Nic Muscroft and Aritz Aranburu survive Round 2 of Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest
Australia’s Nic Muscroft and Basque County’s Aritz Aranburu won their respective Round 2 (Round of 96) heats of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Burton Toyota Pro at Newcastle’s Surfest that continued at Merewether Beach in New South Wales,
Australia, on Wednesday, March 14.
Reunion Island’s Adrien Toyon and Australia’s Daniel Ross accompanied Muscroft and Aranburu into the next round (round of 48) after finishing in first runner-up place in the ninth and tenth heat respectively.
The latest ASP 6-Star event was hosting some of the best surfers from all around the world, offering a handsome prize cheque and coveted ASP rating points to the surfer who could survive the formidable competition and get his hands on the event-title. The
surfing conditions were not bad, though they were far from ideal, with the waves lying in the two-to-three foot range.
The ninth heat saw Muscroft squaring off with Toyon, Hawaii’s Fredrick Patacchia and Australia’s Leigh Sedley in a four-man battle.
As the heat got underway, it only took Muscroft a while to begin his charge and assert his domination in the battle. Locking his first business-wave, he showed off his solid back-hand power snaps to put an 8.00 on the score-board. Locking his second business-wave
in the final minutes of the heat, the Australian surfer added an additional 9.27 points to his account to move to a heat-total of 17.27 points. The score turned out to be a decisive one, serving to take him through into the next round.
“I just tried to find the good waves out there,” Muscroft said. “I was lucky enough to find two decent waves that allowed me to open up. I’ve been coming to Newcastle for years and I love it. It’s a cruisy town with lots of waves. I always have a good time
here.”
Toyon advanced through into the third round as well after taking runner-up place with a heat-total of 14.83 points, which comprised of an 8.83 and 6.00-point wave.
Patacchia and Sedley got eliminated from the competition after finishing with a heat-total of 10.99 and 6.92 points respectively. Both the surfers got an interference call and therefore received found their deducted, though that did not affect their final
standings.
The 10th heat saw Aranburu walk away with top honours after finishing with a heat-total of 11.24 points, which included a 7.07 and 4.17-point wave.
A heat-total of 10.27 points put Ross in second place, consequently keeping him alive in the contention for the event-title.
South Africa’s David Van Zyl and Spain’s Gony Zubizarreta got eliminated from the event after finishing with a heat-total of 10.04 and 9.13 points respectively.
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