made the most of his local knowledge of the waves to secure runner-up place through a two-wave total of 11.47 points, consequently staying alive in contention for the event title.
Melling and Standlick ran out of luck during the course of the battle and only managed to reach a heat-total of 9.47 and 7.53 points respectively.
The next heat saw Curran claim a convincing victory over his rivals after managing to get to a heat-total of 13.44 points. The win served to take him through into the next round.
Eleogram finished with a two-wave total of 11.50 points. The score proved adequate to put him in second place and thus added him to the Round 2 line-up as well.
Dos Santos and Sullivan finished with a heat-total of 9.27 and 4.63 respectively, consequently making an early exit from the competition.
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