Opening round of ASP Prime Nike US Open of Surfing find Jay Thompson and Mitch Crews in top form
Promising Australian talent Jay Thompson and his compatriot Mitch Crews managed to claim top honours in their respective Round 1 (Round of 96) heats at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Prime Nike US Open of Surfing which went down at Huntington
Beach in California, America, on Monday, July 30.
While Thompson took the win in the third heat, America’s Tim Reyes clinched runner-up place to accompany the winner into the next round of the competition. Australia’s Adrian Buchanan and America’s Nathan Yeomans, however, were unable to survive their Round
1 affair.
The fourth heat saw Brazil’s Tomas Hermes finish behind Crews in second place to accompany the latter into the next round. Australia’s Owen Wright and Hawaii’s Kekoa Bacalso got eliminated from the competition after finishing in third and fourth position
respectively.
A star-studded competition field comprising of a huge list of local and international talent, including 2012 ASP World Tour contenders, promised nothing but top-notch surfing action for the coveted event title.
The third heat saw Thompson put on an impressive performance to get the better of Reyes, Buchan and Yeomans in a four-man battle for survival. The Australian surfer collected a 6.83-point ride halfway through the heat and soon backed it up with a wave-score
of 7.87, consequently going on to finish with a heat-total of 14.70 points.
Reyes was successful in extending his life in the title as he claimed runner-up place through a heat-total of 14.20 points, which included a 7.23 and 6.97-point ride.
Buchan was unable to make the next round after scoring a 7.67 and 5.60 off his best-two waves, which proved only good enough to put him in third place, while Yeomans had to settle for fourth position with a heat-total of 8.79 points.
The fourth heat saw Crews tear his competition apart by putting on a fiery performance. Locking his first business-wave halfway through the heat, he unloaded a series of turns to post an 8.17 on the score-board and went on to add an additional 8.53 points
to his account, finishing with a resultant heat-total of 16.70 points. The score remained unbeatable until the end to see him off to victory.
Hermes collected a couple of scores in the six-point range to eventually finish with a heat-total of 12.77 points, which proved adequate to earn him runner-up place and consequently take him through into the next round of the competition.
Wright, one of Australia’s rising star, failed to live up to the hype that surrounded him at the event as he finished in third place with a heat-total of 12.64 points, while Bacalso had to settle for a fourth-place finish after having registered a heat-total
of 11.13 points.
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